December 27, 2018 - Making contact.

The first time I saw "Contact" in the back end of the J.A. Martin area, was while wandering around looking for other easier isolated boulders. It looked like a beauty, but also way too hard.
That was already many years ago, and by now, I had already spent a fair amount of sessions on it. The first three or four sessions, I couldn't do the first move, but somehow I knew that this huge dynamic move from the undercling to a bad sloper was possible, and kept coming back for it. The fact that it is nicely isolated from the main area definitely plays a part in it, but also the line itself kept calling me.
The last session, a couple of months ago, I had finally been able to stick that first hard move, but with the low boulder in my back and only one crashpad with me, I chickened out, I didn't dare to go all the way and start the mantle.
Now that I had also received a smaller Drop Zone crashpad from Black Diamond a few weeks ago, I had a second one to also cover the ground, so it only came down to waiting for the good conditions to go back for it.
Today seemed like a good day.

It was again freezing cold with a dense fog this morning, but it was forecasted to clear up and the sun should come out around noon.
I was patient and waited for it to clear up, but by noon there was still no sign of the sun anywhere in sight. Even the fog hadn't dissipated completely yet, but I left anyway.
The conditions of the boulder were good, but I had hoped for better though. I was afraid that the slopers would become humid too soon again after being touched by warm hands.
The first move didn't work out immediately, but after gradually fine-tuning it, it stuck again but as I was spooked by it, I failed on next.
The second time it stuck, the sloper already felt less good and I had to let go.
I took a short break to let it dry out a bit more and regain its friction, and finished it the attempt after.

It felt great to top it out! A true beauty that perfectly fits my style and still felt hard.
It was a long battle, but the victory was sweet.

Fontainebleau - J.A. Martin - Contact 7B+(7B)

December 25, 2018 - It's Christmas.

The sky cleared up last night, the wind had turned to come from the North-East and the temperature had dropped well below freezing. On top of that, the sun was shining already in the morning.
Normally the ideal conditions, but the air was warming up too fast and the was still too humid.
Just like a couple of days ago, I decided to head to the quite sunny Drei Zinnen.
Last time, I spent a fair amount of tries in the hard "Sustine ou Abstine". At least, for me it felt hard for some reason.
I could quite easily do all the separate moves, but somehow always fell out of one of them when coming from the start.
If someone would have told that this was 7B, I probably would have confirmed that by mentioning that it's a hard one too.

Maybe it was because of the conditions that felt good at first, but just like last time got bad quickly after each try, but also today, I still had to fight hard to finally make my way to the top.
Very nice problem in my opinion. I kind of enjoyed fighting with it.

Fontainebleau - Drei Zinnen - Sustine ou Abstine 7A+

It's Christmas.

December 22, 2018 - False hope.

When I looked outside this morning, and watched the status of my front terrace, my hopes were for high for good climbing.
My front terrace is paved with Bleau sandstone, so mostly the condition my terrace is in, gives a good indication for the conditions of the boulders in the forest.
With the wind coming from the South-West, I knew that Drei Zinnen would catch a lot of it, so decided to try my chances there.
Despite my front terrace being nearly dry, the streets were still very wet, and when I arrived at Drei Zinnen, I feared for the worst.

Some boulders had started dry, but the conditions were far from good and some overhangs were even sparkled with condensation drops.
I quickly gave up hope on trying some harder projects, but set my priority to finding a dry line on the first place.
Against all odds, "Jubile", facing North was dry enough for an attempt.
As it's not a very attractive line, I had always left it aside, but now topped it on my second attempt. It was good a to warm up.

Fontainebleau - Drei Zinnen - Jubile 7A(6C+)

The boulders did dry a bit more when time passed, but there was so much humidity in the air that long breaks were needed to let the holds dry again after every couple attempts.

All in all, I did climb more than I had expected, but only came home with "Jubile". It was better than nothing.

December 15, 2018 - Gyropode.

Again freezing temperatures this morning, but the conditions were not as good as yesterday. The humidity in the air was much higher and made it feel even colder.

Tony (Fouchereau) keeps on finding new games in all the areas of which everything was already opened. "Gyropode" in Roche aux Sabots is one of them, hidden in plain sight.
A surprisingly fun problem that took me longer than expected to find a good method. Not that straightforward than it would seem.

Fontainebleau - Roche aux Sabots - Gyropode 7B(7A+)

It started raining in the afternoon and with the temperature announced to go up to almost 10°C tomorrow, it might condense a lot and keep everything wet.

December 14, 2018 - When it sticks.

It was only -5°C this morning and the sky was clear.
I had chosen a perfect day to take some time off work and since yesterday, I couldn't get "La Balance" out of my head. Not that I really wanted it to ...
When I parked at Cuvier, it was still -2°C, and I feared that the mild Northeastern wind would make it feel even more freezing cold.
It was cold, but there was less wind than I expected and the low sun made it very bearable. While climbing, it even felt very comfortable, and the conditions were great!

After a short warmup, I walked over to "La Balance", an ultra classic problem with bad slopers from start to end. One that isn't finished until you actually stand straight on top of the boulder.
I was surprised how quickly I managed to work my way to the end today. The conditions almost couldn't have been better!
Really glad to finally tick this beautiful classic off!

Fontainebleau - Cuvier - La Balance 7C+(7C)

With everything else being a bonus, I played around a bit here and there, and found a new project in "Coup de Feel", which came close to a send. Maybe a spotter would be more motivating.

December 01, 2018 - The advantage.

I was glad to see this morning that the rain that was first forecasted to start at 10h am had moved to start around noon.
Jean-Pierre's reply on my sms reminded me of the big advantage I have to live right next to the forest.
The short available window, hopefully gave me enough time to finish what I started yesterday in Roche aux Sabots. One of the versions of "Ventri Lock". Yesterday it completely shut me down physically.

The holds felt dryer than yesterday and had noticeably more friction.
I remembered the moves very well and sent it on my first attempt today. Still a hard 7A+ in my opinion.
If this would have been on the same height, but without the socle underneath it, this would have been an instant classic! A very nice, physical line.

Fontainebleau - Roche aux Sabots - Ventri Lock (droite) 7A(7A+)

I still couldn't find a method to make my way through the very hard crux of "Ventri Lock" itself, the direct exit over the small roof.

When I left the parking at 11h, I already had to use my cars  windshield wipers to clear them from the rain. I was just on time.

November 30, 2018 - Autumn ingredients.

Monday, I received a new Mondo and Drop Zone crashpad from Black Diamond, but due to bad weather and priorities at work, I hadn't been able to put any of them to use, until today.
The past two weeks were made of typical Autumn ingredients. Cold, fog, grey clouds, plenty of rain and an almost constantly 100% air humidity.
It felt a bit weird to change from my old to the new Mondo, but must say that there quite some improvements on the way the belts are fixed and the materials used. At least, that's what it feels like.
It also felt lighter, but that was until I packed the rest of my stuff in it.

