April 28, 2017 - Don't push the button!

Last Sunday I had found a method to climb "Isatix (assis)" but with the bad sweaty skin that I had that day, it was impossible to climb the whole thing and I had to leave it behind.
Now that my skin was fine, I went back, but with yet another method in mind.
I had seen on pictures that after taking the big crimp on the right at the start, that they were standing on a small foothold just a bit further where I usually put a toehook, and went from there with the left hand straight to the very high small crimp above their heads.

It took a while before I made it.
At first I even thought that the small crimp above my head was way too far away. I barely came close on my first tries.
I doubted about what method to continue trying with, but decided to steal the one that I saw on the pictures and pushed on.

Suddenly, my fingertips reached just high enough until I had the small crimp left hand, I aimed for the sharp crimp right hand, got it, placed my feet good and grabbed the right arete.
I had just done "Isatix (droite assis)", but unfortunately, due to pressing some wrong buttons, I deleted the video from my camera.
I didn't really bother, because I still had "Isatix (assis)" to do.

Basically it's the same climb, but instead of using the arete, you have to do a scary dyno from the two small crimps to a good hold up and slightly left. Which is more or less adding another small crux to it.
From the standstart I gave both versions the same grade on bleau.info 7A, because I felt that besides the fear factor, the dyno didn't add much difficulty.
From the sitstart, however, I gave both problems 7A+ and 7B respectively. Preparing for the dyno on those small crimps felt quite a bit harder after those couple of extra moves.
Great lines in any case and a beautiful boulder!

Fontainebleau - Cuvier Bellevue - Isatix (assis) 7B+

Still on my way home, but closer to it, I stopped at Bois Rond Auberge to check out the new boulder that had been published yesterday.
The boulder is quite easy to find if you follow the topo that can be found on bleau.info, but it's good to know that it can be found the top of a small hill.

I'm not sure if this has been climbed correctly, but there were not many other options.
I did follow the line pictured on bleau.info, but after flashing it, it felt too easy in a way.
Not really clear this one.
There is another 7A(6C+) that goes more to the left over the prow, but I didn't dare to try it as it was way too exposed with shattered small boulders right underneath it.

Fontainebleau - Bois Rond Auberge - La Super Couille de Droite 7A+(7A)

April 27, 2017 - Pousse Pouce Meow.

I was away for work a couple of days, which gave my skin and body some time to physically recover.
This evening after diner, I just had to do some climbing and went straight to my little project in La Ségognole.
It's a variation on some existing lines on the boulder of "Avoine", but according to me definitely worth the go for it.

The first times I tried it was about two years ago, not long after my operation.
I was still very weak then and couldn't hold on to the bad slopey crimp right hand.
About a year later I tried it again a few times and I was able to hold on to the crimp, but there was no way that I could move away out of that position.
Since then, I had forgotten about it. Until last week when I tried it again after almost a year.
That time I was able to move further but couldn't hold on to the crimp at the crucial moment when going for the left slopey arete.
I kept on slipping off.

The very bad slopey crimp right hand.

Today, I had some extra skin and my body was rested, so I was hopeful to at least be able to hold on to the left arete without slipping off the crimp.

The first tries were not bad, but again that crimp wouldn't let me do what I wanted to.

For quite a while I mainly focussed on the move to the left arete, until suddenly, after slightly changing my method, I had figured it out.

Now it was only a matter of holding the crimp long enough to stop my mild swing to the left and stabilise my position.

The name comes from "pousse", which is French for "push" and "pouce", which is French for "thumb", followed by "meow", the sound of a pussy cat.

You really need to push hard with your thumb on that bad slopey crimp to be able to hold it.

Fontainebleau - La Ségognole - Pousse Pouce Meow 7A+(7B)

April 23, 2017 - Find the method.

This morning I met Pieter, Bram (Honorez), his girlfriend Ruuth, Jan (de Smit) and his girlfriend Nataleigh at the bivouac of the Hippodrome de la Solle where they spent the night and after a short discussion, the decision was made to explore Cuvier Bellevue.
I had been there a couple of times already the past week, but the others were not and there was still more than enough to try.

