January 11, 2026 - Fear the end.

I tried "La Maison de la Presse" the first time for only a short session. It was mid Summer, two years ago I think, and the right side of the boulder was full in the morning sun, making it nearly impossible to do more than two moves in a row. It did give me however, a sense of most of the moves, but more than two years later, I had already forgotten about them. I had hoped to try it again during my Christmas vacation, but other priorities had received my attention. Yesterday was the first time that I went back for it.
The conditions were dry, but less than good. The friction definitely wasn't like last week and two weeks ago. I did manage to figure out all of the moves and even climb up to the last hard move, but slipped off with my right hand at a crucial moment. From there, the hard part is over, but it's where the scary part starts. I don't know if I had to feel disappointed for slipping off there, or to be relieved not having to that scary part with nearly frozen toes. You surely don't want to fall off at the topout, because breaking bones would almost certainly be the result, if not worse. My attempts after that highpoint were getting worse, so I knew I had to give it a break, but was determined to come back soon. It had become my new priority project.
This morning, even though not forecasted as such, it looked like a beautiful day. It was cold and the sun was out. I drove back to "La Maison de la Presse" after breakfast and tried to not make myself too nervous. With the progress that I had made yesterday, I knew that it was only a matter of time and hoped for time to be early in the session, before my toes would be frozen again.
My first attempt of the day was good. The conditions still far from perfect, but slightly better than yesterday. On my second attempt, I cruised through the hard part and suddenly found myself standing in the slab. I had never done the topout before, and even though you can kind of make up what's up there when looking from the bottom, I didn't really know what to expect. For sure, it's not very hard, but I had to take a deep breath to motivate myself to commit and climb on. I was scared, but didn't let it take over. It was a huge relief when I finally stood on the top. I was happy and relieved to have finished "La Maison de la Presse", but more importantly, I was still alive and hadn't broken any bones.

Fontainebleau - Buthiers Canard - La Maison de la Presse 7C

January 01, 2026 - First of the year.

I don't really celebrate New Year's Eve as I don't really see the point in forcing myself to stay up late and just feel tired the day after. As usual, I was in bed early, and was ready to go climbing this morning.
I went to Gorges du Houx Petit Paradis with the intention to try "Au Petit Paradis", but my skin isn't in the best shape anymore after so many good climbing days, and I didn't feel totally secure with the big boulder in the back. I gave up on it after a short while, but stopped at the quite new "CSCSCS" on my way back to the car.
I thought, and it looked like, that it was only going to be one very hard move, but then came the mantle. It took me quite some time and attempts before I finally stuck the very hard far move to a very bad sloper, but was surprised by how hard the mantle still was and fell off.
I stuck the hard a couple of times again, but again fell off the mantle twice, one time even when I was as good as standing on top of the boulder. My toes were absolutely freezing and I didn't expect to be able to finish it anymore, but then I stuck the dynamic move again, and without any feeling in my toes trusted the small pebble I had to stand up on. I imagined myself falling off again, but somehow made it all the way through to the end. A great start of the new year.

Fontainebleau - Gorges du Houx Petit Paradis - CSCSCS 7C+

December 31, 2025 - Being in control.

With the ongoing good conditions, I had planned for and hoped to climb another project on the last day of 2025. The project I chose was "Contrôle A" in Buthiers Piscine. Last year in Summer, I had briefly held the top sloper, but missed the friction to pull on it just a bit more to get it good enough, allowing me to match with the right hand and finally top it out. The good conditions would for sure be very welcome if only I would get to the same point again.
Steven (Demets) decided to stop in Bleau on his way back to Belgium and I was glad that he agreed to join me in Buthiers Piscine. He was even kind enough to carry one of the three crashpads that I had taken with me.
My first couple of attempts were only mediocre, but with the good friction, I was able to place the right foot slightly higher and reach higher up on the top sloper. Still though, it didn't feel far enough and I couldn't put enough controlled pressure on my right foot to make the far move static. Instead, it felt like I was just launching at it, making it feel nearly impossible to hold the high sloper. 
I had a couple of breaks while spotting Steven in some other nearby problems, and started to loose motivation, thinking that the "Contrôle A" might be too morpho for me. Steven's encouragement helped motivate me and I decided to give a last attempt, thinking that I probably won't again and just see where I would get. Maybe it was the feeling of letting go that made me suddenly climb very controlled. It all felt perfect. As soon as I placed the right foot at the same higher spot, I immediately felt that it was going to stay were it was this time and I was able to really push on it this time. It got me high enough to statically reach for the top sloper left hand, where it stuck. It almost felt easy, I had everything under control. Without hesitation, I matched with the right hand and knew that it was over. I topped out in slight disbelief. Another project done, and a perfect one to end 2025 with. 
Thanks again to Steven for the motivation, spotting and carrying an additional crashpad.

