October 31-November 01, 2026 - High gravity.

Even though I was motivated for climbing, I really had a so-called high gravity weekend and had a hard time trying harder problems. My body felt heavy and every move felt harder than it was supposed to be feeling. A little later than usual, I met Olaf in Rocher de Corne-Biche yesterday morning, eager to try "Papa Gaga" again.
The conditions didn't feel as good as I had hoped, and feeling heavy, I had a hard time getting back to my previous high point. I know that I can do "Papa Gaga", the sequence is there, but I will just have to come back when the conditions are much better.
I did manage to get away with a quick ascent of the actual 7A (direct) version of "32 Millièmes".

Fontainebleau - Rocher de Corne-Biche - 32 Millièmes (direct) 7A

This morning was a nice meet-up with Olaf, Markus and his wife Kathy in Apremont Bizons. Olaf wanted to try "Malfrat" and I decided to put my energy into "Malversion", which starts the same as "Malfrat", but follows the bad slopey arete to then finally finish in "Malfrat" again. Despite the description, it does feel like a logical line.
The crux of "Malversion" felt impossible at first, but as Olaf was still trying "Malfrat", I didn't mind staying with it and try to think out of the box. I still felt heavy, but I did manage to find a nice method for me, making me take out the camera for some actual real attempts. After falling off the topout of "Malfrat" at the end of the line a couple of times, I had to throw in the towel. I had too spend too much energy working out the sequence, but now that I know what to do, finishing it should work a next time.
Olaf also had a high gravity weekend, but maybe also because he was somehow quite distracted the whole weekend ...

October 24, 2026 - The pleasure hole.

After nearly a full week of rain showers, the conditions made climbing either impossible or in some rare cases, just bad. After a short walk with Olaf around Roche d'Hercule, we decided to go to Apremont Butte aux Dames where Bart (Van Raaij) had opened a few new problems on the quick drying boulder of "Les Ailes du Plaisir" on the top of the hill. The only problem that got my mild curiosity, was "Le Trou du Plaisir (assis)". Not the nicest, nor the ugliest problem, but at least it was dry. As I only needed a small handful of attempts, I have my doubts about the proposed grade. Definitely not 7B, and even 7A+ feels to be very generous. The few moves do seem to fit my style, so it's always hard to tell real difficulty.
Even though Olaf needed some more time and attempts, he also ended up topping out.

Fontainebleau - Apremont Butte aux Dames - Le Trou du Plaisir (assis) 7B(7A+)

October 18, 2026 - Re-united.

After almost a year of non-stop working in his home country, Germany, Olaf finally arrived back in the forest on last Sunday evening. Due to work we hadn't had the chance to meet up during the week, but Saturday we finally re-united. On top of that, Lars and Simy were also there, so it was all more about enjoying climbing with good company and less focused on trying hard. Nevertheless, yesterday, in Rocher du Corne-Biche, I made some good attempts trying "Papa Gaga", after four years and a half not having touched it. The high pinch felt not too good condition-wise, but I did manage to get back to the point, preparing for the last dynamic move to the right. I was happy with that 'retro progress'. This is definitely high up on my list again!

This morning we met up in Apremont Ouest where Olaf wanted to try something on the "Piece of Mind" boulder. While he climbed the right version, I made very quick work of "Piece of Mind (sans convention)", the only variant that I hadn't done yet on that beautiful boulder. Olaf needed a few attempts more, but also he managed to do both the right version and the "sans convention" version.

Fontainebleau - Apremont Ouest - Piece of Mind (sans convention) 7A+(7B)

With over 600 registered repetitions, "Powerslave" is apparently one of the most popular 7A's of the forest, but somehow, I had never even noticed it. It was Olaf whol told me about it, and as Lars was eager to try too, I decided to give it a go. Having flashed it ease, I can understand its popularity now. It's very soft for the grade, and giving it a personal grade of 6C+ still seems a bit generous.
With his neck injury, it became quite a battle for Lars, but he did manage to top it out as well.

Fontainebleau - Apremont Ouest - Powerslave 7A(6C+)

October 10-11, 2026 - Caught a black sheep.

After a whole week in Germany for a work project, I was exhausted, but felt motivated and physically strong enough to go climbing yesterday morning. Without a real goal, I went to Mont Simonet where I was able to make a quick ascent of "Duke & Kitty", which didn't feel very hard for the grade, but has some quite nice moves.
The rest of the time, I spent my session trying the nearby "Coïncident", which features only two moves, but very hard ones, for me. Starting with a bad high undercling it immediately puts the body under full tension, making getting the second off the ground the first hard move. From there, the second hard move is letting go of the right hand and making a big dynamic move to a good but sharp hold high up. Last time I tried this, I did make it to the sharp hold, but pulled a big flapper on it, catching the swing, forcing me to stop. This time I couldn't remember how I had positioned my body good enough for the dynamic move and didn't even make it to the sharp hold. Definitely not a priority project, but it hasn't seen the last of me yet.

Fontainebleau - Mont Simonet - Duke & Kitty 7B

This morning, I went to Rocher du Mont Morillon with the intention to spend some time on the beautiful "Karma Gai". I had tried it two or three times, spread over the years, but only briefly as I could barely move in it. I was never even able to hold the high shallow sidepull left hand, let alone fixate it enough to reposition the feet. Therefor, I didn't have any expectations at all when I was walking towards the boulder. Arriving at the boulder, my first thought was that I would probably leave the boulder again empty handed, without any progress and probably thinking that I would not come back for it. This boulder was truly one of my black sheep.
After a short warmup, I still wasn't able to fixate the sidepull, but it somehow felt less desperate. Giving it another chance, I worked on the other moves, but it didn't go quite well at first. My body still had to wake up. Not wanting to go somewhere else, I decided to push on, taking short breaks now and then, until I ended up having done all the separate moves, even the one with the sidepull. The game was on and I decided to give it some real send attempts.
The first one was promising. I was surprised that I made it up to the right hand sloper, but just barely, and I fell off on the next move, to the sloper left hand. It was only then that I really believed that I could do it and decided to make it a priority project if I wouldn't finish it today.
The next few attempts went a bit downhill at first, slipping off the left sidepull a few times. After a few bad attempts, I did make it again to the right hand sloper, but it was so sketchy that I knew beforehand that I would fall off the next move again, which I did.
After another longer break, it suddenly all flowed and already after only two moves, it felt like it good be the send go, which it ended up being, even though just barely at the end. I was very excited and pleased with having taken down "Karma Gai", one of my black sheep.
Definitely worth the full five stars!

Fontainebleau - Rocher du Mont Morillon - Karma Gai 7B+

October 04, 2026 - Moved by the Earth.

I didn't have a real hard set goal to do this morning. I just wanted to try a few problems in a small isolated sector of Franchard Raymond, the small sector with "Tectonique des Plaques". Of course it would be nice to top something, but my main goal was to enjoy the forest and try some problems as a form of training.
It had rained a bit last night and the conditions were far from good, just like the skin on my hands. After trying a few problems, I took a little break and decided to dedicate the remaining time on "Le Soulèvement Tectonique". Knowing that I definitely wasn't going to flash it, I first tried from the start to determine where the crux is. It was quickly obvious and I focused mainly on that section, trying different methods until I found one that worked for me. I turned on the camera and sent it immediately, even though I had slippery fingers at the end and came very close to slipping off while committing to the last move to the jug. It was with a bit of luck that I stayed on and topped out.

Fontainebleau - Franchard Raymond - Le Soulèvement Tectonique 7B(7A+)

October 03, 2026 - Three out of three.

As I was travelling for work from Monday to Thursday, I felt quite exhausted in my head, but my body felt ready to go. As there was a new seemingly interesting problem opened and published last week, it was an easy choice to go to Mont Blanc Est and check out the new "Défense en Ivoire". Besides the new problem, I had also put "La Gogotte" and "L'Autre Droite" on my list.
"Défense en Ivoire" indeed looked interesting in real life as well and still has this nice fresh cleaned sandstone friction to it. I took my time warming up trying the separate moves and find a method for the topout. It's the kind of problem that isn't over until it's over and I didn't want to get unexpected surprises at the topout.
I was the only person in the area at that time and enjoyed the process of working it out. After I had the second and first worked out, I turned on the camera for some real attempts. On my first one, I got too excited and fell off at the top. As I wrote, this one isn't over until it's over. My second attempt was more focused and controlled, and therefor also successful. One out of three.

