Saturday, January 24, 2026

January 24, 2026 - Out of Sight.

I went to Cuvier Sorcières this morning with the intention to try "Le Proueptologue (assis)". I still remember when I was helping out Neil Hart with his film "Out of Sight" early 2013, featuring relatively unknown boulders at that time, away from everything else. "Le Proueptologue (assis)" was one of them, and I stood in awe, watching someone climb the whole problem over and over again, each time for a different shot for the video. It's hard to imagine it being an unknown boulder at the time. Nothing else was opened yet, the area of Cuvier Sorcières wasn't even a climbing area yet and nor was the nearby area of Cuvier Bellevue, a pretty popular area nowadays.
I had a quite good session trying "Le Proueptologue (assis)" but remained empty handed. Definitely a project, but not a priority one.
To not go back home empty handed, I climbed the nearby "Le Gymnécologue (assis)", which only needed two attempts.

Fontainebleau - Cuvier Sorcières - Le Gymnécologue (assis) 7A+



While packing up, I thought about passing by the isolated big boulder of "L'Âpre Houx". I had looked at the sitstart a few times, but it was either wet, or the huge move from the start always looked impossible and I never was motivated enough to try it. Now I decided to give a chance even though it still looked quite impossible at first sight, but at least it was dry.
I kind of surprised myself with how fast I was making progress on it, making a big swing and just launching to the sloper as if something exploded beneath me. The only way for me to reach the sloper after launching myself is by letting go of the barely existing footholds, otherwise it was simply impossible for me to reach. 
When I finally stuck it a first time, I realized that the next move was quite hard as well when not standing on anything. After quickly trying that part separately, I made it on my attempt right after it. I liked it more that I thought I would and at least didn't go home empty handed.

Fontainebleau - Cuvier Sorcières - L'Âpre Houx (assis) 7B

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