"Stabilisateur d'Humeur" for example, is something I had tried briefly a couple of days ago, and even though it looks like a small and easy boulder that you're about to flash, I had to leave it undone.
I just couldn't find the correct method to position and stabilise my body enough for the last dynamic move to the good edge.
Each time the edge looked so close and each at the crucial moment, either the hand or the foot would slip. Very frustrating!

Jan started his first try with the same feeling I had, but as soon as he sat down and wanted to lift his butt from the ground, he had to admit that it might take a bit longer than expected.
We all ended trying one after the other, trying to figure out a method, until Nataleigh showed us how it was done from the standstart.
Now it was just a matter of linking the sit to the stand.

It didn't turn out to be much of a problem anymore, because two tries later I was proud to be the first one to top out from the sit and repeated it right after again for the video.
Pieter followed soon after, using the same method, but in a much more fascinating statical way.
Jan was the last wagon of the sending train, because Bram had set his mind on something else.

Fontainebleau - Cuvier Bellevue - Stabilisateur d'Humeur 7A+

We still worked for a long time in "Isatix (assis)", in which I found a good method that Jan used and gently climbed his way to the top of "Isatix (droite assis)".

The skin on my fingers was so far gone that they kept on sweating and climbing the whole problem just wasn't possible anymore.

I'm traveling for work next week, so it will be a good time to let my skin and body recover.

It's necessary!

April 22, 2017 - One boulder, five problems.

I climbed on only one boulder today, but did five problems on it.
It's a big boulder brushed by Jason Kester and on which he has opened several problems so far.
I had seen the boulder before from far when coming down the path from "52 Gérard", but had never bothered to look at it from close by. Jason did, and it seemed worth it!

When I approached the boulder, I realised where Jason had taken his inspiration for some of the problem's names. Quite a big piece of the forest next to the boulder has been completely cut down, making the boulder obviously visible now.

Jason and his wife her Helen were on their way from their house in Arbonne la Forêt to join me and by the time they and their two kids arrived, I had already done "Lumberjack" and "Clearcut".

I started with "Lumberjack", which I did on my second attempt and found it maybe a bit soft for the grade, but that will probably be thanks to my big reach.
Very nice line either way!

Fontainebleau - Franchard Ermitage - Lumberjack 7A

"Clearcut" needed some more tries.
My body needed to get used to the body position out of which you have to make the jump.
Jumping both handed seems to be the best way.
Very cool dyno!

Fontainebleau - Franchard Ermitage - Clearcut 7B

I took a short break and in the meantime, Jason, Helen and their boys arrived too.
It was nice to meet Jason who looked obviously proud showing this fine boulder in which he had spent so much time cleaning it.
While he was showing "Gorilla Fish" to Helen, I managed to add a sitstart to "Clearcut", making it feel more like a real 7B. I had the impression that the standstart was a somewhat soft 7B, but then again, it fits my style.

Fontainebleau - Franchard Ermitage - Clearcut (assis) 7B

Jason showed me "Gorilla Fish" too and I moved to the backside of the boulder to try it.
Coming from under the roof to the edge is a bit morpho, but I managed to find my way through.
This is a beautiful line!

Fontainebleau - Franchard Ermitage - Gorilla Fish 7A

Jason was still able to add an extension to "Gorilla Fish" by traversing past the nose, all the way up to the next angle of the boulder and top out just behind it.
Probably it will be around 7A+ and should be published sooner or later.
I thanked for it, because it was just too long, but I did manage to pull off a first ascent of a direct exit version of "Gorilla Fish".
Helen also topped the direct exit from a crouching start at the lip of the roof. She's small and needs to work a totally different and much harder method to be able to come out of the roof.
She'll probably find her way through one time soon.

"Gorilla Fish (direct)" is around the same grade as the original.

Fontainebleau - Franchard Ermitage - Gorilla Fish (direct) 7A

There's still an unopened project left to do.

It's possible and I'm close, but I need better conditions and better skin.

April 21, 2017 - Error ?

Another quick stop at Cuvier Bellevue this evening to try "Puissance 4".
Already when I passed by it a few days ago, it didn't look that hard for 7B+.