Fontainebleau - Mont Blanc Est - Défense en Ivoire 7B+

Even though I had already done the slightly harder "La Gogotte (gauche)" back in 2019, for some reason I had never tried the original easier version of "La Gogotte". This one went very quickly, just as I expected. Two out of three.

Fontainebleau - Mont Blanc Est - La Gogotte 7A(7A+)

"L'Autre Droite" I had already tried once before, but I could barely make any moves. Bad slopers and tiny slopey crimps for going left made it feel impossible and I had quickly given up on it, without keeping it as a project, but today I wanted to give a real chance and dedicate some time on it. The skin on my fingertips had already suffered a bit and had become sweaty. Absolutely not ideal for those bad slopers and tiny crimps, especially on a problem that has no registered repetitions yet, so it felt quite dirty as well at first. As I promised myself, I did stick with and ended up finding a method for the short traverse to the left. I hadn't done the topout yet, but did try the mantle and it did feel like I could make it with the right motivation, in this being having come from the start.
After a short break, letting my skin and the slopers dry out a bit, I turned on the camera and only needed two attempts to finish it. Three out of three. I was happy with the productive session.

Fontainebleau - Mont Blanc Est - L'Autre Droite 7B

September, 26-27, 2026 - Back to Earth.

After having been ill it felt like I had been living in the body of another person. As if I walking next to myself, looking at me doing things on auto pilot, like I wasn't present on Earth. Since a few days ago, that feeling finally went away and I am back on Earth, again being aware of my surroundings and enjoying daily things again.
Yesterday I went to Rocher de la Reine Nord with a few things on my list to try, starting with "Allô la Terre, ça Baigne". I thought it would be a relatively simple warmup, but I spent much more time on it than expected. I had troubles at first feeling my body move and I couldn't find the correct body positions until after I took a short break. After that, it suddenly went quite well.
I had high hopes for the other problems on my list, but I was already quite worn out, and a light drizzle wasn't making it any better, so I decided to call it a session.

Fontainebleau - Rocher de la Reine Nord - Allô la Terre, ça Baigne 7A

This morning, I didn't want to go too far, but as most of the areas around my house are closed due to the aftermath of the wildfires, my choices were limited. I chose to go to Châteauveau to try "Le Sacre du Printemps (gauche rallongé)", the last problem on this beautiful boulder that I hadn't done yet. So I thought.
I had terrible skin though and sweaty fingertips, but my motivation was high. I had already taken peace with probably only ending up with a training session, but after I got more and more confidence in the moves with sweaty fingertips, I took a short break and unexpectedly sent it immediately after.
Turns out that I haven't done "Le Sacre du Printemps (droite du fond)" yet neither, but I decided to leave it for another visit.

Fontainebleau - Châteauveau - Le Sacre du Printemps (gauche rallongé) 7B+

September 19, 2026 - Getting back slowly.

I'm still not a 100% after being sick, but I'm starting to raise in percentage slowly. 
In the mornings I usually feel fine, but it doesn't take a lot to start winding down again, mainly because of being too active and not allowing my body to properly have a rest. I realize that being busy all the time slows down the healing process, but I'm not someone who can sit still and do nothing. There's just too much to do and so little free time. My heel is getting much better and even though I still have to walk slow, I at least managed to walk all the way to Apremont Bizons without feeling pain. 
When I sat down in "La Couille Lisse", the first move seemed impossible at first, but after some tweaks in body position and foot placement, I started getting closer and closer to sticking it. It wasn't a very quick process, but when I felt really close and turned on the camera, I suddenly stuck the move and topped out. This one is all about that first move and in my humble opinion rather felt like 7B at most.

Fontainebleau - Apremont Bizons - La Couille Lisse 7B+

I had tried "Malfrat" only once, and that was more than fourteen years ago, because I hadn't moved to Noisy-sur-Ecole yet. I can't remember why I wasn't able to do it back then, but now it went quite okay. I could have done it sooner if I wouldn't have dabbed the crashpad on a few attempts, but I liked the process,  changing small things to avoid the dab.
It was only on my way back that my heel started bothering me again, so I turned down the pace. I'll get there slowly, but steadily.

Fontainebleau - Apremont Bizons - Malfrat 7A+

September 12, 2026 - Finger licking good.

Besides a few mild colds, I hadn't been sick for at least ten good years, but on Wednesday evening, I suddenly felt feverish. After an almost sleepless night, I got up on Thursday morning with a high fever. Working full-time from home, I didn't skip work, but continued as usual, suffering from the fever. It wore me down completely. It started getting better on Friday, but I felt extremely weak. This morning, no more fever, but still very weak. Despite feeling exhausted, I did go for a climb anyway. Still suffering from my left heel injury and not looking forward to a long walk, I chose "Finger Food" in Apremont Buvette, opened by Nataleigh and Jan (de Smit). 
Being in not so good shape due to beforementioned circumstances, I didn't set myself any expectations. My main goal was to be in the forest and have some fresh air. I therefor wasn't disappointed about the thought that I would not be able to do "Finger Food" when I touched the small crimps. However, the fact that it only has three hard moves, motivated me to push on. Surprisingly, it didn't take much time before I was able to stick the first move, and the second followed soon after. Knowing that the dynamic move to the lip of the overhang wasn't going to give any trouble, I turned on the camera and was able to finish "Finger Food" soon after.
I'm not a so called board climber and don't even really know what it exactly entails, but for for some reason I was thinking that this felt like a perfect short board climb, or maybe it was because I didn't expect to be able to do it that I found this short with only three moves, just beautiful. I liked it that much that I wanted to repeat it over and over, but I refrained myself from doing so, realizing I needed to preserve some energy for the much gardenwork I had waiting for me.

Fontainebleau - Apremont Buvette - Finger Food 7B

Just want to add that today, Jan (de Smit) was able to do "Elephunk" (8B!!). Being in his early 50's, this is extremely impressive!
Congrats and big up to Jan!!

September 03, 2026 - Not the last.

It was a last minute decision this evening to go and try the new "Le Dernier Problème (droite direct)" in Buthiers Piscine. Just like a few days ago, I felt the sudden urge to go for a climb, especially knowing that I won't have a lot of chances to go climbing this weekend, as I will be spending it with my sisters in the Belgian Ardennes, where we rented a big gite.
Back in 2017 I had done "Le Dernier Problème (droite)" on my second attempt, just failing once on the big right hand move to the right. This time however, even though I immediately did that move, I fell off a few times when releasing the feet or left hand. Nevertheless, quite a quick ascent after all, but just as fun.
And no, this will definitely not be the last problem that I'm climbing.

Fontainebleau - Buthiers Piscine - Le Dernier Problème (droite direct) 7A+(7B)

August 31, 2026 - Stay low.

This evening just before dinner, I suddenly felt a big urge to go for a climb after dinner. With my injured heel I had to keep it low though, so I figured that the new "La P'tite Arche (retour)" could be something as the boulder is about as high as I am tall. Upon arrival at the boulder and after briefly inspecting the holds, I honestly thought that it would be a quick deal and possibly even flash it, but the opposite couldn't be more true. It became a 40 minute battle with one attempt after the other, and here and there maybe about a minute rest in between. After half an hour of non-stop attempts and falling at the same move over and over, I almost gave up and already made peace with it being a for another day, but then I had an idea and decided to try something different, using a high toehook and a very far but quite good hold deep under the roof.
The first couple of attempts I could barely reach and grab the far hold, making the swing after releasing the toehook, impossible to hold, but I stayed with, stretching myself out more and more until I got it where I wanted and stuck the swing. The topout after was only a formality.
Despite the many failures trying this problem, I really enjoyed the process, the attempts and finally doing it after thinking out of the box.

