July 13, 2019 - Keep on moving.

After a rough night due to the pain on my tail bone, I had difficulties to sit or stand up this morning.
My tail bone was hurting like hell, but I found that moving around slowly made it somewhat bearable, so I went out to see some of the new boulders in the new Mont Simonet Ouest area, hoping that it would be okay enough to climb.

Laurent Darlot was already there before me this morning, working in the long traverse of "Globe-Trotter". He had opened some of the lines in that sector, so he showed me what was what, where and how and gave some good beta to start with "Tout à l'Honneur".
On my first attempt, I held back because of the pain when I lifted up my left foot high. I decided that I should just go for it and deal with the pain later, and made it on my second attempt.

Fontainebleau - Mont Simonet Ouest - Tout à l'Honneur 7A(6C+)

The sitstart, opened by Laurent, proved to be much more interesting. Some very nice moves to get you in the standing start position, and forcing you to pull much harder for the final move.

Fontainebleau - Mont Simonet Ouest - Tout à l'Honneur (assis) 7B

Coming down and jumping the final 50cm off the boulder felt like torture to my fairy tail every time, which didn't really motivate to try something else, but I finished with the seeming first ascent of "Reckless (gauche assis)", where the hardest move is the first one, making me wonder how the standstart can be 6C.
Laurent, being smaller, had to start lower with the left hand, adding another not convenient move to it, but followed immediately after me. He had just finished "Globe-Trotter" anyway.

Fontainebleau - Mont Simonet Ouest - Reckless (gauche assis) 7A(6C+)

July 12, 2019 - Stupid fairy tail.

No, I didn't make a typo when writing tail in the title of this post. It's more meant as a reference to my tail bone for a tail that I don't have. That's why I sometimes jokingly call it my fairy tail bone.
As we don't, or no longer, have a tail, we often forget about it or are plainly unaware of its existence, but nevertheless, it's always there. Right at the very bottom of your spine.
The few moments in life when we get reminded of having one is mostly because we fell on it and can feel the pain in which it can result.

Being reminded of having a tail bone, is exactly what happened to me after work, when I stopped at Franchard Isatis and did my first try in "La Power-Lolotte (assis)". I missed the sloper of the first move and fell with that useless part of my body right on one the tree roots just above the surface.
It's the kind of pain that makes your toes curl and even though not crying, can make your eyes tear.
It hurt like crazy, but luckily the adrenalin took over during my next attempts, not making the pain go away, but rather making it bearable.
I only had a short hour that I could climb, but was able to make it just in time.
Even without the big hold near the top that broke off in 2017 and has now become a bad sloper, this is still a real beauty. Maybe even nicer now I would dare to say.

Fontainebleau - Franchard Isatis - La Power-Lolotte (assis) 7C

It's only when I cooled down again and the adrenalin faded that my damn fairy tail bone really started to hurt! I wish I didn't realise again that it's there.

July 07, 2019 - Down the hole.

It was already early afternoon when I arrived back home from Belgium, but I was motivated for a climb and went for it, despite the heat.
It was already 15h, so the sun was high and the car thermometer said 34°C when I parked at the cemetery of Boissy-aux-Cailles.
My first idea was to try some of the problems on the boulder of "Blind Spot" on top of the hill, above "Water Roof", but it was directly in the sun, and the overhang offered much less shade than I had hoped for.
After a few desperate attempts in "Faux Pas" and "Micromégas", the heat became unbearable and I had no choice but to stop climbing on that overhanging face of the boulder.
On my way back down the hill, I couldn't resist from taking a break in the pit of "Water Roof", where it felt nice and cool.

I hadn't planned on trying "Water Roof", because I remembered from last time that the moves in the small cave are quite physical and it felt too hot for that.
Having cooled down substantially deep in that hole though, I decided to give it a few tries.
To my pleasant surprise, the moves went much better than last time and after only a handful of attempts, I fought my way to the top.
Coming back down from the boulder, I noticed that the lid of the camera was still closed. It took a while before I had a more or less good spot for the camera, and apparently had forgotten to press record.
Luckily I was able to repeat it again after another cooling break down the hole.

Fontainebleau - Boissy Vallée de l'Église - Water Roof 7B+(7B)

July 04, 2019 - The die is cast again.

I still remember it well, when I did "Alea Jacta Est" in Roche aux Oiseaux, back in October 2016. It was beautiful Autumn day, and I still had to go to the South for work.
Slightly different situation today, being a hot Summer day in the beginning of July. I had done working and and already diner when I arrived at Roche aux Oiseaux this evening with only one thing on my mind, the sitstart of "Alea Jacta Est".
It had been a hot day, but there was a slight breeze and the air felt very dry. Something that could be noticed when touching the rock.