Now, I don't know where I went wrong, but I triple checked the description on bleau.info and what I did seems correct, but this felt in no way like a 7B+!

Sitstart with the slopey undercling and the high sloper and exit to the right at the top.

I flashed it without even putting much effort into it. It felt like soft 7A+ at most.

Possibly someone will come up with some remarks that this or that hold may not be used but then the description should be adapted accordingly.

*** EDIT *** Problem has been downgraded to 7A+ as the method I used was found to be more logic *** EDIT ***

Fontainebleau - Cuvier Bellevue - Puissance 4 7A+

After diner I started working again in a small project that I have going on in La Ségognole.

Getting closer on it, but need some better conditions and less sweaty fingers.

Could well possibly be about 7B.

April 20, 2017 - No more medicine!

It's has been already more than two years ago now that they had to remove my spleen and the tail of my pancreas to save my life.
Because of that I had to take antibiotics (penicillin) two times a day for at least two years as the immune system is mostly regulated in the spleen. So far the biology lesson.
After another checkup two weeks ago and discussing the results with my doctor this morning, I finally got the word that I may stop taking them.
I didn't feel particularly glad or relieved, it was more like "okay". It had become such a habit over time, that I didn't really bother about it anymore.
The relief was actually, to know that everything was fine inside me.

This evening after diner, I decided to try "Prouesse" in Rocher des Souris.
It's a very short walk and the time gained could be well used. At least, that's what I thought, because barely fifteen minutes later I was walking back to the car again after having done "Prouesse".

I had never tried "Prouesse" before, because I couldn't figure out how it would start.
After a seeing a video of someone climbing it not long ago, I wondered why I had never noticed the crimp right hand to start with.
The crimp is quite high though and getting my second foot off the ground without loosing my balance was the trickiest part.
What follows is not that hard anymore. As soon as I was able to lift my second foot up, I only needed a second try to finish it off.
Soft for the grade, but a very nice line!

Fontainebleau - Rocher des Souris - Prouesse 7B(7B+)

April 19, 2017 - Bellevue.

The recently published topo of the new area Cuvier Bellevue is being updated with new problems almost daily since last week, so it's always worth a visit.
It's barely a detour to drive via Barbizon when coming back from work and as it's (depending on where you park) only five minutes walking, I stopped to have a look at "Kalashnikov", a new 7B dyno on a small boulder, opened by Marc Lehner.

On my way to the boulder, I bumped in Jean-Claude (Valluet), one of the main openers of the area, and ever present with his steel brush. Ready to brush even more boulders.
When you think of it, it's actually amazing how many times we are climbing on boulders that he brushed and cleaned, but rarely takes the credit for it.

Anyway, "Kalashnikov" is indeed a very low boulder and only consists of two moves.
The first one is reaching for a crimp, comparable to the one from "Symbiose" in 95.2, left hand, out of which you have to make a big dyno diagonally backwards to a flat edge, not a jug.

It is quite my style and it didn't give me too much problems.
Hard to grade such problems, but for a 7B it felt a bit soft.

Fontainebleau - Cuvier Bellevue - Kalashnikov 7B

Directly across "Kalashnikov", Marc also opened "Kaskouiak" a small 7A+ wall with crimps.
I still had some time left so I moved the crashpad two meters further.
The starting position was a bit strange, but as soon as my ass lifted off the ground, I couldn't be stopped and topped out on my first attempt.
Maybe Marc opened this at the end of his climbing, being tired, because this felt really soft for the grade.

Fontainebleau - Cuvier Bellevue - Kaskouiak 7A+

April 16, 2017 - The festival.

I arrived quite early on the parking (or was it the campsite ?) of Franchard Isatis and already I was really lucky to find a parking spot on the carpark itself instead of on the Chemin du Loup back towards the main road.
The place looked crowded already and it was only at the start of the day.
Luckily, at this moment, Franchard Hautes Plaines was still more or less deserted. For now ...

I started with some tries in "Jambe de Bois", but those hard moves on small crimps were not a good idea to warm up in.
After I installed the crashpad under "L'Âge d'Or" in the main part of the area, I quickly warmed up in "Boom", a dyno.