Fontainebleau - Buthiers Piscine - La P'tite Arche (retour) 7B

August 28-30, 2026 - Heeljury.

My left heel has been hurting a lot after I fell from high up in "La Distinction" earlier this week and I have been limping since then. I will have to avoid trying higher and harder problems for some time as I can't fall on it again. 
Friday evening after work, I went to Buthiers Canard to try "L'Âme Indienne" but as it was too humid, I had to quickly come up with something else and figured that "Ours Boudeur" could be something. Just one move, a big dyno. The boulder not being high, I only took my thin gap-stopper pad, but I regretted that soon. On one of my attempts, I landed with my left heel on a root hidden under the pad, making my heel feel even worse. I limped back to the car to get a thicker pad to avoid even worse. A few attempts later I suddenly stuck the dyno and topped out.

Fontainebleau - Buthiers Canard - Ours Boudeur 7A

Yesterday, Saturday, was quite rainy and humid, so I didn't even go looking for something dry, but instead used the time to continue working on my barn project.
This morning, figuring it would be quite calm, I decided to pay a visit to Franchard Isatis. I wanted to try "Burn to Shine (gauche)", but my heel was hurting too much so I quickly gave up on that one. On my way back to the car, I stopped at "Entre Toit et Moi" and decided to give it a try. I had already done the second part of the boulder, "Entre Toit", back in 2017, so I can't really call it a flash, but I was able to do it on my first attempt, after which I repeated the second part for the video, as I couldn't place the camera to capture the whole boulder.

Fontainebleau - Franchard Isatis - Entre Toit et Moi 7A+

August 26, 2026 - Not seeing many spiders.

Last week I had visitors from Thursday evening until Sunday morning, and even though I always like it when friends visit, it also wears me out completely due to the change in daily rhythm and routine. I did go for a short climb on Sunday afternoon after they left, but I was so exhausted and couldn't finish anything. When I came back home and told my oldest son how tired I was after being out of my own rhythm for a few days, he jokingly remarked that I probably don't see a lot of spiders, upon which I laughed and confirmed. We both knew why.
The thing is that he happened to mention a day or two earlier, that he once read or saw or heard , that spiders apparently keep a schedule of your doings in their heads to make sure that they hide already before you actually enter the room. People without a strict routine therefor have more chances of busting a spider, than people who do. I indeed don't see many spiders. Anyway, so far the biology lesson.

On Monday evening I felt better and went to Buthiers Canard after dinner to try "La Distinction". It had been on my radar for quite a while, but I was either waiting for someone else to be able to spot, or just too scared. I decided I was done waiting and just try the problem without any rush, slowly building up confidence. Eeven though I didn't finish it that evening, I was happy with finally having tried it and had gained quite some confidence.
Not wanting to let the muscle memory and confidence fade away, I went back this evening, determined. I wasn't in a rush or anything, just confident that I had a good chance of topping it out. 
The confidence was still there and pretty quickly I was able to reach my previous highpoint and went beyond, this time making it to the high sloper and thought it was as good as over. Not having done my homework for the topout, I struggled to get up and couldn't see the vague crack that should be there, but was covered with pine needles. I slapped, but missed and fell down from quite high, landing with both feet on my brushes that I had put on the small boulder behind the crashpad. This could have ended quite bad, but luckily it didn't.
The attempt that followed, I didn't make the same mistake and arrived prepared at the same point where I had fallen. This time, I slapped in the right spot, kept my calm and topped out. 
Really such a nice problem!

Fontainebleau - Buthiers Canard - La Distinction 7B

August 15-16, 2026 - One without the other.

The forest closures keep being extended everywhere except for the Buthiers areas that never were closed in the first place. It again limits the choice of what to climb where substantially, but luckily even in Buthiers there are some quiet spots with some isolated boulders. This time, yesterday morning, my eye fell on "X sans Y", opened by Manuel (Marques) last year I think. The boulder is well isolated in the Buthiers Ouest area, but I found it pretty quickly. A bit surprised by the bad landing, I knew I had to take this one slowly to build up confidence and determine where the crux is and how I would fall out of it. Being set on the wrong foot by trying Manuel's method, I lost a lot of time trying what he did, which didn't seem to suit me well and I felt stuck. After almost an hour I had almost accepted the fact that I might have to come back for this one, I decided to try my own method by making a dynamic move right hand instead of the always so controlled fashion of Manuel. Immediately I felt that this was more my thing and turned on the camera. I only needed two more attempts to stick the crux and make my way to the top.
I left the boulder pleased with the long session and didn't really consider the time as lost, but rather a training.

Fontainebleau - Buthiers Ouest - X sans Y 7B

This morning I went back to Buthiers Ouest to try "Jaspe", even more isolated than the other, but after almost an hour of looking for it, I was saved by David (Evrard) who was running in the area and came over to say hi. After so many years in the forest it was the first time that I actually met him in person. He was so kind to take me to the boulder of "Jaspe", where I discovered that I had stood at about two meters from the boulder two times while looking for it.
I was already tired and sweating like crazy when I finally got to try it, but wasn't able to finish it. It does come high up on my list though.

August 07, 2026 - Confusing closures.

The forests in the Essonne department are closed again from the 8th of August until the 10th at 7 o'clock in the morning. So closed for only the weekend. Forests closing and opening and then closing again causes a lot of confusion and almost starts to feel like bullying by the government instances. 
Last week I apparently did an unconventional exit of "Monster Hugo et Mister Fred" in La Grotte aux Fées, so just before the closure I went back to finish it correctly, by exiting just via the slopers just before the crack on the right. I tried out that exit as a warmup and it didn't feel harder than the exit with the crack on the right. As I still had the sequence of the line in my body, I was able to repeat it on my first attempt, this time exiting with the slopers just before the crack. Indeed felt like the same difficulty.

Fontainebleau - La Grotte aux Fées - Monster Hugo et Mister Fred (par convention) 7A+

Having finished so quicly, I still had quite some time left and moved over to the boulder with "Le Rêve d'Aphrodite". With a overhanging ascending arete to follow, it felt quite my anti-style at first. Especially just stepping into the boulder, trying to keep the body as much as possible under the overhang to avoid slipping of the bad slopers. It was a short learning curve though and I was able to finish it quicker than I expected.

Fontainebleau - La Grotte aux Fées - Le Rêve d'Aphrodite 7A(7A+)

"Le Rêve d'Aphrodite (assis)" uses the boulder on the left for the feet by convention, and even though it added a quite spicy move, this one also this went down relatively quick.

Fontainebleau - La Grotte aux Fées - Le Rêve d'Aphrodite (assis) 7A+

Finally with the time I had left, I decided to walk to the isolated mushroom shaped boulder about 400m to the South of the main sector. Quite hidden between the trees, but easy to find thanks to the small map on bleau.info, I was honestly a bit disappointed by the looks of it, as opposed to what I had seen on the pictures online.
There are many lines on this boulder but only one 'straight-up' in the seventh grade, "EPSilon". It required some cleaning, but once done, I had quickly found a sequence. I had a few footslips on my first couple of attempts, but once it stayed in place, I was able to finish the problem.

Fontainebleau - La Grotte aux Fées - EPSilon 7A(7A+)

August 01-02, 2026 - Hanging around in Essonne.

The closure of the Fontainebleau, Commanderie and of course Trois Pignons forests have been extended until the 7th of August for the time, and unfortunately the forest of Nemours and its surroundings are now closed as well until that date. Not surprisingly, the burnt sectors will remain closed for at least a year. On a positive note, it is still possible to climb in the Buthiers areas and luckily, the forests in the Essonne department are now open again to the public, with the exception of the part of Trois Pignons in Essonne, also known as the Coquibus.
Having spent quite some time in Buthiers, I was glad to find out about the reopening of the forests in Essonne, as it also opens up a wide choice of mostly smaller climbing areas and closer to home than Nemours. My choice yesterday went to a few less popular areas around the village of Beauvais and I started my session in Beauvais Guinguette where I wasn't able to top out anything, but I ended my session in the very small area of Bois de la Valette in the nearby village of Champcueil, where I ran into Christophe (Laumone) and Catherine (Miquel) by funny coincidence. They were rounding up their session and after I flashed the beautiful boulder of "Dolmen", we walked back to our cars together.

