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!
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!
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.
Filip, "L'Âge d'Or" looks the most esthetic or the boulders you posted yesterday. Also, the hardest.
ReplyDeleteFirst time I was in Font was in February this year, in rather crappy conditions, therefore I saw almost no people. The picture of the lines of cars is shocking. Are there spots you would recommend to go climbing that are not so popular in May?
Also, as a local climber are you happy to see so many climbers flock to Font or has its popularity gone too far?
Henry
Hi Henry,
Deletethe Easter weekend is known for many years to be probably the busiest weekend of the whole year.
It is nice to see that so many climbers come from all over the world to enjoy the beauty of the climbing and the forest.
I only live here for almost 5 years now and the years before I used to drive almost every weekend from Belgium to Bleau. In a way, I used to be part of the flock and I also had some small parties at the free bivouac site, but always with due respect for my environment.
That's where it's going too far now with some (a minority, but ever present) groups of "climbers" who seem to only come over for partying without limits and a total lack of respect for their surroundings.
Luckily, when you know your way around, there are a lot (the majority) of places to go where these groups are and will be seldom seen.
Even on a weekend like Easter there are many places to go where you could spend hours all alone.
The Coquibus areas, the areas around Boissy-aux-Cailles, areas where boulders are spread out or are a long walk from the parking, ... These are usually very quiet and even deserted.
Cheers,
Filip