The new Mondo and Drop Zone.

From old to new.

Finally today, it barely rained since yesterday, and I was able to take a few hours off, so I decided to go the open hilltop of 91.1, a place where the boulders usually dry quite quickly.
Recently, "Le Gardien de But" was published, but I had the impression that it was done already long ago. Or maybe it has been an unfinished forgotten project for a long time.
Reason why I write that, is because I remember looking at that line almost ten years ago, thinking how impossible it looked.
Little did I know that after such a long time, I would come back to this and add it it to my done-list moments later.

Fontainebleau - 91.1 - Le Gardien de But 7C

On my way back I stopped at Roche aux Sabots and got shut down in the new physical problem from Tony (Fouchereau), "Ventri Lock". Something I will come back for soon.

November 18, 2018 - Dancing with angels.

It was freezing cold this morning, but after doing some household and cleaning, the sun had warmed up the air to an enjoyable 6°C, on top of that, the wind, even if mild, came from the East, which usually means dry air.
My fingers were tired from yesterday, but as always, of course I couldn't withstand the call of the forest, luring me in like singing mermaids on the Lorelei.
I decided to go back to Rocher du Guetteur and see what I could make of "Énergie d'Activation (direct)". A version that Pieter and I had been trying last time, but didn't get far.

The conditions were much better than last time and I was able to work out a method to comfortably take the high vertical crimp left hand and touch the tiny sharp one with the right. From there it's only one, but again hard, move to the top of the boulder.

It was during one of my longer breaks in between tries, that I decided to go see if the holds under the roof of "Backdraft" were dry. Last time, with Pieter, they were humid and we didn't want to risk breaking any of them.
To my surprise, they were perfectly dry and I decided to move over to that boulder.
On that one, I started with "Les Anges Dansent", which I flashed, albeit with a small portion of luck.

Fontainebleau - Rocher du Guetteur - Les Anges Dansent 7A

It took me a while before I found a working method for "Les Anges Dansent (gauche)", the left exit, and even was able to do it two overlapping parts, but I had ran out of energy and had no choice but to let it have this dance for now.

November 17, 2018 - C'est chique.

The whole week was foggy, rainy and humid all the time, but as I had to work anyway, I didn't care too much.
The weather was supposed to clear up yesterday afternoon, so I took a few hours off to go climbing.
It didn't clear up though, and it remained foggy and humid all day.
Eager to climb, I went to the isolated boulder of "Shikantaza", knowing that at least the lower part stays dry in the rain. I knew that because I worked that part out last weekend when it was raining. It probably was the only dry piece of boulder around.
When I arrived at the boulder yesterday late afternoon, I wasn't alone. Apparently Kaddi (Lehmann), Scott (Noy) and a friend of theirs, had found their way to it too.
I was able to work out all the moves, but as it started to get dark and the conditions were becoming more and more humid, I decided to come back for it soon when the air would be dryer.

This morning started grey, but there was nearly no fog and the mild ENE wind had dried the streets outside, a good sign.
I waited for a bit, but as soon as the sun came through, around 10h, I set off and immediately went back to "Shikantaza", knowing that it would be nicely drying in the sun.
I was alone when I arrived and warmed up by doing the standing start a few times and felt that the conditions were near perfect.
It felt great when I was able to grab the jug, because from there I knew that wouldn't fall off anymore as long as I kept focussed.
You need strong fingers for "Shikantaza" and it is graded like most boulders opened by David Evrard, hard! Might as well be 7B+ if you ask me.

Fontainebleau - Coquibus Grandes Vallées - Shikantaza 7B+(7B)

In the meantime, I was joined by two French climbers, Seb and Yo (not sure of this spelled correctly), who did "Shikantaza" respectively on their second and third attempts. Strong fingers, but maybe the beta that they got from me had helped.

I was glad that they were there, because being three of us with several crashpads, we moved over to the boulder "Lalaland" to try the very exposed but beautiful "Yin Yang". The one that I didn't dare to try when I did "Lalaland" next to it.

Thanks to Seb and Yo for the extra pads and the spotting. Glad to have finally tried this line and make it to the end.

Fontainebleau - Coquibus Grandes Vallées - Yin Yang 7A

November 04, 2018 - Activating last energy.

Yesterday afternoon I had  to drive to Belgium, but after a long drive back again this morning, I was again home just before noon. Well in time to join Pieter in the not so popular area of Rocher du Guetteur.
I found Pieter warming up in "L'Attaque Massive", but the conditions were quite bad, not to say wet, and we quickly decided to find the what could have been the only completely dry boulder of the area, the overhanging wall of "Énergie d'Activation".

Even though the conditions felt quite good at first, the air humidity was very high and the friction dependant small holds became dark and fast.
I felt quite tired from the long drive just earlier, but after having slept in his small car, an Audi A3, for a whole week, Pieter was in much worse condition than I was, so we took it easy and allowed some time between tries for the holds to dry out.
However, again Pieter impressed me by finishing "Énergie d'Activation" before me, especially because it involved a dyno near the end, something that he would have passed for until not long ago.

It took me quite a few tries more and already started to accept the fact that I wouldn't be able to top it out today, but after taking a longer break, and allowing the holds to dry even more, I activated the last bits of energy I had in me and unexpectedly stuck the dyno to the jug.
A very nice line this one!

Fontainebleau - Rocher du Guetteur - Énergie d'Activation 7A+

November 02, 2018 - Morale boost.

It's nice to have a long weekend, but yesterday, it started with not so good morale, climbing wise at least. Luckily, the good company of Pieter, who arrived last Saturday already for a short vacation, made up for it.
Looking at the weather forecast yesterday, we knew we only had the morning to climb before it would start to rain again.
Knowing that the beautiful boulder with "Onde Sensuelle" in Apremont Mare aux Biches would dry quickly after the rain from the night before, it didn't take much to convince Pieter to go there.
I was delighted because I have been wanting to try that beauty already since my first visit more than two years ago.

"Onde Sensuelle" really does justice to its name, and is visually simply one of the most beautiful boulders I have ever seen in the forest. The line however, is severely exposed and I had never dared trying it on my own. It was frustrating to stand there in front of that magnificent boulder and not being able to let myself go on it.
After a while of working out every move separately and building up confidence, we finally managed to do every move and I even climbed the problem in two overlapping parts.
Sending it from the start was something else though. After having spent so much energy already in working out the moves and being afraid to fall at first instance, we got shut down a couple of times on the very last move before reaching the final jug.
I felt really bad having to leave it unfinished, but we will definitely come back soon and at least Pieter took a nice picture of it.

The beautiful "Onde Sensuelle".

Today, the weather was forecasted to be very sunny, started with a dense fog and everything was still soaking wet from the rain that lasted until late last night.