Fontainebleau - Bois de la Valette - Dolmen 7A

This morning, very close to home, but also already in Essonne, I went to the roof of La Grotte aux Fées in Oncy-sur-Ecole. I had only been there once, and was able to top out "Peter Pend" in bad conditions. This time I was there to try "L'Effet Toit" and "Monster Hugo et Mister Fred". Two lines that are not long traverses or loops as there are so many of them in that roof.
It was still quite early, and I was a bit surprised to meet two other climbers, Romain (who I already met once in Apremont) and Mickael.
I watched both of them doing a long traverse, while I inspected the holds and moves of "L'Effet Toit". After they finished their long traverse, I was able to finish "L'Effet Toit" on my first attempt with relative ease.

Fontainebleau - La Grotte aux Fées - L'Effet Toit 7A(7A+)

Romain and Mickael were having difficulties with the toehook in "L'Effet Toit" while I was working out the moves of "Monster Hugo and Mister Fred". The latter involves a big crack in the roof and at first I didn't understand how to move through the roof. Thanks to a tip from Romain to squeeze my feet in the crack, I saw a possibility. After some tweaking and finding a working method, it went down quite fast and I was happy with the result and having used some crack techniques.
In the afternoon, I went for a nice walk in a forest in Essonne with my kids. It feels great to be able to enter a real forest again.

Fontainebleau - La Grotte aux Fées - Monster Hugo et Mister Fred 7A+

July 27, 2026 - Time to fly.

At five minutes driving from my home is the aerodrome of Buno, one of the best planer plane clubs from France. When my oldest son Anthony was 13 years old, I offered him an initiation flight, many years later also my wife got one and I had always promised my youngest Noah, that he would get one too the year he turns 13, the required minimum age. Noah did turn 13 in january, so last week we drove to the aerodrome to reserve him a spot and today was the day. He had his flight. Despite having offered a flight to all my family members, I am the only one left to not have taken the flight, at least not with a planer plane. I had a different kind of flight this morning when trying the dyno of "Libellule" in Buthiers Tennis.
I got inspired by seeing a video on Instagram of someone doing it and it motivated me. It's located on the backside of the same boulder of "La Fourmi Verte", but also the highest side of the boulder and I had never dared to try it. With Buthiers one of the few options to go climbing, I decided to go for it.
Luckily Catherine (Miquel) happened to be there too, again trying the there and back traverse of "La Mygale" and she was so kind to offer me an extra crashpad and spotted me. Something that I especially benefited from mentally. It gave me enough confidence to push through and climb all the way to the top. A very nice line!

Fontainebleau - Buthiers Tennis - Libellule 7A+

July 23, 2026 - Live!

The forest fires are under control for almost a week now, but the ground contains a huge layer of turf and this is still smoldering up to half a meter deep in many places and can catch fire again at any moment. That's why close to 500 firefighters are still making rounds looking for those spots and drown them. This process will still take several weeks and the burnt areas will most likely remain closed to the public for a year. It's still unknown what will happen after that.
It's a true disaster for the forest and the many animals that have died, but I'm starting to be fed up with still constantly seeing pictures and videos of the fire and the aftermath on social media. Nobody truly knows how much the inferno has hurt me, but I try not to stay focused on the negative aspect of things. Instead, I have done quite a few things to help out our small community here in the little village of Noisy-sur-Ecole. I'm not going to name them because I'm not looking for compliments, but friends here and there will know if they ask about it.
I also haven't stopped climbing, because even though most of the forest is still closed to the public, and the unburnt areas will remain closed until Monday at least, but some areas around Nemours and the areas in Buthiers are free to enter. Those have never been closed. Climbing there has offered me a way out, away from the fires, and the oh so many depressing pictures and videos of the inferno on the internet. What happened happened and stopping with everything will not undo any of it. There's a time of mourning, but life still continues, despite the many calls to not go climbing out of solidarity or because of the risk of getting injured and requiring the need of rescue. Even though the latter might be true to some degree, where do we draw the line ? Should the inhabitants of the region stop riding their bikes, their cars, stop living their lives and stay in bed all day ? I choose to live.
As Buthiers is open and close to home, I have spent a few short sessions trying "La Fourmi Verte (assis)", right next to the big parking. I had done the standing start almost to the day five years ago I honestly didn't think that I would have needed three short sessions to do the sitstart. It's mostly quite good holds, but the crux requires a lot of power and is at the very top. It was especially the resistance power that I was lacking. Every time I made a small mistake before the crux, I didn't have enough left in me anymore to do and control the crux move.
The trick was to just repeat it over to dial in all the moves up to the crux to the point where climbing up to there would feel like only a formality. The sessions never lasted more than an hour, with long breaks in between attempts, trying to regain some power. On my third session, today, it finally all felt smooth and I was able to finish it on my second attempt.

Fontainebleau - Buthiers Tennis - La Fourmi Verte (assis) 7B+

July 14, 2026 - Man vs fire.

As most are probably already aware by now, on Sunday afternoon, several fires started along the A6 highway, near the Bois Rond and Vallée Chaude areas. Fires that quickly turned into a raging inferno, devouring the way too dry forest like the Cookie Monster in a pastry shop. It didn't take to become the biggest forest fire in the region for as long as I know. The days following Sunday, was a constant coming and going of Canadairs, two new DASH watering planes and three helicopters helping to try and get the situation under control. I have several pictures of the smoke and flying Canadairs, but I will not publish any of them here because there are many others already available online and it breaks my heart every time when I see them. Over 1200 hectares of forest has been burnt to the ground by now, but currently the situation seems to be more or less under control. 
After they manage to get the fires out, it will take another two weeks of keeping the soils wet to prevent fires from restarting and then it will take many many years for the forest to recover.
Despite all that, I do feel that life goes on and decided to go for a climb this morning in Buthiers Nord, one of the few areas where going into the forest was still allowed, according to the forest closures defined in the Arrêté Prefetorale published yesterday.
I managed to climb "Man vs Machine", even though "Man vs Fire" might be more fitting as a name now. Not the easiest of the grade for sure.

Fontainebleau - Buthiers Nord - Man vs Machine 7B

I did post the video also on Instagram, and as I expected quite quickly received comments hinting at it not being respectful towards the situation and firefighters in the current situation. It is my opinion however, that I didn't do anything against the defined regulations published yesterday and that it doesn't help anyone staying at home and not going for a climb where I was allowed to go. I am not disrespectful at all, but I'm a passionate climber and I just followed my passion despite the situation, but informed myself about where I was allowed to go. I don't feel sorry about having gone for a climb just because some might have a different opinion about good sense than I do. I will not necessarily do what others want because they feel it is their good sense.
I did have a phone call later with someone close to the ONF and was informed that the ONF, as a forest authority, had decided to close down the whole forest, including the areas that fall outside of the Arrêté Prefectorale. and they were going to the climbing areas still considered "open" to inform climbers about the extension of the closure. At the time of my climbing this morning, this was not yet public knowledge nor known to me.
It was therefor decided that instead of removing my post, which nobody would have noticed, I edited the description to inform about the new closures. At least that can be of a help to inform people instead of blatantly deleting a post without further ado.
To anyone reading this: it is not a good time to come to the forest, so please delay your visit as possible.

July 11, 2026 - As if nothing.

The Trois Pignons forest and all forests in the Essonne department are closed again due to fire risk during this heatwave. So I drove to Nemours to try "L'Air de Rien" in Les Mammouths. I had tried this once a few years ago with Pieter, but the dynamic move to the big sloper was giving me too much trouble with the bad conditions we had that day. I did manage to do it isolation, but it didn't feel easy at all. Therefor, I focused on that move first when I arrived. It again felt really hard, so I tried to find some minor details that would make the move consistent.
After some small tweaks in foot placement, I finally felt solid on the move and turned on the camera to try from the start.
Somehow, I cruised through it as if it was nothing. Not too early, because it was starting to get too hot again already.
Really longing for some rain to rinse the boulders and please nature.