It was a short warmup, because it was done on my second attempt without really pushing it.
Felt soft for the grade, but at least my skin was ready now.

Fontainebleau - Franchard Hautes Plaines - Boom 7A(6C+)

"L'Âge d'Or" basically comes down to two moves for the hands.
Jumpstart to a slopey arete right hand, move the right foot to a spot that you can't see but where the friction is best, place the left foot on a better hold right under you left hand and then while pulling on the slopey arete as hard as you can, you have to move the body left and up and at the very end back to the right to get to the top hold.

It's a very weird and hard last move!
It's like a strange dyno that goes into slow motion at the end. You can see that top hold slowly coming closer and then you either have or you don't.
It took me almost an hour of tries with a short break in between, to be able to reach that last hold.
Still then, it was just barely!

Fontainebleau - Franchard Hautes Plaines - L'Âge d'Or 7B

More and more people had started to gather in the meantime, so after some last few tries in "Jambe de Bois" (damn that thing is hard!), I packed up and left.
But first I made a long detour all around Franchard Isatis to end up at the boulder of "Wu-Tang" in Cuisinière Crête Sud where I wanted to try "Leeloo".
"Leeloo" has been opened just recently by Peter (Collins) and if I remember correctly, his daughter is named Leeloo, so he probably named it after her.

Two years ago I had rebrushed "Empressement" in Oncy sur École Nord and had named it "Noah's Ark", after my youngest son Noah.
I didn't know back then that it was actually already opened years before by David Evrard under the name of "Empressement". But anyway, that's another story.
In 2015, Pete was the first one that I knew who repeated "Noah's Ark" when I showed him the problem.
Now I wanted to return him the favour and be the first one to repeat his "Leeloo".

It's a nice problem that turned out to be harder than it looked at first sight.
I probably used a different method than Pete, but it was definitely hard enough for the grade.
Not a give away!

Fontainebleau - Cuisinière Crête Sud - Leeloo 7A

The parking was completely full and the Chemin du Loup, the road towards the main road, was packed with cars parked on both side up and into the main road.

It felt like being on some big festival somewhere.

The Chemin du Loup towards the main road.

Back home, my oldest son Anthony and I drove on our bikes to the parking Roche aux Sabots to fill up another big 30 liter trash bag for the Black Diamond cleanup day there today, cleaning up the festival.

April 15, 2017 - It's a shame!

Just out of curiosity, I drove by the bivouac of the Hippodrome at 10h30 this morning.
The place didn't look as crowded as I expected, but at this time, a lot of people probably already left for climbing. There was rain announced for early afternoon.
It was a shame to see however that there were still a lot of tents pitched up in the forest next to the bivouac site and the meadow across.
I realize that there probably was no space left on the bivouac site itself, and people didn't have any other option, but the least they can do is to get up early and tidy up the tents.

By the time I parked on the small parking next to Cuvier Rempart, small rain drops had started falling out of the grey sky but not enough to make everything wet just yet.
My plan was to try some of the new problems in Cuvier Bellevue.

The first problem that I wanted to try was "Hard Jump (assis)" near the start of the small area.
On bleau.info it states that the sitstart starts with a crimp far left and a high sloper right hand. It also says that it's morpho.
It can't get more morpho than this. When sitting on the ground there was no way that I could any of the starting holds and even when sitting on the crashpad, I could just reach the left crimp but still lacked about 10cm to reach the sloper right hand.
Therefor I started more with a crouching start, keeping my body as low as possible.

The jump itself is not hard, but taking the swing is, and mantling up even harder when you don't expect it.
It was a shame to though to arrive at the boulder and find two big empty cans of Heineken right at the base of it.
I took them with me in the small plastic bag that I always have with me to keep my trash in. It's not that difficult folks!