There was practically no wind anymore so Pieter and Alberto, who arrived late last night, agreed that the area of Maunoury would be one of the better chances to find dry boulders. Especially in the sunny sector with the very nice "Oasis" of which I was keen on trying the sitstart.

After a small detour, we feared the worst when we saw most boulders still wet, but that feeling changed when we noticed that the sunnier sectors and the boulders that already caught some sun, were dying quickly.

We had to wait a bit for the slopers of "Oasis" to dry, but after barely twenty of minutes of walking around and scouting for other dry boulders, they looked to be in good condition.

How good, was shown by the fact that I repeated the standing start of "Oasis" on my first attempt and as the very first boulder I climbed on today. That could as a warmup and certainly boosted up my morale.

Pieter needed some more tries, but impressed by topping out with a dynamic move!

My morale was boosted even more when I soon after did the sitstart, "Oasis Oasis / Oasis (assis)".

Fontainebleau - Maunoury - Oasis Oasis / Oasis (assis) 7B+

We finished our projects up there just in time, because in the meantime, several other groups of climbers were eager to give that beauty a try.

We joined Alberto at the boulder of "Movement Activated", where he was trying "Envergure", red n°11. The crack near the top was humid and gave him a really hard time.
I  only needed a few tries to repeat "Movement Activated (droite)", followed by Pieter who again impressed with a real dyno this time!
Nearly immediately after, I showed Alberto the 'long arm' method of "Envergure" and quite easily did its sitstart.

Fontainebleau - Maunoury - Envergure (assis) 7A

To finish the good session, I showed Pieter how I had done "L'Oeil de Boîte dans l'Épaule (droite)" by repeating it, but Pieter was convinced about his own method and topped it out not long after.

It was a good session that really boosted up my morale after yesterday's defeat.

October 28, 2018 - Return of the cold.

After having driven for almost nine hours yesterday, to Belgium and back, I felt stiff and tired this morning. The hour had changed to Winter time during the night, but I was awake and up as usual. Only this time I had to wait longer for the supermarket to open and do some shopping.
To my pleasant surprise, the predicted rain had stayed away and made place for quite hard and freezing wind.
It would have been a great opportunity to go and try a hard project, but I felt too tired to motivate myself to climb anywhere but nearby. On top of that, I was meeting some friends from work who are on holiday for a week and wanted to borrow one of my crashpads for that time.
We were only supposed to meet on the parking of La Croix St Jérôme around 11h30, but I was there well before so I could try "Squeeze Me" again at only 50m from there, before joining them to Rocher des Potêts.

Long before the beautiful, but ethically contested roof of "Haute Trahison" was officially published, Ivan (Moreels) had opened a hard line with the arete and a hard pinch on the other side of the boulder.
He named it "Squeeze Me" and if I remember well, had given it the grade of 7A at that time.
For some reason, this was quickly downgraded to 6C, despite only two registered repetitions, by both tall climbers.
After many sessions, spread over several years and in all kinds of conditions, this morning I finally managed to top out the standing start of "Squeeze Me" and still it had felt hard.
According to me, this should have stayed the well deserved 7A that it was.

Fontainebleau - Rocher des Souris - Squeeze Me 6C

There was still time left for me to try the sitstart, and I remember thinking that it would be a quick job  immediately after doing the stand, but I couldn't have been more wrong.
Unless you have really big hands, that pinch right hand is so hard to hold.
I really can't understand why this is graded only 6C+. It deserves to be a full grade higher in my opinion.
Nevertheless, a very nice underestimated problem with surprisingly few repeaters, being so close to a big and very popular parking.

Fontainebleau - Rocher des Souris - Squeeze Me (assis) 6C+

I was done just in time and joined the friends I was waiting for, to Rocher des Potêts. Most of them are beginning climbers or even first time ever in the forest, so Rocher des Potêts is like an ideal starting area for them.
For me, however, there is not much to do if I want it to be a challenge.
Grade wise, there are only four problems in the '7' range and after today, I can say I have done half of them.

The only problem that I had ever tried there very long ago, was "Snoopy", but it were the bad footholds to start with that prevented me from standing long enough on them for the dynamic and only hard move of the problem.
It doesn't look like it, but it's still quite nice.

Fontainebleau - Rocher des Potêts - Snoopy 7A

It was quite crowded in Rocher des Potêts, so I was glad that the other 7A, "Le Gueulard" was a on the outskirts of the area, and nobody else had found their up to there yet today.
"Le Gueulard" is far from a beauty, but even though it was already done on my third attempt, I really had fun with this one.

Fontainebleau - Rocher des Potêts - Le Gueulard 7A

I briefly touched "La Traversée du Gueulard", but it was too dirty and mossy and I didn't feel like spending time cleaning it. It didn't look attractive enough anyway.

It would have been nice to do the hardest problem of the area, the 7B, "Le Grand Vide", but it is way too morpho for me. At least, that's how I decided it.

October 26, 2018 - King of the hill.

I always feel extra motivated and strong after not having climbed during the week, and I notice that difference a lot when it's finally Friday late afternoon and time to go home without any meetings coming up anymore.
Seeing that two new problems in Apremont Butte aux Dames had been published on bleau.info yesterday, seemed like a perfect coincidence.
Looking at the pictures, they seemed to be in my style. Short and explosive, compression, slopers, reachy moves, and on top of all that, right next to the parking and only a five minute detour on my way home.

The first one, "La Renverse (assis)" didn't take me very long.
Stick a far bad sloper with the right hand, throw the left heel, hope the right hand will stick long enough on that bad sloper to do the next far dynamic move left hand to a good jug.
If all goes well, you end up hanging on the jug and climb out in "La Renverse", a 5th degree problem.

Fontainebleau - Apremont Butte aux Dames - La Renverse (assis) 7B(7B+)

At only 20m from there, I found "Tempête Magnétique" somewhat hidden between other small boulders, but upon inspection it looked to be much nicer than at first sight.
A very small boulder with a bad landing and desperate slopers and a tiny slopey crimp as a key hold.
It really felt like it was made for me somehow and in a way, I surprised myself being so motivated for such a small boulder.
In Dutch we have a saying for that, which roughly translated says that he who doesn't honour the small is not worthy the tall or something like that.

The slopers were really bad and I feared that tiny crimp, but after each attempt, I trusted it more until it nearly became a routine. Then suddenly it all clicked and I topped out.

Fontainebleau - Apremont Butte aux Dames - Tempête Magnétique 7C+(7C)

It took a while to kick in what I just did, when I finally topped out and packed my stuff, but while walking back and standing high on the Butte aux Dames, I felt like the king of the hill.

It was only for a moment, but at least it's one that they can't take away anymore.

Alone on the top of Apremont Butte aux Dames, right next to the parking.

October 21, 2018 - Last bits.

