December 22, 2015 - Apocalypse Now.

Gorge à Véron is located in a beautiful part of the Coquibus, maybe even one of the most beautiful parts. Also only a couple of boulders there, out of which only one that (for me at least) deserves some real attention. The others are either too exposed or too high or not that nice to climb.

I had tried "Zig-Zag Napalm" 2 years ago but it was in the middle of Summer. It's a really nice problem on the top of the hill where there are no trees to give you the needed shade in the heat. The problem is faced towards the South, and when there is no wind, it can feel like an oven there in Summer. Far from good conditions.
Back then I was able to do all the moves and could do the problem in 2 parts, but was never able to link it all together.
This morning, the conditions were ideal. I immediately felt that the rock was sticky as hell, but when I gave it a first try, the pain in my right elbow was unbearable. I couldn't pull myself up.
I then remembered my wife's advice and did some of the stretching and warm up exercises she told me to do. The try after that it stil hurt but felt better.
I did some more stretching and right after that I was able to hold on to the far shoulder move and stupidly enough suddenly realised that I didn't setup the camera yet. Being distracted by that, my left foot slipped and I came out of the boulder.
It didn't matter because I knew it was gonna go down now.
I set up the camera, pressed record, sat down at the start and found myself on top of the boulder about 45 seconds later.
"I love the smell of napalm in the morning!"

Fontainebleau - Gorge à Véron - Zig-Zag Napalm 7A(7A+)

I still felt like climbing, but fatigue started to come over me. 

There is a small roof just behind "Zig-Zag Napalm", that features a 7A+ traverse "Le Souffle du Dragon" and a 7B "Coup de Foudre".

I tried both, but in "Coup de Foudre", the hardest part seems to be the first move, the one where you have to pull up and get your ass off the ground. Mine (ass) seemed glued to the ground.

For "Le Souffle du Dragon" it's the other way around. The traverse climbs nicely, but the hardest part is at the end, going for the topout. It took too much energy from me and I decided to move, so I could use the walk and short drive as a rest.

It was a short rest though, because I only drove 5 minutes to Coquibus Auvergne. It was either going there or Coquibus Grandes Vallées again.

I chose the first because I wanted to take advantage of the great conditions and still had left something behind there last Summer, "Little Crotale". A 7A+ of which the crux is the topout. A mantle on bad slopers. Last Summer I couln't hold on to those bad slopers.

"Little Crotale" is on the same boulder as the more commonly known "King Cobra" or "Little Cobra". It starts low left and has the same exit as "Little Cobra".

Even with the nearly perfect conditions of today, it was quite a big struggle to mantle up on those slopers, but finally I made it, totally worn out.

Fontainebleau - Coquibus Auvergne - Little Crotale 7A+

There is still a lot to do on this boulder but not today anymore. I gave it a try with "Little Cobra" as it has the same exit, but the start with the underclings under the roof didn't go anymore.

I still wanted to climb something though, so I checked the topo and thought that maybe "A Six c'est Assez" would be something. A 7A(6C+) straight up pillar. My body could probably still take that.

When you stand in front of it, it looks easy, but don't be fooled. It's harder than it looks, especially when you try a wrong method at first and have to adapt your flow.

I had a bit of a fight with this one, but it fits the grade. Soft 7A will do once you have figured it out.

We do it all for fun!!

"Disneyland! Fuck man, this is better than Disneyland!"

Fontainebleau - Coquibus Auvergne - A Six c'est Assez 7A(6C+)