Fontainebleau - Buthiers Piscine - Contrôle A 7C

December 29-30, 2025 - Maybe, maybe not.

Yesterday was extremely cold and the temperature barely reached just above 0°C. It felt tough for the freezing toes while climbing and I couldn't find the right motivation to really try hard. I quite quickly gave up on "Frénésie" in Petit Rempart and turned to the easier graded and looking "Révélation", right behind "Frénésie". For some reason I hadn't tried that one before and I underestimated it by just going by the look of it. Only one move, but it felt far, coming from a bad sloper right hand a tiny razor sharp crimp for the left. Trying to ignore the feeling of the crimp cutting in my fingertips, I finally did manage to pull hard enough and jump to the good hold and top out. It was all I did yesterday, because the freezing toes had become unbearable.

Fontainebleau - Petit Rempart - Révélation 7B

It was a big difference this morning, with 1° above freezing when I woke up. By the time I left home, around noon, it was already a quite nice 4°C, which made a big difference compared to yesterday. I didn't want to go far, so I went to Gorge aux Châts to try "Probablement" again. It had been a few years since I had last tried this one. Up to that time, I had spent at least four sessions on it, just trying the first move, never having been able to stick it. 
After having left it alone for a few years, I thought I would go back and see how different it would be this time, especially with the conditions being very good again. Not a luxury in this problem.
I had always known "Probablement" to start with a crouching start, going by the only video that I was posted on bleau.info, but a more recent video shows that also a real sitstart is possible, adding another move at the start. I decided to stick with how I always had known it, with a crouching start. I wanted to warm up with the second part of the problem, just after the big dynamic move to the crimp, but I couldn't even do that. After some time, I decided to switch to trying the big dynamic move, and noticed that I was getting quite close. When I finally almost had it, I decided to turn on the camera, just in case, even without having been able to do the second part. Maybe it would go, maybe not.
Somehow, I stuck the huge dynamic move for the first time ever, and miraculously kept it together and topped it out. I almost couldn't believe what had just happened.

Fontainebleau - Gorge aux Châts - Probablement (accroupi) 7C(7B+)

December 27, 2025 - Take a bite.

It's still extremely cold, but the sunshine yesterday made it very bearable. Unfortunately today, the sky had become covered by clouds again so there was no sun anymore to briefly warm up in again. In one way, I wanted to let my body rest and recover a bit, but the still very good conditions made me change my mind and I looked up a condition dependent problem on my list. I chose "Snak" in Cuvier Est. Very bad slopers require good conditions and this problem was nothing but bad slopers.
I had tried "Snak" maybe two times, but only briefly because it was in the Summer and the sun was directly in my face and warming up the slopers. I knew that I had to come back one day in Winter with good conditions, but that was already a few years ago and I hadn't gone back for it for some reason. Today definitely was a good time.
The conditions turned out to be not as good as yesterday, but still more than good enough. I didn't even need an hour of time for topping out this nice sloper problem. It's all in the details when trying to climb up a basketball-like problem. 
Glad to be able to tick this one off the list.

Fontainebleau - Cuvier Est - Snak 7C

December 23-26, 2025 - Replacing pain with joy.

After having injured my ribs and the muscles around them on Monday, I was suffering from severe pain around the area where my wooden brush pushed through my ribs, or at least that's what it had felt like. Luckily, it was already easier to breathe the day after, but moving however, had to be done with care. Despite that, I did want to climb a bit on Tuesday, so tried to find something what looked a bit easier and I thought I had found it in "On the Road", in Mont Ussy Est, right next to the parking.
Maybe it was because I wasn't able to move as freely as I wanted, but I have to admit that I had underestimated it. It took me some time before I had figured out how to do the separate moves given the condition I was in. Once I knew though it went down quickly.