The after Summer is on its last bits, and so was I for the weekend.
Having planned to meet Dave and Svenneke at Rocher de Bouligny this morning, I had a lazy Sunday in mind.
I didn't look up any boulders before leaving, I was going to let the others take the lead and see where it will bring me and decide at that moment what to climb.
I had never been further than "Le Plat Pays" though, so I did make the suggestion to walk to the back of the area and work our way back, more or less.

While the others were looking for their warm up, I found mine in "Tumeur d'Amour (assis)". With its last registered repetition back in 2011, it required some cleaning though.
Maybe it was because my body still needed a wake up call, but this one turned out to be harder than it looked and I had expected it to be.

Fontainebleau - Rocher de Bouligny - Tumeur d'Amour (assis) 6C+(7A)

I joined Dave and Svenneke who were trying "Pair de Claques", which I flashed quickly, followed by its sitstart on my first attempt.
As I had the impression that it felt hard enough to flirt with the 7th degree range, I looked it up on bleau.info where it was confirmed to be 7A, so I repeated it as quickly again for the video for my "archives".

Fontainebleau - Rocher de Bouligny - Pair de Claques (assis) 7A

Next stop was at the beautiful big boulder of "La Citadelle" where I had some fun playing around with the others.
While having fun, I did some traverse variation that also felt like coming close to 7A, but couldn't find it registered anywhere.
I asked Dave to film it and for now, I named it "Tendresse (retour bas)".
Start at "La Citadelle", traverse to the right with the beautiful pinch undercling, stay low while going more right and finish in the easy "Le Pince-Nez".

Fontainebleau - Rocher de Bouligny - Tendresse (retour bas) 7A

We finished with a sending train of the technical slab next to it.

Next week it will start getting cold, but that's not necessarily a bad thing.

October 20, 2018 - The coincidental wait.

I had a plan when I parked for Apremont Désert late this morning. I wanted to be alone and try the right exit of "La Corne de Rhino".
Coincidence wanted that "La Corne de Rhino (droite)" fulfilled to both of my wishes, so I knew where to go. On top of that, even though the air was still a bit damp in the forest, I knew that the boulder was in the open and would be nicely in the sun.
Apparently, coincidence also wanted that exactly that boulder was still in the shade when I arrived at it at 11h.
One high tree at about 50m was exactly where the low sun would shed its light on the boulder and covered it in shade.
The bad pinch and slopers depend a lot on friction but they still felt damp, so I had to wait for the sun to pass the tree and and make them dry.

The tree.

In total, I only had to wait for about half an hour but it felt like ages. I couldn't even play a game on my phone as I wanted to preserve the battery for using it as second camera.

Finally, when it was good to go, the conditions didn't feel good enough yet, but luckily they got better after every try and careful brushing in between.

I still remembered the moves very well from the original exit to the left, so it didn't take me long to find my way through them.

Getting through the right exit was another story though and I had to go deep to finally finish it off.

Grade wise this exit should be easier than the original, but even though I already found that version already hard for 7B+, the right exit that is supposed to be 7B, felt quite a bit harder.

In my opinion, this is more like a 7C compared to the left exit.

All in all, it took me less than the wait, but it was totally worth it!

**EDIT** Upgraded to 7B+(7B) now **EDIT**

Fontainebleau - Apremont Désert - La Corne de Rhino (droite) 7B+(7B)

I didn't want to leave yet, but didn't have too much energy left and didn't feel like being around other people in the main area, so I went to the top of the hill, where I knew of an isolated small roof with a soft 7A on it, "Le Diable de Tasmanie".

It took me only a handful of tries, but that isolated boulder is almost never being climbed, so the slopers were mossy and needed more force applied to them than when clean.
Felt closer to 7A than 6C+, but might be different when completely clean.
Fun problem.

Fontainebleau - Apremont Désert - Le Diable de Tasmanie 6C+(7A)

October 19, 2018 - Sleep, work, eat.

Sleep, work, eat, repeat.
That's how I would describe the best how my work week was.
Besides driving through it on my way to work or back home, I didn't set a foot in the forest once, and even while driving, in my head, I was exporting data, filtering it, creating input files and writing scripts, moving emailboxes and so on. My head was full of it.
Even though I worked quite some overtime again this week, I didn't have the possibility to stop earlier today.
Nevertheless, as I (try to) avoid working overtime on Fridays, I had some free time after work and stopped at Cuvier Bellevue on my way home.

It had been a while since last time that I climbed in Cuvier Bellevue but frankly, I didn't really care where I was going, as long as it was in the forest and it involved climbing boulders. The choices are legion, for there are many.
The forest smelled marvellous and I enjoyed wading through the dry brown ferns, making my way towards the first boulders. There was nobody else around and it felt just perfect.

The first boulder I settled at was "Kettle Bell", a small compression problem where only the first two moves are difficult. However, didn't feel difficult enough, I'm going to keep it on soft 7B.

Fontainebleau - Cuvier Bellevue - Kettle Bell 7B(7B+)

I had already tried "Crypte Show" once before, but had quickly given up on it as I couldn't even do the first move.
Still today, sending it didn't go without a fight. Some very delicate climbing on bad slopers, but much nicer than it looks.
Definitely 7A+ this one!

Fontainebleau - Cuvier Bellevue - Crypte Show 7A(7A+)

The sitstart of "Crypte Show", makes it even nicer and complete.
Even though having done the standing start just before, the final send still took a while.

Fontainebleau - Cuvier Bellevue - Crypte Show (assis) 7B+

I can't describe how good and relieved I felt when walking back to the car.

My head was begging to be disconnected from work and the forest and the climbing had made this possible. I wouldn't want to be without anymore.

October 12, 2018 - Whatever was nearby.

It had rained hard and a lot last night and this morning, everything was still wet.
Again, I had worked enough overtime hours this week to be able to take the afternoon off, which I really needed.
Even though the forest still looked humid, this afternoon was the only moment this week for me to be able to climb, so I had to make the best out of it.
For some reason, I felt like going to the Franchard area, up the hill above Hautes Plaines and Sablons. Knowing that I would most likely be alone up there probably was one those reasons.

I started off with the recently published "Donation", slightly above the boulder of "Le Solitaire" and next to "Bossanovabrasil".
"Donation" has a very bad landing though, and after coming down badly with my heel on one the boulders below me a couple of times, I wisely decided to let that one go and continued my way up the hill.

The more I moved up the hill, the dryer the boulders felt and I decided to walk on towards the beautiful strange looking boulder of "Les Précieuses".
One rainy, when I was doing a walk with Pieter and Alberto, we passed by that boulder and the features looked so nice that I had never forgotten about it. It didn't matter what I was going to try on that boulder.

When placing down the camera, it looked like the view was better, but it turned out not to, so unfortunately the start can barely be seen.
Basically all you do is squeeze your body between the boulder and those stalactite like features until I come back into view. It looked nicer than the problem actually was. It was fun for sure, but I was glad that I flashed it, so I didn't have to squeeze me through that again.