Fontainebleau - Cuvier Bellevue - Hard Jump (assis) 7A+

Now and then the drops of rain became bigger, and fearing that it might really rain soon, I went straight to the boulder of "Isatix".
It's a beautiful high menhir shaped boulder with a couple of problems on it, "Isatix", "Isatix (droite)" and their respective sitstarts.
The boulder is quite high and there's a boulder right behind you when climbing up, but I went for it anyway, starting with the easiest, the 7A "Isatix (droite)".
The first two moves, reaching for te high crimp left hand and then reaching for the other small crimp right hand while keeping you balance, are the hardest.
As soon as your hands are on the right arete, it's only a matter of keeping calm and steadily continue to the top.

Fontainebleau - Cuvier Bellevue - Isatix (droite) 7A

Immediately after the right variation, I tried "Isatix", which has the same first two moves, but instead of going from the crimps to the right arete, you have to make a sort of dyno to the jug up left and continue to the top.
Knowing the first two moves already, it was only a matter of daring to dyno. It went down on my first attempt.
Not sure if this version deserves the extra '+' to the grade.

Fontainebleau - Cuvier Bellevue - Isatix 7A+

It was half past noon now, and I drove on to the parking of Bas Cuvier itself, knowing that the parking is todays spot where Black Diamond is having its yearly cleanup day.

I thought I'ld lend a hand, got myself equiped with a trash bag and a grabbing stick and set off to Cuvier Ouest.

From there I walked over the ridge towards the North, crossed the small valley behind Cuvier Nord and arrived back at the Black Diamond van an hour and a half later, and a 30 litres trash bag completely filled with trash.

Like I wrote last year, the Black Diamond cleanup days are a good initiative, but in the end it's a shame that these need to happen.

April 14, 2017 - The job is done.

Exactly two weeks ago, I started renovating my oldest son, Anthony, his bedroom for his 14th birthday.
It were a very busy two weeks, working during the day, renovating the bedroom every evening until late and trying to do a short climb in between here and there.

This morning, I left early to buy more paint for the walls, applied a second layer and left for some climbing in Apremont Butte aux Peintres.
With the crowded Easter weekend, the relatively unknown area seemed like a good choice and I still wanted try "Psykokwak", a problem that I never found in good conditions before, but after the long dry period we had, I might make a chance.

The area was deserted, but of course only on the boulder of "Psykokwak" there were some people climbing.
It turned out be Cyrille and Christophe Duval, sometimes referred to as the "Duval twins" in earlier posts.
I watched Cyrille (or was it Christophe?) finish off "Hervé Gourdel" (a 7C(7B+) traverse that ends into "Psykokwak") after which they had to leave.
Thanks to the tip about foot placement for the jump, I was able to do "Psykokwak" after a handful of tries.
Loved that dynamic move to a sloper!

Fontainebleau - Apremont Butte aux Peintres - Psykokwak 7B+

Two boulders further, I decided to try "Gecko Tokay" again, a nice 7B that I was too hard on my previous visit.
For some reason, I was able to move much more smoothly through the problem, and also here after merely a couple of tries it was done.
This one needs full concentration until the end!

Fontainebleau - Apremont Butte aux Peintres - Gecko Tokay 7B

Finally, I wanted to end with a small 7A dyno that I saw the Duval twins do on one of their latest videos.
I had never seen "Saint Croc Game" before, but thanks to the directions given by Christophe (or was it Cyrille?) Duval, I found it easily.

For "Saint Croc Game" you have to jump both hands from a slab to an overhanging prow and immediately take it into compression.
That is of course only if you know where to jump to.
On my first attempt I grabbed far next to the holds, but after pointing them out, I did it without problems on my second attempt.
It's a nice dyno, but very soft for the proposed 7A.

Fontainebleau - Apremont Butte aux Peintres - Saint Croc Game 7A

The paint was surely going to be dry by now, so I returned home, went to the shop again, started tidying and cleaning up, moved Anthony stuff back into his "new" room, helped him decorating and saw that it was all good at 22h30.

The job is done.

April 11, 2017 - Sending train.

After work, I had agreed to meet up with Tim (Collier), his brother Niels and his girlfriend Saren.
I didn't have that much time so the the "Rudeboy" boulder was the place we were going to meet.
Tim could try "Rudeboy" and I had planned to try the last and hardest problem that I still had to do on that boulder,  the 7B+(7B) "Sens Dessus Dessous".

