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+