Fontainebleau - Franchard Hauts Sablons - Les Précieuses (par le haut) 7A

My interest in the boulder got a bit lost after "Les Précieuses (par le haut)" and I looked in the topo for whatever was nearby.
One of the nearby boulders, at barely 50m or so, "Assiette Bleausarde", was next.
A small, but nice looking roof where you follow the edge on slopers and exit around the corner.
Not a give-away, but not hard for its grade.

Fontainebleau - Franchard Hauts Sablons - Assiette Bleausarde 7A+

On my way back down the hill, I stopped at the nearby area of Franchard Sablons. I had seen "Hippocampus" from the path I was walking on, and felt like giving it a try again.
Despite it being quite my style of climbing, I had never been able to reach and hold on to the right arete.
This time it went down on my first attempt of the day, and the conditions weren't even that good.
Still, I would say this is hard for the grade.

Fontainebleau - Franchard Sablons - Hippocampus 7A

Before leaving, I had another look at the nearby beautiful arete of "Talons Aiguilles". A line that doesn't look hard, but it is. At least for me.
It took me a while, had to change my method a few times, but in the end, I finally was able to tick this beauty off.
Definitely not an easy one!

Fontainebleau - Franchard Sablons - Talons Aiguilles 7B(7A+)

October 06, 2018 - Near miss.

The weather promised to be beautiful today and with the rain that's predicted for tomorrow, I wanted to get the best out of it.
I was surprised to see that the big parking of the Buvette in Barbizon was still nearly empty at 10h30 this morning. Either way, I didn't expect to see many climbers where I was going.
There are not many climbable boulders in Apremont Buvette, and mostly slow drying, but they are beauties. It makes me wonder they only have a handful registered repetitions.

One of these beauties is the boulder with "Polêmikôs", of which I had done the easier right exit two and a half years ago. As the left exit on bad slopers looked too hard at that time, I hadn't bothered trying it, but it never left my mind.
I took my time working out the moves, and managed to send "Polêmikôs (gauche)" about half an hour later.
A great line that honestly felt more like a hard 7B.

Fontainebleau - Apremont Buvette - Polêmikôs (gauche) 7B(7A+)

At about 50m to the left of "Polêmikôs" and a bit higher up, somewhat hidden next to the blue path, I saw "La Manta" for the first time. Again a beauty!
This beautiful prow has quite an exposed landing though and being on my own I hesitated to try it for a minute, but in the end, I'm glad that I did.

The sketchy landing under "La Manta".

Working out the moves one by one slowly built up my confidence and as soon I could link everything, I sat down for a real attempt.
I smoothly climbed my way through the physical first part, stayed calm for the second part, but failed on the last move and had a near miss with the boulder below me. However, the big scrape wound on my back did make me sing in the shower this evening. It could have been worse though.
Having given almost everything on that attempt and to get my senses back, I needed a short break and sent it right after.
Hard for 7B+ and maybe flirting a bit with 7C according to me. In any case, this is truly a masterpiece! A real hidden in plain sight gem.

Fontainebleau - Apremont Buvette - La Manta 7B+(7B)

October 05, 2018 - All but one.

Quite a few new boulders in Bois Rond Auberge had been published this week and finally, as it's Friday, I was able to go try some. On top of that, the weather was great!

"System Training" serves as a good warmup but only involves one delicate move.
However, from all the problems I did today, I spent the most tries on that move.

Fontainebleau - Bois Rond Auberge - System Training 7A

Just by looking at the picture under its name on bleau.info, I immediately knew where the name "Pinky Challenge" came from. The small crack over the lip of the small roof is one of those where the pinky finger might suffer under the pressure.
However, after flashing it with relative ease, my pinky finger didn't hurt.

Fontainebleau - Bois Rond Auberge - Pinky Challenge 7A

Right next to "Pinky Challenge" on the backside of the boulder of "Adamaya", I was able to send "Keep Calm and Eat Pizza" on my second attempt.

Fontainebleau - Bois Rond Auberge - Keep Calm and Eat Pizza 7B

Followed immediately after by "Tunnel Vision" which required a handful of tries, but was the nicest up to now.

Fontainebleau - Bois Rond Auberge - Tunnel Vision 7B+

From the seven lines in the seventh grade that have been published this week, I had now done all but one, "1302".

Definitely not the hardest one, but with a very delicate move from a rounded crimp on which I lost some chunks of skin on the back of my fingers when sliding off it.

October 02, 2018 - Adamaya.

Just like last week, I have a day more or less inversed.

A meeting with my US colleagues is planned until midnight Central European Time, my time, so I was allowed to start the working day around noon, which gave me the possibility to go to Bois Rond Auberge this morning and try some of the new problems open by Bart (Van Raaij) and published yesterday.

We’re only having a short break now, so I will keep this very short.

 

The start of “Adamaya” and “Adamaya (direct)” involves a small sharp crimp, so I needed a short warmup to preserve my fingers.

Once warmed up though, and as the style of the first moves completely suits me, I didn’t need a lot of tries to finish of “Adamaya (direct)” as first..

Even though the first two moves are quite hard, the complete line didn’t feel hard enough for the proposed 7C. On the other hand, as I hadn’t climbed over the weekend, I felt quite strong and full of energy.

Fontainebleau - Bois Rond Auberge - Adamaya (direct) 7C(7B+)

“Adamaya” itself followed directly after.

The only apparent difference is that the big hold on the right is allowed to be used.

Personally, I find it strange to make a distinction between the two versions, but anyway, it was fun.

Fontainebleau - Bois Rond Auberge - Adamaya 7B+(7B)

With the time and energy left, I added a small variation, starting like “Adamaya (direct)” and at the big hold go left and finish in “1302” before I went back home and started working.

Fontainebleau - Bois Rond Auberge - Adamaya-1302 7C

September 28, 2018 - Mission accomplished.

Already on Tuesday night, I had accumulated enough overtime hours to be able to take a day off, which I did today.
Although very cold in the morning, the weather had been beautiful this week and today was luckily no different.
Because of the cold early this morning, the long walk to Rocher Fin didn't bother me, I considered it as a wake up call and warm up for my body.
I had already noticed that when I plan for too much problems to try, I tend to not spend enough time in them, leaving me with quite some unfinished business. So this morning, I was on a mission and walked with only goal in mind. Finally finishing "Bull Dog (assis)". Hopefully.

I had done the standing start of "Bull Dog" two years ago already and ever since then, I had tried the sitstart at least once on each visit to Rocher Fin afterwards. Every session I could get from the sit into the stand, but always got knocked down by the last move.
The determination I had in me to today helped because finally, finally I was able to top out "Bull Dog (assis)". Mission accomplished.