Fontainebleau - Les Mammouths - L'Air de Rien 7B(7A+)

July 05, 2026 - Shame on you!

Those that climbed on the ultra classic beautiful boulder of "La Baleine" in Petit Bois before me, most likely yesterday, as I was early this morning, ought to be ashamed of themselves. Big fat tick marks and a thick layer of chalk on the holds showed that they hadn't clean the boulder at all when they left. They should go back to their indoor gyms and stay there until they learn to have some respect for the boulders they climb on and for those that come after them. It's such a small effort for a big positive result.
As one might have noticed by now, I went to Petit Bois morning to try the direct version of "La Baleine", the latter I did back in 2015, almost to the day already eleven years ago. Back then I had hesitated quite some time before I dared trying this beautiful and impressive problem just by myself.
The boulder is still impressive and quite intimidating, but I had more confidence than eleven years ago. The far move to the lip looked too far at first, but I made it there already on my first attempt and jumped off to setup the camera. I knew I would be able to get there every time, and that it was just a matter of getting to the high but good sloper. Not being tall enough, I had no other option but to jump and go for it. I had brought two crashpads for the occasion, but still needed some attempts to gain more confidence and really commit myself to it. 
All in all, it didn't take very long before I was able to top out, standing satisfied on top of this beautiful boulder.
I cleaned the boulder afterwards, of course, and I hope the ones that come after me will do too.

Fontainebleau - Petit Bois - La Baleine (direct) 7B(7A+)

June 27-28, 2026 - Cool down.

The temperatures have been rising more and more throughout the week and the nights stayed hot. On top of that, the temperature in my home office just below the roof rose up to 34°C every day of the workweek. Even the water of our swimming pool reached up to 35°C, so that even didn't cool me down enough. My only cool moment was under a cold shower in the evening, but those didn't last for long. The heatwave is taking its toll and they even closed the Trois Pignons forest due to too high risk of fire. We are longing for this extreme heatwave to stop and cool down, especially during the night.
Yesterday early morning, with the Trois Pignons (including Coquibus) still closed, I drove to Rocher Saint-Germain to try "Sérendipité (assis)", but this being in the sun in the morning, I passed on it and walked on to "Mazurka". This one being well in the shade, was very doable and the one hard move seemed to suit me well as I had it on my third attempt and topped out. Didn't feel hard enough for the grade, but I was happy with it. 
After briefly trying "Le Guerrier Gris", it quickly became way too hot and I went back home.

Fontainebleau - Rocher Saint-Germain Centre - Mazurka 7B+

Yesterday evening we finally had a short thunder storm and despite heavy wind and having big hope for some rain, it settled with only a handful of drops, not enough to make anything wet. It did cool down slightly and the night almost felt bearable.
Being a cloudy morning this morning, the temperature didn't rise as quick as the previous days and I went back to "Fat Teddy's Drop" in Eléphant Nord. It was only a short session because it finally started raining lightly, enough to make the top of the boulder quite wet. The boulder felt warm, so I knew it would dry very quickly once the rain stopped, but I didn't know how long it would rain and I didn't want to wait it out, so I went back home to do some work around the house and in my barn.
By early afternoon, the temperature again reached well above 30°C, but somehow I had a feeling that I should go back to "Fat Teddy's Drop". After a few moments of doubting, I decided to pack up again and go for it, despite the heat. 
The boulder was still warm, but the friction felt good and I knew that I could have chance. Already on my first attempt, I finally stuck the campus move briefly, but fell off due to firing off the big crimp right hand. A short rest later, I went for another attempt and immediately felt that it felt right. Everything flowed and I stuck the dyno to the slot. As I already done the second part, starting with the campus move, on my first session, I knew what to do and cruised through to the top. Going back had been totally worth it.
Did the crouching start, as recommended on bleau.info, to avoid the big, very sandy, low holds.

Fontainebleau - Eléphant Nord - Fat Teddy's Drop 7C+(7C)

June 21, 2026 - Mosquito breakfast.

Like in many other countries in Europe, there's a severe heatwave and climbing is only possible in the morning. Not a good time for hard climbs, but nevertheless, I went to Eléphant Nord yesterday morning to try "Fat Teddy's Drop". Just like "Coup de Lune", not the best time to try it, because despite bein on the North side of the hill, the boulder does get sun in the morning, so the temperature there rose quickly. Not a session in vain though, because I was able to do  all the moves and climb the boulder in two parts. Catching the swing followed by the campus move, seems to be my crux.
This morning, I chose something extremely shady and drove to Marlanval to try "Mach 4". The boulder being in a very dense part of the forest, would surely be shady, and moreover, dry. It's a very humid spot though, also in this heat, and insects seem to like it there a lot. It didn't take long before the mosquitos found out I was there and feasted on me like I was the first breakfast they had in weeks. Yet there also, the temperature was rising fast and I was glad it didn't take me too long to finish "Mach 4", albeit with slightly shaky legs at the topout.

Fontainebleau - Marlanval - Mach 4 7B

June 17, 2026 - Cruise to the moon.

Last Friday evening after dinner, I drove to Eléphant as I had finally gathered the courage to try "Coup de Lune". A very popular boulder that I had never dare to try as it looks quite intimidating. I was motivated to find a new priority project in it and only went with the intention to build up confidence. 
I was quite quickly able to climb through the first part, but got stuck at the high hold right hand. I expected it to be a relatively good crimp, but it turns out to be a sloper and I couldn't find enough friction to hold it long enough and to feel comfortable on it. It didn't bother me yet, because the tone was set and the problem already looked less intimidating.
The day after, on Saturday, I went back but it didn't take long before the problem was full in the sun. I did make a bit of progress though, so I was happy with the result after the session.
Eager to go back, but with the big heat wave in sight with temperatures going towards 40°C by the end of the week, I didn't want to wait for it to become too hot so went back this evening after dinner. The problem was in the shade, but it was still 31°C in the shade, feeling hot. My skin felt good though and the with only 40% air humidity I wasn't sweating yet. I slowly prepared myself, both physically and mentally and full of confidence, I started my warmup attempt. I cruised through the first part, got the high sloper right hand, and immediately felt that it was good. It somehow stuck. Keeping my calm, I cruised to the next hold, from where it was unknown territory for me, besides the few beta videos that I had watched a week earlier. It all felt perfect somehow and I kept cruising up to the top.
Such a beautiful classic problem!

Fontainebleau - Eléphant - Coup de Lune 7C

June 05-07, 2026 - Distraction.

Knowing that I wouldn't have a lot of time for climbing due to other priorities during the weekend, I already went for a quick climb Friday evening after dinner. Opened and suggested to me by Theo (Konstantakopoulos), I stayed close to home and went to try "Trempé dans le Feu" in Roche aux Sabots.
The problem again a fun hard one-mover into an easy outclimb, like many of Theo's problems. The hard move looked too far at first, but slightly changing body position and considering minor tweaks, I ended up doing it quite fast. Definitely not the easiest for the grade.

Fontainebleau - Roche aux Sabots - Trempé dans le Feu 7A

Saturday I barely spent time climbing, and the little time that I did, it felt rushed and I couldn't finish anything harder that I tried.
Sunday, also not too much time, so again close to home, I spent a short session in Coquibus Vendée. "Le Petit Toit" had been on my list for some time, but I had never taken the time to actuallly go and try it, until this morning. It looked possible to flash, so I turned on the camera and indeed flashed it with quite some ease.
It was the only thing that I topped out though.

Fontainebleau - Coquibus Vendée - Le Petit Toit 7A

May 30-31, 2026 - No panic.