I still wanted to do something with my youngest son Noah, so I didn't have a lot of time, but I didn't feel any pressure. The area is close to home, the walk not far, and I knew that is still going to be dry for a while, so I could come come back soon if it didn't work out today.
Touching the crimp quite easily with every try, so I knew that it was just a matter of a bit of luck to deadpoint at the right time and crimp on the right spot.
When it suddenly stuck for the second time, I still expected to slide off the crimp, but somehow managed to stay on it and reach for the next hold. I knew that it was kind of over from then on, but I didn't want to make any wrong move, so held my breath and climbed on to reach the top.
Just like when I did the standing start, it came unexpected, but who cares, the die is cast.

Fontainebleau - Roche aux Oiseaux - Alea Jacta Est (assis) 7C+

July 03, 2019 - The Ritz.

I really needed a climb this evening to disconnect from work and luckily the temperature had already cooled down a lot.
The sun was already setting when I arrived at 95.2, but the sandstone boulders had gathered the heat and they still felt warm. Not really good conditions, but the air was dry, my skin not too bad and the motivation high. I was ready to try "La Ritz (assis)" again.
Despite that I could do all the moves quite easily, and had done the standing start already a couple of times, it still took me four short, but dedicated sessions to finally finish "La Ritz (assis)".
Not really hard moves to get into the position of the standing start, but keeping the friction until the end was quite hard and I had to change method many times.
Finally it all came together this evening, and I'm glad to add this beauty to my ticklist. Really worth the effort!

Fontainebleau - 95.2 - La Ritz (assis) 7B

June 30, 2019 - (Un)conventional.

With temperatures above 40°C nearly every day this week, it was too hot to even think of climbing anything. The mornings could have worked out, but with still 23°C during the night, the boulders didn't cool down and I had to work anyway.  The few times I did try to climb, it was too hot to finish anything.
Finally today was supposed to be less hot, but still the thermometer came close to 40 again in the afternoon. This morning however, it took a little longer before the heat returned, and I used the opportunity to go to Gorge aux Châts for a climb ... in the shade.
I had tried "Phase Finale" for the first time not long ago, and I could do all the moves separately and did the problem in two parts, it was just a matter of linking it. On top of that, the hardest part being under a shady roof was ideal for today.

"Phase Finale" starts with a beautiful, but very hard pinch for the left hand and a small crimp for the right. Lift up, take another sidepull crimp further right with the right hand and dyno from that crimp and the hard pinch to a sloper over the edge of the roof. From there it's only a 6A, but still one where you have to keep focussed.
While working on it again this morning, I managed to do an unconventional start first and decided to keep and publish a video of it because it felt worth it.
Start the same as "Phase Finale", with the feet in the back of the roof, the left hand on the hard pinch, but take whatever you can already reach with the right hand.
In my case, I can already reach the second crimp on the right from that position, basically skipping the first move of the original problem. Still hard enough for a hard 7B in my opinion.

Fontainebleau - Gorge aux Châts - Phase Finale (sans convention) 7B

Not very long after, but with some breaks in between, I also managed finish it from the original, conventional start too. Adding that extra move to it, does make it substantially harder.
That pinch is so nice that the whole problem got four stars from me on bleau.info. Up to now I seem to be the only registered repeater, but "Phase Finale" definitely deserves more.

Fontainebleau - Gorge aux Châts - Phase Finale 7C

June 21, 2019 - Focus.

It was hot this early this evening when I arrived in Apremont Ouest, but luckily the side of the boulder with "Crispr Cas9" was in the shade. Not a luxury for this slopey mantle.
It's one of the many recently published boulders in Apremont Ouest, opened by Tony Fouchereau and Thierry Vasseur, and I kind of have been intrigued with from the first time I tried it a few months ago, when it was still cold.
The first part of the problem is quite easy, however, it is still possible to fall off every move when you don't stay focussed.
The second part, the mantle into the slopey slab, felt really hard for me.
Spread over now four sessions, I wouldn't be able to put a number on the amount of times that I fell off that mantle, but it's a lot.

 In one sentence, somewhat easy start into a very hard and quite scare topout.
I liked it a lot, but was relieved when I finally made it! Just remember to stay focussed!

Fontainebleau - Apremont Ouest - Crispr Cas9 7B(7B+)