Fontainebleau - Rocher Fin - Bull Dog (assis) 7B(7B+)

As I had left with only goal in mind and having done that now, I couldn't seem to find enough motivation in the few problems that I tried afterwards, until I remembered that I still had "Sous-Dur", the extended version of "L'Oreille en Coin (assis)" as a project. On my last visit here, I thought I had it worked out, but lacked the energy to finish it off.
By the way, it was getting quite warm in the sun and moving to the shady sector in the forest a bit down the hill seemed like a perfect plan.

I remembered that I almost had it last time, but somehow couldn't remember the moves so I had to work them out again.
The short traverse to the right has some quite powerful moves and when I ended up on top of "Sous-Dur", the energy was gone.
I didn't mind though, as I had some great fun and felt completely relieved and disconnected from work.

Fontainebleau - Rocher Fin - Sous-Dur 7B

September 25, 2018 - Time to work.

At 10h30 this morning, I already arrived back home from a short climbing session in Bois Rond Auberge. It still felt crisp outside, but it was already warmer than the barely 3°C when I left the house earlier. I even had to scrape a layer of ice from my windshield.

Due to some planned video conference until midnight (CET) with work colleagues in the USA, my work days yesterday and today are somewhat shifted to start later and go on until the meeting is over around midnight.
As I'm a morning person, there was no way that I would stay longer in bed, so I used the free morning time to go for a quick climb in Bois Rond Auberge. Knowing that I would have to sit inside for the rest of a day afterwards, I enjoyed the fresh cold air and filled up my lungs to get the most out of it.

I had already a few short sessions on "Incassable" in an isolated part of the area, but again today, I seem to lack length for getting from the sitstart into the stand. It still feels too morpho or at least much harder than the 7A+ that's given for it.
Looking at the list of registered repeaters, they are all tall climbers.

I contented myself with finally doing the standstart. Finally, because all the previous sessions, I hadn't even managed to that one. For this also, I can imagine that it will also be harder for the smaller climbers among us.
In any case, at least I had my small dose of climbing, my breath of fresh air and a stroll in the forest.
Now it's time to work.

Fontainebleau - Bois Rond Auberge - Incassable (debout) 7A(6C+)

September 22, 2018 - Watch out for boars!

It put a smile on my face when I read the description of Rocher du Mont Morillon on bleau.info this morning. Beware of wild boars..., it says. I thought it was kind of funny, because from all the boars that I have seen in the forest over the years, none of them was there. Okay, I admit that I had visited the area only once before, but still I didn't see any boars. Traces of them, however, a lot, but these can be seen everywhere.

My plan was indeed to go back to Rocher du Mont Morillon, and it was still early and quite cold when I walking towards "Karma Gai", the first boulder that I wanted to try.
I was quiet, looked around, but couldn't see a boar around.
Unfortunately, I was quickly reminded of why "Karma Gai" felt impossible when I was there over two years ago. There was a move in there that really didn't suit me, and today, it didn't seem much different.

On the other side of one the few small valleys that Rocher du Mont Morillon has, I could see the nice overhang on which I did "Liaison Fer-Os" last time, and I remembered about a hard sitstart variation with moves that seemed to fit my style. At least according to the video, because I wasn't and didn't feel strong enough to try it back then.
"Lésion Prés-Causses" indeed fits my style perfectly. Some nice swinging dynamic moves into a toehook on which everything depends from then on. I loved it!

Fontainebleau - Rocher du Mont Morillon - Lésion Prés-Causses 7B(7B+)

I took a break and slowly made my way back towards the boulder of "Le Maître est Talon". I couldn't resist taking a small panorama picture of the beautiful valley, hoping that I could spot a boar upon close inspection at home. Unless you have better luck, I couldn't find any.

One of the few beautiful small valleys of Rocher du Mont Morillon. Not a boar in sight.

There are quite some lines on the beautiful boulder of "Le Maître est Talon", but I could only get away with "Le Mètre à Droite", which felt quite hard for the grade in my opinion. It took me a while to find a good method.
Nevertheless, a very nice line that climbs much nicer than it initially looks.

Fontainebleau - Rocher du Mont Morillon - Le Mètre à Droite 7A

Jokes aside, there are a lot of wild boars in the forest, and not only there, but in most places. 

Most of the time they are already gone before you can see them, but that doesn't mean that they can't be spooked when being silent and coming from around a boulder. It happened to me before and I wouldn't want one to react aggressively and attack me out of defense.

September 21, 2018 - Biocoop.

Hectic times at work with long days and now that school and after school activities have restarted, it means a lot of driving from here to there, leaving me with barely any time to climb.
Also, I was struck with a bad cold during the weekend, which had worn me down the first part of the week.
Finally this evening after work, I was able to stop at Rocher de la Salamandre Est and go for a quick climb to disconnect and destress.

It had rained quite a bit this morning, so I wandered around a bit looking for the boulder in the best conditions.
I hadn't even reached the centre of the area yet, when I stumbled upon "Biocoop". As the boulder was in good conditions, I took my chance and unfolded the pad.
I hadn't climbed for a week and chalking up my hands felt like a relief. The moment I actually touched the sandstone I immediately disconnected from work, which had to make place for the boulder and its surroundings.
I was motivated, felt strong and ready to go.

On my third attempt, I sent "Biocoop", a fun little problem that fits my style and didn't feel too hard.
It would be nice if that could be the trend this weekend.

Fontainebleau - Rocher de la Salamandre Est - Biocoop 7B+

September 14, 2018 - Bad harvest.

I went to Cuisinière this morning, with quite some problems in mind that I wanted to try.
The walking felt heavy though and without really having a headache, I was aware of the presence of my forehead, which was quite annoying and distracting. At least that's the way I can describe it.
My youngest son Noah started his last year in kindergarten and of course already brought some bacterias and microbes with him. He, and my wife as well, were already coughing for a couple of days, so it's not easy to avoid catching something.

My warmup in "Le Mouton à 6 Pattes" started promising though.
The crimp in the right face had always scared for some reason and was why that I had never tried that line before.
If I would have checked beforehand where to put my left heel after the first move, I most likely would have flashed it, but contented myself with sending it on my second attempt.
It was the first, but also the last problem on my list that I could finish today. I felt wrecked soon after.

Fontainebleau - Cuisinière - Le Mouton à 6 Pattes 7A

September 13, 2018 - That time of the year.

It's that time of the year again, the day the number that presents my age goes up with one again.
To celebrate that day, I had offered myself a two days of holiday. Today and tomorrow.
This morning, after being congratulated by my family, I took my time before leaving to Beauvais Nainville with one goal in mind, trying and hopefully doing "L'Épée de Sable".
This beautiful line can be found all the way in the back of the area, and I can still remember the day I tried it for the first time. It was on the 22nd of May 2009, the day I did "L'Anthracite".
As I don't come often to Beauvais Nainville, I had only tried it again maybe one or two times, but the line had never left my desire to finish it.

