December 07, 2015 - Basta!

A beautiful sunrise on the way to work and the knowledge that the weather was announced beautiful with a clear sunny sky, made me take some hours off work to enjoy this beauty and of course add some climbs.
I wanted to warm up in "Mekkera" in Rocher d'Avon Ouest. It looked really nice on videos I had seen from it, and being a 7A(6C+) dyno, it seemed like a good warm up.
I got warm allright! Jumping maybe 30 times, nearly every time grabbing the topholds, but falling off the huge sidewards swing. The ledge on the top cut through my skin more and more and I had no choice but to give up. The blood was coming through the tape I had put on for some protection.
I will go back for that one when I have grown back some skin.
My hands said basta, and that made me think of "Basta", a really nice, well known 7A+ problem in the main sector of Rocher d'Avon.
The first time I did it was in mid August 2009, a really hot summer day, and I was able to do it 4 times in a row, so I knew that I would still be able to repeat at least that for the video.
I think it took me about 3 tries to build up the required distance that had to be jumped, and once you get it right on the sloper, you have to make a big mistake to still fall out of it.
After that, my skin, hands and body really said basta, and I went to the car to go home. The thermometer in the car read 16°C in the shade!!

Fontainebleau - Rocher d'Avon - Basta 7A+

On the way home, I still had to drive past the whole Franchard area and naturally I couldn't resist. The forest just kept calling me in like mermaids lure nearby ships towards the cliffs.

On my way to Hautes Plaines, I ran into Igor and saw him make an almost successful ascent of "Sur-Prises (assis)". Strong "little" fella, he'll have it soon.

For me, "Le Surplomb de la Coquille (direct)" was a little bit too far fetched after today's climbing and all the days before. I did however want to finish in beauty so looked for a small 7A that I hadn't tried before.

My eye fell on "Le Solitaire", a 7A that can be found on an isolated boulder, just outside the main Hautes Plaines area.

Luckily it didn't take me too many tries to finish it, I was done, out of energy, ... basta!

Fontainebleau - Franchard Hautes Plaines - Le Solitaire 7A