Of course I had already inspected the problem, but I deemed it to be too hard and never took the time to try it. Besides, there were still other problems to finish off on that boulder so my choice was always quickly made.
However, now that it was the last one, I didn't really have a choice, but that didn't bother me. At least I didn't have an excuse not to try it.

After Tim finished off the 7A "Rudeboy" on his second attempt and the 6C "Duel dans la Lune" on his first, the mood for sending was set.
I was surprised that I could all the moves quite fast and even do the problem in two overlapping parts.
The 'sending train' was on its way, I felt it.

A handful of tries with some minutes of rest in between, I fought hard, had a slight struggle, almost fell off the crux move, but managed to push through and make my way to the top.
My heart was pounding in my throat and I had to catch my breath. It was physically hard, but the relief was big.
The 'sending train' had come our way and I was allowed to jump on it too.

Great physical compression problem!!

Fontainebleau - 95.2 - Sens Dessus Dessous 7B+(7B)

April 08, 2017 - Blue path n°8.

It was 9h30 when I parked at La Faisanderie. I arrived early because I had to leave to Belgium at noon.
This left me with only two and half hours of time and Long Boyau is quite a walk, but I wanted to avoid the crowds.
I had never climbed in Long Boyau before, but the boulders are located along the blue path n°8 and as I have walked that path already a couple of times, I knew where the scattered boulders more or less were.
When I started my drive towards Belgium it was 12h10 but I had made a beautiful walk and climbed some nice problems along the way.

The first problem I tried was "Circulez, y'a Rien à Boire", which was a very short warmup because without any trouble I was able to flash it.
This felt more like a 6C. To be sure I didn't make any error, I checked a video online but had to conclude that it was correct.
** EDIT ** It turned out to be "Circulez, y'a Rien à Boire (direct)" which is indeed 6C. ** EDIT **

Fontainebleau - Long Boyau - Circulez, y'a Rien à Boire (direct) 6C

At barely 30m from there, I started trying "Le Trou de Balle", which is an obvious name for the problem. The small pocket looks exactly like a bullet hole.
I needed some more time for it but once the first move was executed correctly, I topped it.

Fontainebleau - Long Boyau - Le Trou de Balle 7A

Having done "Le Trou de Balle", I continued my way towards the blue path up on the hill and took a minute to enjoy the view.

The beautiful view on the top of Long Boyau.

I definitely wanted to try "Le Mérou" which was a couple of hundred meters further along the blue path, but on my way I was able to quickly pick up an ascent of "Ric et Rac".

Fontainebleau - Long Boyau - Ric et Rac 6C+(7A)

"Le Mérou" looks beautiful and climbs beautiful. It simply IS beautiful!!
As soon as you have the arete right hand, every move becomes sketchy until the end.
The left heelhook feels like it can let go any second and the tiny vertical crimp high up left requires very subtle movement.
I almost came out on the last move, but thanks to quick reflexes made it through.

Too bad that I was out of time to try the right version "Le Mérou (droite)".

Fontainebleau - Long Boyau - Le Mérou 7A+

April 07, 2017 - Sunblast indeed!

It was really warm and sunny when I left work this afternoon so on my way home, I stopped at Franchard Isatis.
I forgot however, that it's Easter holiday and the area was crowded.
After a desperate quick walk around I left again.

Going to 95.2 would seem foolish on such a crowded day, but Jan (Gorrebeeck) told me last Sunday about a new problem he opened the day before on the backside of the boulder of "Ex-Traction", a bit underneath "Tentation".
I had a look at the problem that day, but it was right after trying and doing "Pierre Précieuse", in which I had lost so much skin that I didn't feel like using the bad slopers on the arete of "Sunblast", the name under which it got published on bleau.info yesterday.
Even though it is located at a mere 30m from "Tentation", the boulder goes unnoticed and most people don't know it or bother to have a look.
I was confident confident that the spot would be quiet, even on a day like this.

When I arrived at "Sunblast", it was a sunblast indeed.
The worst slopers on the arete were full in the sun and felt warm.
My first tries were worthless and a moment I even thought I would have to give up on it due to the warmth.
The bad warm sloper after the first move felt impossible to hold.
Swinging my towel to cool the slopers down helped only a bit, but it was just enough to hang on long enough and do the next move.