It had rained a bit when I left and the streets were wet, but Beauvais is not that close by, and I hoped that it would be dryer there. Indeed, the closer I got, the more dry it was, even though I could see that it had rained too.
I arrived on the big parking, but after seeing that besides mine, the only other car was a quite freshly burnt down one. Most likely used for something illegal and then left behind and set ablaze to cover any tracks. Somehow, it didn't really surprise me, and it is one of the reasons why I don't go there often.
I decided to park a bit further down the road. A slightly longer walk, but at least my car was clearly visible from the road.

To be sure not to drag the crashpad for nothing, I had a look without it first to see if it was going to be dry enough to climb.
Thanks yesterday's heat, the boulders were still warm and the few drops that still fell now and then, almost dried out instantly upon contact with the warm sandstone.
"L'Épée de Sable" was perfectly dry!
I went back to the car for my gear, prepared and fell off the mantle on my first attempt, whereas on previous sessions, I had never done the dynamic move.
It motivated me, and I finished it two tries later.

Fontainebleau - Beauvais Nainville - L'Épée de Sable 7B(7B+)

Everything else was bonus from then on, but after strolling around for a while, I decided to come back some other day with Pieter. There are still some things there that we agreed to try together.

Driving back, I noticed the clouds becoming lighter and the it had stopped dripping rain.
I tried my chances and was lucky to find "La Résilience" dry, on the "Symbiose" boulder in 95.2 Ouest.
Last time I couldn't find a way to reach the crack far enough, but after slightly changing my method, I found a way that worked and was happy tick this one off as a bonus.

Fontainebleau - 95.2 Ouest - La Résilience 7B(7A+)

In between all of the above, I enjoyed the beauty and the smell of the forest.

With the humid touch in the air, the lower temperature and the already changing colours of the trees, I could sense Autumn preparing itself.

Soon it will also be that time of the year again!

September 09, 2018 - Small detour.

My son Anthony wanted to go to some soap kart race festival in Boulancourt and needed to be dropped off in the morning.
As Boulancourt is just behind Buthiers, I decided to make a small detour on the way back and went to try "Formication" in Buthiers Canard.
I got really close to sending "Formication" this time, but just like every other, the sharp hold on the left arete had cut a chunk of skin off my pinky finger. I had to do something else.
It didn't bother that much, because part of the plan was to stop at Buthiers Nord also, which wasn't even a detour, but right next to the road from Malesherbes to La Chapelle la Reine.
I had seen this shady area only once, but the North faced roofs were soaked and dry very slowly. This time however, with this long dry period, I expected at least some problems to be dry.

When I saw the boulders appearing after the short 100m walk, I was surprised with how beautiful this small sector really is now that literally everything was completely dry. Most of the problems looked stunning! The only downside was that some moss had taken over here and there and that some parts of the boulders tend to be a bit sandy.
Most of attention went to "Freedom (direct)" though, the first line that I wanted to try, and also one the most appealing.
It was a clean flash.

Fontainebleau - Buthiers Nord - Freedom (direct) 7A(7A+)

One of the other easier lines on the other side of the small sector, is "Matrix". Starting with a sharp jug and making a big dynamic move to another more friendly jug.
The starting jug was so sharp however, that I couldn't pull hard enough on it with the already torn skin on my left hand. I really wanted to do it though, so I looked for and found another, but harder way.
Starting at the same sharp jug, but making a small detour with some nice moves towards a crescent shaped crimp right hand. What follows is also a slightly dynamic move, but the crimp feels uncertain. Felt definitely more like a 7A+ this way, however is considered a different method for "Matrix".

Fontainebleau - Buthiers Nord - Matrix 6C+(7A)

I still had quite some fun on some other harder, but beautiful problems, but was too tired to still finish any of them off.

Now I still need to convince Pieter to come back here when the time stays dry. Something tells me that convincing him will not be the problem.

September 08, 2018 - Pinching wood.

Yesterday morning, they delivered the six cubicle metres of firewood that I had ordered a couple of days ago. Looking at the big pile when I arrived home after work, just meant more work, but after diner, I first went to Roche aux Sabots Sud for half an hour. I wanted to work practice "Zen mes Doigts" and find a way for doing the mantle at the end.
The first part of the problem went quite smooth, but the pocket pinch for the right hand wasn't in good condition due to the small amount of grizzle that morning.
I focussed on the last part though and finally found a way to mantle up. It didn't even feel that hard anymore. I still had to stack the firewood though, so I left the boulder and decided to come back for some real attempts the morning after.

Back at home, it took me a bit over two hours to work away the pile of wood, stack it nicely and cover it for potential rain.
I worked non stop but considered the constant pinching in those heavy logs as a good training for the pocket pinch of "Zen mes Doigts".

Started around 20h.

Finished at 22h15.

This morning, by back felt soar and my muscles were stiffened a bit, but the pocket pinch of "Zen mes Doigts" was in excellent condition.
After doing some of the moves however, my muscles loosened and I had the impression that my pinching power was way better than the day before. Or was it wishful thinking? Either way, it definitely helped, because it didn't take long before I finished the beauty off.

I really wonder why such a great, but hard line on a not unpopular boulder only has three registered repeats (mine included) on bleau.info.
From start to end, the moves are simply beautiful!

Fontainebleau - Roche aux Sabots Sud - Zen mes Doigts 7B

Even though my muscles felt good, generally I felt quite tired from yesterday's heavy duty and my back still felt soar.
I didn't want to stop yet though, but wanted to do something easier and new to finish with, so I slowly made my way to the 91.1 area where Tony (Fouchereau) had opened "Flip Flop (assis)", and it looked like a nice problem to try.

"Flip Flop (assis)" is indeed a very nice problem, but probably a bit morpho for the smaller climbers.
I did it on my second attempt already, but still somehow it felt too hard for only 6C, but closer to soft 7A.

Fontainebleau - 91.1 - Flip Flop (assis) 6C(7A)

September 02, 2018 - Distant sound.

It was still quite chilly when I met Pieter on the parking of Roche aux Sabots again this morning, but it promised to another beautiful day.
The parking was already nearly full and small herds of climbers were on their way to one of the  many nearby areas.
This time though, we were there to stay but weren't bothered by the growing crowds, because we were going to Roche aux Sabots Sud and were quite convinced we would see barely anyone else around.

As a warmup, I showed Pieter the small fun sloper boulder of "La Soupe Cosmique". Hidden in plain sight, at twenty metres from the first big boulders of the main area. It lies directly on the border of the main area and the Sud, but is still catalogued under the main.
I quickly managed to do "La Soupe Cosmique (gauche-droite)", the only line that I hadn't yet done on the bouder, and managed to quite easily repeat "La Soupe  Cosmique (direct)" and "La Soupe Cosmique (droite-gauche)".
Pieter got away with the nice "La Soupe Cosmique (direct)" but was too pumped to make the last move when going for "La Soupe Cosmique (droite-gauche)".
A very fun and small boulder, but takes away a lot of energy.