Fontainebleau - Mont Ussy Est - On the Road 7B

On Wednesday, the temperatures had dropped significantly, the sky opened up again, revealing the nice blue that we had to miss for so long, and the wind was coming from the North-East. Perfect ingredients for very good conditions, the kind that I had been waiting for for so long. I was motivated, but couldn't find the right boulder that would fit for the day given the how I still couldn't move as much without pain, despite trying to ignore it. I regretted not daring to try my main project for this Winter, "Tempête Solaire".
The day after, on Thursday, I was determined to go back to "Tempête Solaire", no matter how I felt. I had tried it for three sessions during Summer. It had taken me two sessions to just stick the crux move, the little jump to a very bad sloper, while at the same time releasing the foot and trying to hold the slight swing. On my third session in Summer, I was able to do the whole problem in two overlapping parts, but figured that I would need much better conditions than the Summer morning warmth to be able to stand a chance doing the whole problem. Thursday had exactly the conditions I had been waiting for.
As by coincidence, Steven Demets, an old time friend, was on his way to the South and decided to stop at Bleau for a short day. We met up in Apremont Butte aux Dames and first tried some easier things, as he hadn't climbed for years and is still recovering from a broken arm, before going to "Tempête Solaire". With the pain still bothering me, my main goal for Thursday, was to to at least relearn the crux move and try to make it quite consistent. It went much better than that. 
After sticking the crux move a few times separately, I gave it some attempts from the start, and even made it to a new highpoint before slipping off unexpectedly. The body was tired and the pain almost unbearable, so I threw in the towel, knowing that the good conditions would last for a couple of days more.
This morning, I woke up, still in pain, but slightly better. I was determined to go back to "Tempête Solaire" and left around 11h after a short warmup at home. I tried to not set the expectations too high, but I felt nervous while driving there. After yesterday, I knew that the full send would be just a matter of time, having that one good go. Even though I had felt a lot of pain while warming up at home, somehow, it completely went away as soon as I as warmed up trying the crux of "Tempête Solaire". It only took me a handful of attempts to stick it. Not wasting any time or energy, I felt ready, but nervous. I turned on the camera, got ready and set off for my first attempt of the day. The first part up to the crux went smooth, like almost every time by then, I stuck the crux cleanly and threw my foot around the arete hoping to not slip off like yesterday. It stuck. Once I had the higher crimp, I knew that I couldn't fall anymore and went on. I had reached a new highpoint, the top of the boulder. It was quite some time that I felt so much joy and relief after topping out a boulder. The problem that I was secretly hoping for to still finish this year, was done.

Fontainebleau - Apremont Butte aux Dames - Tempête Solaire 8A(7C+)

December 22, 2025 - I can't breathe.

After a rainy night, on Saturday I went to Rocher Saint-Germain for a walk in the wet forest and to have a look at the relatively new boulder "Les Fossoyeurs Insoumis". Even though the forest was soaking wet, it wasn't raining at that moment, and I decided to take my climbing bag and my thin Black Diamond gapstopper pad, just in case.
I didn't carry it in vain, because to my pleasant surprise, the lower holds were perfectly dry and even in very good conditions. The top was soaking wet, but at least I could start trying the moves from the start up to the last harder move of "Les Fossoyeurs Insoumis (gauche)". I spent about two hours of climbing, trying the lower section and made very good progress. I fell off the last harder move a couple of times, but that was okay, because with a soaking wet top, I didn't see myself finishing it anyway. At least I had been able to climb and I was determined to come back as soon it was less wet.
Yesterday, Sunday, it rained all day long, only to stop at around 22h. It gave me at least a bit of hope for today.

This morning, it looked pretty dry compared to yesterday and after some house chores, I went back to try "Les Fossoyeurs Insoumis (gauche)". The top was dry enough now, but unfortunately the lower holds were not in as good conditions as Saturday. Still remembering the moves from two days ago, I progressed quickly again and started getting close quickly. Unfortunately after an unexpected slip on one my better attempts, I fell hard, with my ribcage right onto my bigger wooden brush that was standing up straight in one of my shoes. I could feel the brush go in between my ribs and screamed out from the pain I was struck with. It hurt like crazy and I had a hard time breathing, making me fear that I might have broken a rib. Being so close to sending, I wasn't ready to give up though and kept on trying. Despite the pain, climbing went okay, but after each attempt, in need for air, I wasn't able to breathe deeply because of the pain. After a short break, I went for it again and somehow executed everything perfectly and stuck the last hard move. I struggled my way through to the top, and couldn't even feel happy. Instead, being out of breath made me want to breathe deeply, which I couldn't due to the pain. The joy came later.
Still now it's hurting a lot when I breathe, I'm surely in for a rough night.

Fontainebleau - Rocher Saint-Germain Centre - Les Fossoyeurs Insoumis (gauche) 7C+(7C)