Yesterday was the last with extremely hot temperatures, so the only option was to climb in the morning on something in the shade and use the advantage of the dryer period to try something that dries rather slowly. I also didn't want to stay close to home, so I came up with "Tony 2010" in Rocher de la Cathédrale. I had tried it briefly a few years ago, but didn't find enough confidence to commit on the dynamic move to the sloper high up left. Basically, the first move after stepping in.
I didn't seem to have a big problem finding the confidence yesterday morning, so I started getting close to sticking the move quite quickly. I had cleaned off the topout, but didn't expect me to get to that point, or maybe I was secretly hoping not to, because there are no holds at all for doing the mantle. Only a bad slope with a shallow vertical crack feature in the wrong direction for pulling on.
It was a bit of a surprise when I suddenly stuck the dynamic move. I thought about the fact that the crashpad wasn't under the topout, but still under the first part of the problem. I continued on anyway but the mantle was giving me a hard time. I tried not to panic and looked for options trying to remain calm. I turned my hands to push me higher up, but my left leg was stopping me and my hands felt like they could slip any time. The motivation for not wanting to fall off there took over and somehow I was able to push me onto the boulder.

Fontainebleau - Rocher de la Cathédrale - Tony 2010 7B+

The temperature didn't drop below 20°C last night but the morning felt quite nice. It was cloudy and it noticebeable that it wasn't going to be as hot as the previous days. Since I did "Le Cloître (direct) in Bois Rond Le Moine, I was waiting for a day like this to go back to try the sitstart. The problem facing South on the South face of the hill isn't an option for really hot sunny days.
I had a look at the sitstart last time, but didn't try it because it was after a rainy period and the hole where you place the feet was wet. It starts with a bad sloper-pinch and a small low crimp and the first looked impossibly far, but yet it intrigued me.
Trying the first move for the first time this morning, it felt impossible. However the correct body position and hip movement changed the game, to the point that I was able to do it every try. The slopers higher up though posed a bigger problem this time. The conditions weren't as good as last time and it felt like I had to relearn the second part. On the send attempt, I could immediately feel with every move that it was probably the send go. Everything clicked and flowed and I got up the boulder from the sitstart. The sitstart is a very  nice addition to the stand.

Fontainebleau - Bois Rond Le Moine - Le Cloître (direct assis) 7B

May 25, 2026 - Underestimated warmup.

The heat is on the last couple of days and it gets way too hot for climbing after noon. 
Theo (Konstantakopoulos) is in the forest for a few days and he texted me, asking if wanted to go for a first ascent one of these days. As only today suited me, it had to be this day. 
As it's very crowded in the forest this long weekend, despite the heat, I proposed to go to Le Pendu d'Huison where I had started cleaning a small overhanging boulder just below "Boule de Feu", after topping out the latter. I had only cleaned the bottom part of the boulder and had tried some of the lower moves, so today we only had to brush the upper part of the boulder and the topout, which turned out to be quite slopey. Back then, I had envisioned a line starting in the middle of the overhang and topping out directly. I did have a brief look at the right part with the arete, but it didn't look hard enough. It was also the first line that Theo noticed on this boulder and, a bit arrogantly, we decided to open that line as a warmup. What we thought would be a warmup, actually became quite a fight. It quickly became obvious that we clearly underestimated it. 
After some time though, I did manage to fight my way up onto the boulder. Theo came very close, but after some time, the freshly cleaned boulder and its very good friction, had taken its toll on the skin and he had to let it go. It was a pity, because we both would have liked for this to be a team ascent.
Given the situation, I named it "La Chauffe Sous-Estimée" and propose the grade of 7A+(7A), where it will probably be the easier grade for taller climbers. It turns out to be quite a nice line, featuring a beautiful pinch on the arete for the right hand. It's located on the small boulder about 5m below the one with "Boule de Feu".

Fontainebleau - Le Pendu d'Huison - La Chauffe Sous-Estimée 7A+(7A)

May 23, 2026 - End of the break.

Thanks to Mikael Uponen, I had some inspiration for what to try this morning. He sent me a message earlier this week to notify me about a new problem that he opened on the "Aire de Repos" boulder in Bois des Hauts de Milly. It's a small isolated roof that I cleaned around the Covid period and had opened a few obvious lines on it, following the edge of the roof. Somehow, it didn't occur to me to try going through the roof directly, or perhaps I didn't see it as possible. I'm glad Mikael did and that he sent me a message about it as it not (yet) published on bleau.info.
The convention is to climb directly through the roof without using either side of it. It sounds like it's an eliminate problem, but it turns out that it doesn't feel that way at all. You're just climbing a very logical line using the crimps under the roof and top out at the end of it. I'm also pleased that he named it in the same line as the other problems.
I was there before it was too warm this morning, but that wouldn't be for long. Luckily, a few trees offer a very welcoming shade most of the time. At first, I had a hard time figuring out what to do. The crimps are obviously there, but getting into a good position to use them with the required force seemed to be impossible at first and I messaged Mikael, asking for the video that he made but hadn't sent me yet. By the time he answered, I had been able to find a way, which turned out to be the same as he was doing in his video, at least for the first part. I had found a possible method for the second part, but it felt extremely hard. Trying his method on his video deemed to be just a bit too morpho for my short legs, so I switched back to my method. 
After some minor tweaks it finally started to feel possible and I was able to finish it a few attempts later. In time before it became too hot.
A very nice addition from Mikael on this cool little roof.

Fontainebleau - Bois des Hauts de Milly - Fin de Repos 7B+

May 16, 2026 - Shortcut.

No inspiration or motivation to write anything.
Here's a shortcut version of "Dévertige".

Fontainebleau - Dame Jouanne - Dévertige (raccourci) 7A+

May 15, 2026 - Hiding in Guichot.

The long weekend of the first of May, I was on a business trip for a project and had to work through the weekend, spending long days at work. I was gone for a week and when I got back home, I was truly exhausted. I wanted to climb last weekend, tried for three days in a row (Friday the 8th of May being a public holiday), but I felt like rubbish. Nothing went as I wanted it to be and I felt weak without much motivation. Luckily, I felt the motivation and strength coming back earlier this week and I was eager to climb again, for the even longer weekend. Yet, the weather isn't great and it feels like Autumn. Lots of wind with sun and rain constantly back and forth.
This morning there was a good sunny window though and I decided to climb not too hard hoping to make some tops and boost my morale. There are a few new problems opened by David Evrard in an isolated part of Rocher Guichot and they seemed like ideal contenders.
"Pince à Sucre" is very well hidden and much my style. After I warmed up trying the moves separately and finding a working sequence, I was able to finish it on my first attempt from the start. Even though it had felt like I could have fallen off at any moment after taking the slightly slopey pocket near the top. I wrongly though it would have been over when I got there, and didn't expect the sketchy topout. Nevertheless, again a very nice find from David.

Fontainebleau - Rocher Guichot - Pince à Sucre 7A

The other one that I definitely wanted to try, was "La Conque à Bras (direct)". Yesterday evening, when the rain had stopped for a short while, I did go out to find the boulder, hoping to try it, but by time I got there, it had started raining again. The overhang offered shelter from the rain and the holds in it stayed dry, so I could at least try the moves until the crimp. The topout being soaking wet and still dripping from the rain, was going to be impossible, so hadn't even tried the move after the crimp. It did feel like a first class boulder though, so I was eager to try the whole line.
I made it to the lip of the overhang on my first attempt, but due to a foot slip, I still came off. It went smoothly on my second attempt though. Indeed truly a first class line and well worth five stars in my opinion.

Fontainebleau - Rocher Guichot - La Conque à Bras (direct) 7A

April 25-26, 2026 - Listen to the signs.

I wasn't 100% for climbing yesterday for some reason, but I did want to go to a nice spot in the forest to get away from the house and from all the work. It didn't have to be long, but I just needed some peace and quiet and I had to listen to signs of my mind and body. Coquibus is a great place for hiding, so I went to Montrouget Est, to the isolated boulder of "High Liner".
My skin wasn't great and I had a hard time finding good friction, but was able to going not too bad after all. I hadn't planned and wasn't very attracted by "Crack Liner" right next to, sharing the same start and first couple of moves, but after I dry fired out of the small vertical crack right hand near the end of "High Liner", I took a pretty sketchy fall. It turned out okay, but given that it could have been pretty bad, I took it as a sign and decided to switch to "Crack Liner" after all. Having worked out "High Liner", I knew the first part already and was able to send "Crack Liner" on my first attempt. It turned out to be much nicer than I expected.

