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.