Fontainebleau - Roche aux Sabots - La Soupe Cosmique (gauche-droite) 7A

I definitely wanted to show Pieter "Ashtanga", that I managed to do last week and as I expected, he was more than interested.
We first tried "Cul Terreux (direct)" to the right of "Ashtanga", but as we couldn't find a way to mantle up, we turned to "Cul Terreux (direct droite)" that Pieter was able to flash very easily.
I needed an extra attempt, and finished thanks to having watched Pieter use his feet.

Fontainebleau - Roche aux Sabots Sud - Cul Terreux (direct droite) 7A(7A+)

A short break later, I did find a way for doing the mantle of ""Cul Terreux (direct)" and sent it the attempt after.
Some really beautiful moves for the first part under the roof!

Fontainebleau - Roche aux Sabots Sud - Cul Terreux (direct) 7A+(7A)

Pieter had set his mind on "Ashtanga" in the meantime and being shorter than I am, he needed to look for another method.

He found one that he worked out and I sat in awe watching what he was trying to do and almost got away with it too. It looks crazy and I would like to have his send on video, but it will be for a next time., it was time for me to go as I had planned to do some more climbing with the kids in Rocher du Télégraphe and Pieter had given the best of him.

It again struck me how crowded the parking was and was glad that where we were climbing, those crowds were only a distant sound.

September 01, 2018 - High contrast.

What a beautiful day it was today!

Pieter had left his house in Belgium late yesterday evening, so he wanted to sleep in and this morning it was already about 10h30 when we met on the parking of Roche aux Sabots before driving on to Rocher Gréau.
I had come up with the idea of going there after browsing on bleau.info and knowing that Pieter would join was a comforting feeling.
Even though I had visited the area a couple of times before, it struck me that I had never finished anything there before and a folder for Rocher Gréau was still missing on my computer's hard drive.

Pieter had strangely enough never been to Rocher Gréau before, but when walking between the high boulders, he quickly understood why I had never topped something out when being alone. Most of the boulders there are beautiful piece by piece, but huge!
To warm up, we started with two of the lower problems, "Le Pied de Nez (assis)" and "Faux Fuyant / Pentium", but got beaten down by both of them and lost a lot of skin.

One of the boulders that was high up on my want list there, was the beautiful, but very high "Supplément d'Armes".
I remembered standing in front of that huge boulder with open mouth on my previous visits, but there was no hair on my head that was thinking about trying that alone.
Finally, now with Pieter with me who was also eager to try, we unfolded the pads under it and set off.

It only took me a handful of tries. With each try the confidence built up and the moment I felt ready, I installed the camera and sent it immediately after.
The holds after the mantle into the wall are all good, but mentally it was a struggle at that height.
The contrast with the lowball from yesterday couldn't have been higher.

Fontainebleau - Rocher Gréau - Supplément d'Armes 7B

Pieter tried some more, but had to give up due to wrist problems when using the crimp under the overhang in compression, so we moved towards the high boulders with "Les Conquistadores", where we tried almost every line on it, but got beaten down again.

I still felt quite weak from the busy workweek, and Pieter was also getting tired, but with the last bits of energy we still had left, we started trying the high engaging "Jeu t'es Fou".
I was only one to finish it, and already on my third attempt, but again near the top, it was a mental battle at that height in a very uncomfortable position. Nevertheless a beautiful problem!

Fontainebleau - Rocher Gréau - Jeu t'es Fou 7A

We were both amazed with the beauty of the boulders and lines in the area, and will return soon with some better skin, more energy and hopefully more guts!

August 31, 2018 - No fear for falling.

Another crazy week at work with no time to climb, but finally this evening I was able to disconnect and relax on a small boulder in Roche aux Sabots.

If I had to name one boulder on which I didn't have fear for falling at all, it surely would be "Vieille Canaille".
The small roof of barely one metre high even has flat soft landing. Luckily, because a crashpad wouldn't fit anymore.
I had only tried this once before and even though I could work my way through the roof quite quickly, it was the hard mantle that had prevented me from topping out.

Thanks to not having climbed this week, the skin on my fingertips was thick enough to not be afraid of pulling hard on the only tiny crimp for topping out.
One of the nicest extreme lowballs in the forest that I have done so far!

Fontainebleau - Roche aux Sabots - Vieille Canaille 7B+

August 26, 2018 - What a week!

It was a hell of a workweek the past week!
The company I work for has been bought by another even bigger company, and on Tuesday was the first day of the integration of part our systems into theirs.
As I was directly involved in parts of that integration, it mean long working days until colleagues based in the United States could take over.
This was repeated until Friday, when things calmed down and were getting into place, but on Thursday evening, when I weighed myself, I was shocked to see that I had lost almost four pounds on barely three days.
Considering that I have a desk job and most of my work was done on remote systems in a datacenter in The Netherlands or in the Cloud, I wasn't moving around a lot, so the loss of weight could only be explained by stress.

On Friday evening I was finally able to relax and went for a short climb, but already after my attempt on "Bioéthique" in Roche aux Sabots Sud, I was exhausted and felt extremely weak so the climbing didn't take long.
Saturday morning I had to drive to Belgium, but I was already back again just before noon today.
My body felt better and there was plenty of time for going back to "Bioéthique", but I felt tired from the drive, so I drank a coffee before leaving to Roche aux Sabots Sud again.

It was a tremendous difference as compared to Friday evening.
The hard part under the roof was still a bit pumpy and the last move before the hard mantle needed some working out, but all in all it didn't take long before I stood on top of "Bioéthique".
Another very sweet problem, but with the start under the roof, it comes closer to 7B in my opinion. Quite morpho moves too.

Fontainebleau - Roche aux Sabots Sud - Bioéthique 7A+

"Zen Mes Doigts" starts like "Zen", but exits with the arete left of "Bioéthique", good for some very nice moves up to the arete, that I was able to work out, but by that time, the still higher rising sun was directly in my eyes when coming with my head above the boulder, making it impossible to see anything to use to mantle out.
I will try to come back soon for this one!

I found more shade under the boulder of the recently opened "Ashtanga", at barely 20m from the "Zen" boulder.
A lowball boulder with a small roof, featuring several problems, out of which "Ashtanga", which I had briefly tried on one of my previous visits, but the slopers under the roof were in too bad shape to make some realistic attempts.

Today was much different, and somehow, the energy kept on coming. Combined with the motivation I had in me, I was able to cruise through the first part of the problem soon, but then came a morpho move that took a while before I had figured out the correct distance.
Last, but not least, letting go of my right hand without swinging too far and falling off, needed a small dose of luck to successfully finish it off.
"Ashtanga" is much nicer than it looks at first, but those who want to try it should hurry before the wet periods come back. This one will most likely dry very slowly.

Fontainebleau - Roche aux Sabots Sud - Ashtanga 7B+