Soon after I stood on top of the boulder.
Very nice find from Jan!

Fontainebleau - 95.2 - Sunblast 7B

April 05, 2017 - Underrated.

A couple of times I stood already before "Le Surplomb aux Fougères" in Rocher Guichot, but it was either not dry enough or simply too overgrown with vegetation, making it impossible to climb.
After all, the name does translate into "The Overhang of Ferns".
It was more by coincidence that I passed by it yesterday while walking around in the area, and noticed that apparently somebody had cleaned the boulder where the line goes.
A nice big bad sloper had revealed itself now and finally I was able to figure out how the problem more or less goes.
I decided to come back for it tomorrow (today) and give my skin a break for another night.

Already on my first attempt I knew that this was going to be much harder than I expected.
The first move wasn't an issue, but letting go of my right hand to match my left hand on the lip of the roof felt really hard.
It took a while before I had found the solution, but as soon as I knew what to do, I could do it every time. Still hard though.

Then came the next crux, the huge move from the crimp to the big sloper near the top.
The first time I tried it, I thought I was never going to be able to reach that far, but after building it up, it became possible.
I can't imagine someone with 5cm less reach to actually stick that move.

For me, "Le Surplomb aux Fougères" is underrated in three ways.
Firstly by the number of registered repeaters, which is only 20, me included. That's really not much for a 7A in the middle of Rocher Guichot.
Secondly by the grade, which is now 7A and really felt like a (hard) 7A+.
Thirdly by the number of stars given on bleau.info, which was an average of only 3, and now is 3,1 because I gave it 4.
Too bad about the small boulder right under it. I hit my leg against it several times and am walking around with a big black spot on it now.

Go try it out, it's well worth it and right next to the parking.

Fontainebleau - Rocher Guichot - Le Surplomb aux Fougères 7A

April 02, 2017 - Sloper eats skin!

I had to be in Belgium this weekend, but I was able leave back home early in the morning today, so around noon I was already having a coffee at home, trying to make up my mind where to go climbing.
After a four hour drive I didn't feel like going too far, so I decided to keep it simple and went to 95.2 which was barely three minutes of driving.
As expected on a day like today, the parking of the Croix Saint-Jérôme was overcrowded and cars were already parked far into the streets of Noisy-sur-École.
Somehow I really didn't care and didn't mind walking the extra couple of hundred meters, straight towards "Pierre Précieuse / Le Yaniro", the name of which depends on the method used.

For "Le Yaniro" you have to make a special so called 'yaniro' move.
Basically it consists of putting your right leg over your supporting left arm and then pushing yourself up, allowing you to reach the high sloper statically.
The 'yaniro' move is really peculiar and after some tries I determined that it just felt way too strange for me to move in the right direction, ... up.

"Pierre Précieuse" starts and ends exactly like "Le Yaniro", but instead of doing the 'yaniro' move, you dynamically go straight to the bad sloper near the top.
I had tried this one already many times, but I was never able to stick the dyno to the sloper.
The sloper is really bad and sliding off of it while trying to hang on for dear life, took a lot of skin of my fingertips.
It was even so bad that after I had finally done "Pierre Précieuse", small drops of blood found their way to the surface.

Fontainebleau - 95.2 - Pierre Précieuse 7A+

The sloper that ate my skin.

It took me over an hour of trying before I sent "Pierre Précieuse" and it had made me quite tired.

The thin to almost non existent layer of skin wasn't really motivating either to start looking for something else, so I decided to call it a day.

After all, I started redecorating my oldest son's bedroom and there was still a lot of work to do so I could use the time.

On my way back however, I noticed that surprisingly the boulder with "Vis-à-Vis" was completely free, which is very exceptional on a crowded day like this.

I took my chances and stopped to try "Extraction Terrestre".

The start was easier than I expected. I easily got to the jug in the roof, but fell off the next far move.

My skin was hurting and had cooled down already.

After a two minute break, it went down on my second attempt.

Fontainebleau - Rocher des Souris - Extraction Terrestre 7A+