Fontainebleau - Montrouget Est - Crack Liner 7A(7A+)

This morning, I felt tired and wanted to a lot more work around the house and in my barn, but went to Apremont Bizons to try "Les L de Lilou" in an isolated sector of the area. It was unfortunately much more in the sun than I remembered from a previous visit there many years ago, and with my skin not being in the best condition, I didn't think I was going to be able to hold on the bad slopers for long enough to be able to finish it. Somehow after a handful of attempts, I did manage to struggle my way through and to the top of this very nice problem.

Fontainebleau - Apremont Bizons - Les L de Lilou 7B

April 18-19, 2026 - Everything goes.

The more aesthetical climbers will always try to avoid using knees and elbows, but I'm definitely not one of them. The point is to follow the line of the problem and get to the end. I'm one those climbers that is of the opinion that everything goes, as long as you get to the end. That includes elbows, knees, and whatever part of the body can help to reach the goal.
Yesterday morning I went back to Le Pendu d'Huison again, to try "Boule de Feu" on a big and very attractive boulder a bit below "Psycho Tropical". It was one of the other boulders that I wanted to try when coming here for the first time, but due my priorities being with the two other lines, I hadn't taken an opportunity yet to try it, despite having looked at a few times and already imagining the moves. 
Starting in a steep overhang with an undercling, it immediately starts with a lot of body tension, making the first couple of moves quite powerful. The moves seemed to fir me pretty well though and I soon had a good working sequence to get through the overhang. There was one move afterwards that gave me a bit of trouble at first, but all in all, I managed to send it quite fast. Another beauty from Olivier (Lebreton) that deserves five stars in my personal and humble opinion.

Fontainebleau - Le Pendu d'Huison - Boule de Feu 7B+

Due to unexpected work in the house with my oldest son in the afternoon, which kept us busy until the evening and going to bed quite late for my usual habits, I felt quite exhausted this morning and as I wanted to finish what we started the day before, it was already around noon when I was able to go for a quick climb. Still wanting to do work in my barn, I stayed close to home and went to Rocher de la Cathédrale to try "J'aime tes G'noux", opened by Manuel (Marques). A small low roof with compression moves and where even Manuel, one of the most aesthetic climbers I know, used his knees for topping out. Hence the name of the problem. I felt in my element on it and didn't need much time to finish it off. It's not because of the knees, but I liked it.

Fontainebleau - Rocher de la Cathédrale - J'aime tes G'noux 7B

April 12, 2026 - Paul Bismuth.

After having done "Psycho Tropical", I had wanted to try "Paul Bismuth", but as it started raining only minutes after "Psycho Tropical", I went back for "Paul Bismuth" this morning. It shares the same first part as "Psycho Tropical", but goes exits on the right after the big hole in the overhang.
I had the first part dialed very well, so I first focused on the moves and a possible sequence starting from the big hole. From the big hole, it goes to a very bad sloper on the right where you have to match with both hands in order to be able to reach for a slightly better hold far right, one that can not be seen from the position being in. It are a couple of quite hard moves, but I was able to do them quite quickly and felt fairly confident on them.
I then was able to finish the whole problem on my second attempt from the start.

Fontainebleau - Le Pendu d'Huison - Paul Bismuth 7B+

April 11, 2026 - The rain detector.

Last weekend, the day after I did "Revue de Presse", I went to the relatively unknown small area of Le Pendu d'Huison. I had never been there before, and I figured it would be a perfect spot to hide from the big crowds during the Easter weekend. And indeed, I was completely alone. There were a few problems that I wanted to try, but my priority went to the overhang of "Psycho Tropical".
The first part of the overhang is with quite good pockets, but it's at the lip of the overhang that it starts to be really hard, and even harder than I expected. Even though I was able to do all the separate moves quite quickly, linking them all when coming from the bottom proved to be very physical and I got humbled. I figured that my body was still tired after "Revue de Presse", but went back the day after to work on some details, trying to make them count. In vain. I got shut down by it.
Yesterday I had taken the day off and went back thinking that after a week of rest it would be better, but no, I still kept falling off at the same point and the physical aspect was taking its toll on my power levels. I stopped trying from the start and decided to work only on small details, trying to find a more confident sequence. Even though I did find a much more confident sequence after tweaking some minor details, I didn't have the energy anymore to finish it off but I was determined to come back the day after, being today.
When looking at the cloud radar this morning, I noticed that it could start raining any moment, so left early, immediately after having some breakfast, kind of expecting that the rain would beat me to it. 
Luckily it wasn't raining yet when I arrived, but I could feel some rain drops now and then on the bald spot on my head. The 'rain detector' as Alberto likes to call it. I decided to skip warming up, turned on the camera and immediately went for a full attempt. It paid off. I got passed the point where I always fell, and got to the good hold. From there, I had to use a small very bad slopey crimp, but I knew what to do. I crimped the hell out of it, feeling that I could slip off any moment, but I didn't and was able to top out.
A real beauty, very hard for the grade, and in a very beautiful spot. Barely a couple minutes after topping out, it started to rain. I had beaten the rain as well this time.

Fontainebleau - Le Pendu d'Huison - Psycho Tropical 7B(7B+)

April 04, 2026 - Battle for the move.

I had briefly tried "Revue de Presse" during my first visit of that sector in Moigny-sur-Ecole back in 2023 and even though I wasn't able to figure out a sequence, let alone do any move, it had intrigued me and I had put on my backburner list. It took three years before I decided to go back for it, which was about a month and a half ago.
On my first session this year, I ended up figuring out a sequence and do all the moves separately. I was tired, but put it on my priority list, thinking that it would be a quick deal when I came back feeling fresh. This turned out to be far from the truth. I could do the separate moves again, but linking them together proved to be a different business. Three very hard moves in a row, and it almost every time I fell at the second one. As soon as I my right toehook moves just a slight bit, I would fall off, and the right toehook sticking where it is is really key.
Several more sessions followed, and each time it was the same. I fell countless times on that second move. I knew it was possible and that I could physically do it, so it became a mental battle. I knew that if it I would stick that move, I would be able to finish it, I just didn't know when.
I had taken the day off yesterday and set off in the morning for my sixth (!) session, almost expecting that it would just be the same like all the previous ones. I think that if the spot wouldn't be so nice and isolated, I would have probably already given up and turned to something else. My first attempt felt promising, I got closer to doing the second move, but still not close enough, it became quite frustrating. 
Immediately from the first move it starts taking a toll on the core power, but this time, I took longer breaks to recover. During one of my breaks, I thought about trying to find another method, but I knew I had to stick with what I had in mind. But then I did add a slight change. Before starting the second move, I decided to match a left toehook next to my right, allowing me to slightly correct my right toehook and finding the sweet spot where it had the most chance to stick. It was an eye opener. Even though still very hard and difficult, it got me closer. And then, suddenly, it all flowed, everything stuck just right, I made the second move, took the swing, hung on and topped out. What a great relief it was and what a battle, both physically and mentally. This one must have taken me at least fifty attempts from the start.

Fontainebleau - Moigny-sur-Ecole - Revue de Presse 7C(7C+)

March 28, 2026 - Switched habit.

I always prefer climbing in the morning until about 14h, after which I spend the rest of the day working on my barn project. Usually, this is how it goes, but after a rainy night and a few more rain showers yesterday morning, I had to switch my habit, work in my barn in the morning, with a short climbing session later in the afternoon after the sun had come out and a fierce wind blew everything dry. 
The work in my barn is pretty exhaustive so I didn't want to go to my priority project, but went to Roche aux Oiseaux instead to try a newly opened 7B, "L'Oeuf de Poule (assis)". A sitstart to "L'Oeuf de Poule", which is only a 5+ on its own, so the hardest moves were definitely going to be the first ones. With a cold breeze from the North, it was felt quite cold, but that was an advantage on the first move, featuring a very bad sloper for the right hand. Doing the first two moves didn't take me very long, but I was surprised about how difficult it felt to throw the right foot for a toehook. Once I was able to it though, I was able to top out.

