I was completely exhausted when I arrived at home at 22h on Friday, after having spent all week in the South of France for my job. A busy schedule with very long days had worn me out and I still felt mentally tired when I woke up in my own bed yesterday morning. Despite the exhaustion, I went back to "Tempête Solaire" to spend another session on it, even though I knew that the warm conditions weren't in my favor. Nevertheless, I had a quite good session and was able to do the whole problem in two overlapping parts instead of three the previous session. I'm definitely still making progress on it. This morning, I needed a change and went for a playing session in Rocher de la Combe Est, a small area that I had never been to before. I started with "Playtoi", that I was able to do on my second attempt. A short roof boulder that really suited my style.
Fontainebleau - Rocher de la Combe Est - Playtoi 7B(7A+)
Next, I made the dyno of "Playground" on my first attempt, but dabbed on the swing. I moved the crashpad a bit and did it again without dab on my second attempt as well.
Fontainebleau - Rocher de la Combe Est - Playground 7A+
To end the session I had some fun with some playful climbing in a nearby big roof.
When I was browsing bleau.info, looking for inspiration a few days ago, I stumbled upon "Culbutor (assis)", and immediately knew that this was what I was going to try today. It had been on my list for quite some time, but I never took the decision to actually go and try it. Today was finally the day. It was already quite hot when I arrived this morning around 10h, but the boulder is facing North, so it was very bearable. I warmed with doing the standing start, which I did on my second attempt, failing on the first, because I didn't feel very confident. I immediately did it again afterwards to make I got the good method in my body and head, and to gain more confidence. When I then wanted to try the roof part and sat down for the start, the first move felt absolutely impossible. The really far left hand crimp/pinch looked like miles away and I already started thinking about letting it go. Figuring that I had come here for this boulder especially, I of course stayed and made minor changes after each failed attempt on the first move. When I finally found a way to do that move, holding it and moving the feet at first seemed even harder. Luckily, I was able to the first move early every time, and again after changing some micro beta for my body positioning and body tension, I also suddenly was able to move my feet and go for the second far right hand move to the lip of the roof. Now I only needed to be able to hold the huge swing when letting of the feet in the roof, but it turned out that this definitely wasn't the hardest move for me. Learning to hold swing went pretty quickly. Having done all the moves of the first part and having the second part a few times separately, I was confident enough to set up the camera. Somewhat surprisingly, I didn't mess anything up and almost cruised through the roof, held the swing, stayed focused and topped out. After a short break, I repeated it again, this time to be able to show the whole second part, which is a beauty on itself. I really loved the slow but steady progress on this one, one of the beauties of climbing.
All in all, I had done "Culbutor (assis)" quicker than I expected, so I still had time for a little bonus climb before it got way too hot. Being just below the top of the hill, I decided to walk all the way to "Asics" on the top of the hill in the Maunoury area. I had wanted to try this low roof for a long time, but it's a slow drying roof, and never had the luck to find it completely dry. I figured that that wouldn't be a problem now. "Asics" turned out to be a little bit more complex at first, but that's mainly because there seem to be so many options to climb through the roof. After deciding on which method to stick to, it went down relatively fast. Glad to have finally done that one.
I actually wanted to take a rest day today, but after a whole morning of garden labor, I needed something else and decided to go to Roche aux Oiseaux for a quick climb anyway. After a long period of drought, it seemed like a good idea to finally try the very slow drying "Tudoisjefaisouquoiahbon". Try to say that name out loud correctly from the first time. Definitely a contender for most stupid name for a boulder problem in the forest. It might have its reasons to be named as such, but I'm not in the know. Somehow, this problem always scared me a bit, climbing right above a low boulder and a sketchy landing. I probably always thought it was a good reason not to try it when it's mostly wet. Anyway, I took the time to practice the crux move, going from two tiny crimps on the lip of the roof to a very far sharp jug high above. Surprisingly, it didn't feel as scary as I expected it to be, and I was able to do the move rather quick, immediately followed by the ascent of the whole line.
Fontainebleau - Roche aux Oiseaux - Tudoisjefaisouquoiahbon 7B(7A+)
It was extremely hot and I had almost packed up already, when I figured to try a more interesting variation. The original problem starts with a sitstart with both hands on a very good huge low ledge. As it's allowed to use that same ledge for the feet afterwards, the first part of the problem consists of almost literally walking on it. I now wanted to the same line, but completely excluding that lowest ledge. Of course, in this case it starts standing with both hands on the higher ledge and then climbing through the roof without the low ledge. It makes the problem slightly harder and definitely more interesting. As I knew how to do the crux move, it went down from my first attempt.
Fontainebleau - Roche aux Oiseaux - Tudoisjefaisouquoiahbon (sans le bas) 7B
Yesterday morning, my main goal was to try "Habibi" in Apremont Fond des Gorges; a very isolated and slightly hidden boulder, away from everyone. I had looked for it a few years ago when I was in the neighborhood, and found it wet after quite a long search. I was able to have a good look at it though, and I was determined to come back for it one day after a longer dry period. Not having had a lot of rain for quite some time, yesterday seemed like a good moment. It was a hard battle against high and dense ferns, but it was all worth it. I took a brief moment to try the upper part as a warmup, tried the first move and immediately sent it after turning on the camera. I was glad, but also a bit disappointed that I already had to leave that nice isolated place again.
Fontainebleau - Apremont Fond des Gorges - Habibi 7B(7B+)
This morning, I had the intention to try "L'Être Hâve (assis)" in Mont Ussy, which I did, but after dry firing off the crimps for the x'th time, I decided to pack up and walk over to Roche d'Hercule to try "Finement Con", a boulder where I already stopped several times, but the holds under the roof were always wet so I could never try it. Now, it was all dry and I was finally able to spend some time on it. This one turned out to be quite harder than I expected, but with each attempt I made progress. I was able to climb the whole thing after a longer time that I had anticipated and when I got back down from the boulder, I noticed the camera standing full in the sun that had passed the trees and the boulder. It was standing the shade at first, but sun had moved from behind the trees and the boulder, shining directly into the lens. There was absolutely nothing to be seen (see the first few seconds in the video below). I wanted to repeat it again, but it had become too hot and I barely had any skin left. As I had to move the camera much closer to be in the shade, it couldn't capture the whole boulder anyway, so I decided to just make a montage and did it again in two overlapping parts.
Fontainebleau - Roche d'Hercule - Finement Con 7B(7B+)
My brother from a different mother and his girlfriend were visiting over the weekend, and even though we barely climbed, it was quite exhausting. Being out of my regular rhythm and having short nights always takes a toll on me. I didn't let it get to me too much, so after they left this morning, I drove to Rocher Canon, with only "La Mare (droite)" in mind. I had passed by and stood in front of "La Mare (droite)" many times in the past, but I had never had the chance to actually try it. Either there was a big pool of water just under it, or it was at the end of a session and I didn't have it in me anymore to try it. Being such a beautiful boulder and a classic of the area, I had to at least try it once. The boulder was dry and so was the little pit below it. Nevertheless, the conditions kind of felt bad and I wasn't sure if it was due to my skin or the holds themselves that never get the sun on them. I also felt tired and had already come into peace with the fact that I might not even be able to top it out today, but then I found a toehook on the right. It opened up another possibility and it only took a few attempts to get it to work and top it out. Glad to have done this classic, and I even might go back one day for the sitstart.
Fontainebleau - Rocher Canon - La Mare (droite) 7B
