October 22, 2017 - Autumn conditions on a beautiful Sunday!

Last Wednesday evening, I had started trying the ultra classic "L'Étrave", opened by Patrick Edlinger, in J.A. Martin.
The weather was nice, but due to the high humidity, the conditions were terrible.
I could reach the small crimp high left, but as soon as I started pulling harder on the arete right hand, I started slipping.
I knew that when the conditions would be better, the odds would become much different.

Yesterday afternoon, after having driven almost 2000km for work and personal travel, I went back to "L'Étrave".
The sky was grey and some rain had fallen not long ago, but there was a lot of wind and the air felt much dryer than last Wednesday.
Upon arrival, I stumbled into Enzo (Nahumury), his girlfriend Sanne and some other friends whose names I honestly forgot.
Some of them were also trying "L'Étrave" and I asked if I could join them, to which they agreed.

The boulder looked to be in great conditions and already from my first try I easily reached the crimp, but couldn't find the heelhook for the right foot.
It felt like a really good try though and I felt very confident, but unfortunately it started to rain.

The rain only lasted about fifteen minutes, but was heavy at times and even though we had found shelter, the crashpads were getting soaking wet due to the wind blowing the rain on them.
As soon as the rain passed, the sun came out and the wind started drying the boulder that was dripping with rain.
I had already started packing, but stopped when we all noticed how fast the boulder was drying. We literally watched the boulder dry and barely half an hour later, it was ready to go.

The rain had cleaned the boulder and the conditions were even better.
A handful of tries later, I listened to my instinct and used only the tip of my right foot, where most others first lay a heel and switch to the tip later to do the last move.
I made it and it didn't even feel that hard.
When I got back down, I saw that camera was turned off and thought that the battery was out as I hadn't charged it since Wednesday.
It was only when I was back home that I noticed that there was still enough battery, but that it was me who had forgotten to press record.

As "L'Étrave" is such a beautiful classic, I went back to have it on video early this morning.
It had rained during the night, but there was still a lot of wind and the sun was already out from time to time.
The conditions were still great, because I was able to repeat it on my second attempt today.

Fontainebleau - J.A. Martin - L'Étrave 7B+

With these good conditions, I wanted to try "Contact" again, all the way at the other side of J.A. Martin, not far from "Vandale".
I was able to stick the hard dyno to the bad sloper a couple of times, but couldn't finish it off. Or maybe I didn't dare, because of the small boulder above which you have to continue.
It was a muscle in my left shoulder that decided to let go of this one.

A couple of hours later, after doing some cleaning in the house, I went to Bois Rond Auberge to benefit from the good conditions.
I once tried "Les Dents de la Belle-Mer (gauche)" there, but I wasn't able to stick the first move.
I knew that good conditions would help for this one.

It seemed like I was right, because after figuring out the best way to start, I sent it in barely ten minutes.

Fontainebleau - Bois Rond Auberge - Les Dents de la Belle-Mer (gauche) 7B(7B+)

On my way back, I stopped at the "Didgeridoo" boulder to try the line "DJ Ridoo Joue du Didgeridoo" on it.
Sitstart left as for "Didgeridoo" low to the right and exit to the right in "DJ Ridoo".
The line doesn't look really attractive, but it turned out to be quite fun and not an easy one.

Fontainebleau - Bois Rond Auberge - DJ Ridoo Joue du Didgeridoo 7B