Fontainebleau - Roche aux Oiseaux - L'Oeuf de Poule (assis) 7B

This morning, I could return to my usual habit and went to my priority project. The work from yesterday had taken its toll though and I lacked the power to even repeat the crux move separately. Nevertheless, it felt like a good training session and I don't mind going back there next weekend. I will be in a quiet isolated spot during the infamous extremely crowded Easter weekend.

March 22, 2026 - Check mate.

Last week I started trying a project in a very little known area and decided to not post any details until I finish it. I had tried it briefly once in 2023 and even though I had added it to my wantlist, I hadn't gone back to it until last week. Three years I could barely do any of the moves, but last week I managed to unlock all the separate moves and even made some good links. Only three very hard moves, and even harder when trying to do them in a row, so I didn't manage to get away with the send yet. I was determined to go back this weekend and went back yesterday, joined by Jan (Gorrebeeck) who needed some time off in the forest. Still no send, but at least it was a good training, trying all the moves over and over again.

This morning, my body felt sore from trying hard the day before, but I was going to meet Jan in Boissy-aux-Cailles as we agreed to climb a bit in Boissy Le Plaid, trying to avoid the crowds. Not long after I parked my car, Jan wrote me that he overslept, so I went ahead, thinking to use the time to try "Échec", one of the few boulders that I had never tried before due to several reasons. It wasn't after a long time that I had done the separate moves, except for the topout. Doing the crux move again, letting go of the feet and placing the right heel, proved to be real challenge. I don't have long legs so it was nearly impossible to take the oblique left hand crimp exactly how I needed, making the crux feel so much harder and slipping off at crucial moments many times. After a longer rest though, it suddenly all clicked. I broke through and topped out. It was a huge relief standing on top of the boulder, as I was very close to still fall off at the mantle.

Fontainebleau - Boissy Le Plaid - Échec 7C(7B+)

March 14, 2026 - Unexpected.

After a huge amount of rain yesterday and with cloudy grey weather forecasted for today, I wasn't expecting to climb today, but this morning the sun was shining and it was already here and there around my house. I had planned to spend the day working on my barn project, but as it unexpectedly looked possible to climb, I went out in the morning. Still wanting to spend more time than last week on my barn project, I chose something quick drying not far from home and went to try "Prime d'Activité (assis)" in Rocher du Guetteur.
When there were no clouds in front of the sun, it felt already quite warm at that sunny spot, but still cold enough to notice good conditions. The friction felt good. It took me some time to learn the crux move, the dyno to the arete far left, but the progress was quick and steady. Not even half an hour after I arrived, I was able to finish it and pack up for going back home to work on my barn project. I was able to have both after all, unexpected.

Fontainebleau - Rocher du Guetteur - Prime d'Activité (assis) 7B

March 08, 2026 - Priority given.

As I wrote yesterday, I had found a new priority project in "La Force Vient du Ventre". I felt quite exhausted this morning due to the labor on my barn project, but by the time I had done my morning habits, I felt stronger and decided to back to Rocher du Mauvais Passage. There was a dense fog, but the friction felt good, maybe even better than yesterday, or maybe it was just because dried out skin due to working with lime mortar yesterday. 
On my warmup attempt, I immediately noticed that I was still in the flow I ended with yesterday, but just missed the far last harder move. On my second attempt, it flowed again and this time I didn't miss the last hard move. I kept calm, realizing that it's still possible to fall off from the topout. It all went like a charm and I topped out.
A great problem that doesn't feel like a traverse despite being catalogued as one.

Fontainebleau - Rocher du Mauvais Passage - La Force Vient du Ventre 7C(7B+)

March 07, 2026 - Pushing the motivation.

My barn project has been taking a lot of my attention and energy and I somehow felt that I had to force myself to keep the climbing motivation going. Not that I didn't want to climb, but the lack of attention I gave to it made my drive to send go down a bit. This week, I forced myself to pick a climbing project and psyche myself for it. For some reason, it became "La Force Vient du Ventre" in Rocher du Mauvais Passage, with "La Bague Superflue" as a second option. To be able to divide my time well today between climbing and working in my barn, I left quite early already and decided to first try "La Bague Superflue" as a sort of warmup. The other one is quite long, and I wanted to gauge my level first.
I felt quite good and barely half an hour later, I was able to stick both dynos for the second time, kept focused and topped out "La Bague Superflue". Maybe not the hardest of the grade, but it was good for my morale and boosted my motivation.

Fontainebleau - Rocher du Mauvais Passage - La Bague Superflue 7B

I spent about an hour working out the moves of "La Force Vient du Ventre", which went quite good. By the time I had it all figured out though and was able to flow through the moves, I was getting tired and after finally doing the last hard move when coming from the start, I suddenly felt the energy being sucked out of my forearms and knew that it was time to call it a day. I was very happy with the session though and the progress I had made in this quite long boulder. Maybe a new priority climbing project.

March 01, 2026 - My current biggest project.

My biggest project at the moment is not a climbing project. A couple of weeks ago, I started pointing the inside walls of my barn. A project that would cost me about 15000 euros when a professional made me an offer a few years ago. It wasn't necessary at that time and still isn't today, but as it would make the place more finished, I decided to take on the work myself. I only have time during the weekends and I'm not a professional, so I realize that it will probably be a multi year project given the sheer size of the barn and me not wanting to spend full days on it. I prefer to climb in the morning and later during the day spend a few hours pointing, which is quite an exhausting job. I'm not in a hurry though and the part that I did already is growing steadily and already makes a big difference. Those who know my barn can probably imagine what an undertaking this is.

After having had quite a good up with my climbing lately, it is now in a down. A wave pattern that I have gotten used to though and it doesn't bother me that much anymore; I know that a next up will come again.
During my short visit to the Rocher Saint-Germain Ouest area, I did get away with a jump start version of "XXL (direct)". The static start just feels way too morpho for me.

Fontainebleau - Rocher Saint-Germain Ouest - XXL (direct départ sauté) 7A+(7B)

February 20, 2026 - Five stars worth fighting for.

A lot of rain the past weeks, but last Saturday was a good day for climbing in the afternoon. I had talked myself into finally going for "Fight Block" in J.A. Martin, a boulder that I stood in front of and watched in awe many times, but the exposed side of it always scared me away and I hadn't tried a single move on it yet.
I hauled two crashpads to the boulder, and slowly started built up confidence trying the first couple of moves, which didn't go too bad to my pleasant surprise. I quickly realized that this was my new priority project. I worked out the moves separately, where I could, taking some good but quite safe falls, which boosted my confidence. After about two hours I was out of energy, but I had been able to do all the moves separately and even do the boulder in two overlapping parts, except for the final topout. I was quite sure though that if I would get there, I would be able to pull myself through and get on the boulder even though it's definitely still possible to fall there. I was very pleased with the progress I made that session and was determined to come back as soon as I could.
"Fight Block" lingered in my mind the whole work week and when I saw that today was going to be dry, I decided to go back for it today already, after work, taking advantage of the steadily longer growing daylight. This time, I was able to get to the left arete from my first go, but fell off afterwards. That's where the crux starts, for me at least. Being positive about the first part, I decided to focus on the crux alone. Even though I had been able to the crux moves a few times last session, it wasn't even half of the times that I tried that I could do them. I knew I had to make this more consistent and decided to work on the minor details, trying to find the small things that would help me there.
For me, it turned out to be the right heelhook placement. I slightly adjusted its placement and immediately made the moves in a much more controlled fashion. I knew that this was the key and decided to turn on the camera for the full line. 
I immediately reached a new highpoint, but fell off after, being surprised about how well I got there. After a short break, I started climbing, feeling confident. I cruised through the first part, arrived at the crux remembering the heelhook adjustment and stuck the crux moves perfectly. Somehow, I kept my focus for the full 100%, stayed calm and got around the arete with the feeling that I had everything under control. I have to admit that I was slightly nervous for the final topout, but it all went like I had imagined it and topped out.
Definitely a five star problem, in my humble personal opinion, absolutely worth fighting for!

Fontainebleau - J.A. Martin - Fight Block 7C