The reason why I chose to go to Maunoury today, was to increase my chances for dry boulders in good conditions.
Just like the days before, the weather was beautiful, but there always remained a light low fog that kept everything humid again, which unfortunately also turned out to be the case in Maunoury.
I decided to simply follow the blue towards the top of the hill and come back the other way, hoping to find some climbable boulders of interest on my way. Looking down from the viewpoint on top of the hill wasn't promising. The light low fog was clearly visible from above.
The low, light fog seen from the top of Maunoury.
Strangely enough, "Rituel", a boulder that is mostly humid and in bad conditions looked quite okay and for the lack of something better, I went for it and sent it on my first attempt.
Fontainebleau - Maunoury - Rituel 7A+
I tried some more harder problems here and there, but the humidity was ever present and made the holds slippery after only one attempt or two.
If 2019 was a splendid year, then keep it going in 2020; if not, than hopefully it will be better from tomorrow on.
Still not the good conditions that I was hoping for, so left to Franchard, more with idea of strolling around and see where I end up.
I had never climbed in Franchard Meyer and neither I did today. After a good walk, I noticed that all boulders are located on the shady North face of the hill and in need for more time to dry.
I decided to walk back through Cuisinière and ended up at "Le Bleurb", which was in surprisingly good conditions compared to most of the other boulders. It has been a project for quite a while, but I never managed to get that final hold.
Somehow, today, I did manage to "bleurb" my way up.
Fontainebleau - Cuisinière - Le Bleurb 7B
The stroll continued via Cuisinière Crête Sud into Franchard Isatis, where I worked my way up in "Free Tibet (assis) / Sissi la Famille". I had the impression doing "bleurb" again.
Fontainebleau - Franchard Isatis - Free Tibet (assis) / Sissi la Famille 7A+
The weather forecast looked promising for good conditions, but the air humidity was still too high all day for it to be true.
Despite the visibly humid conditions, I was packed with two crashpads when I was walking towards Rocher du Potala. I was hoping to try the beautiful, but exposed "Pierre Ponce".
The slopers on the left side hadn't gotten any sun, but were dry and good enough to do some tries and get a feel of the moves. After a few tries though, the slopers were becoming darker with humidity and I had to let them dry out from time to time to keep some friction at least.
Almost two hours later, I had to let go of it, but at least had worked the sequence and kind of determined that I would prefer to have a spot for the dynamic move to the right arete.
I moved over to the nearby boulder of "Samarkand", where I took a longer break and worked out "Samarkand (rallongé)", which I topped at the end, with the tips of my fingers until the end.
Fontainebleau - Rocher du Potala - Samarkand (rallongé) 7B+
The sky was grey and even though the sun came peaking through from time to time, the conditions didn't look very promising.
As I had to go to Fontainebleau to buy some new climbing shoes, I decided to pass by Apremont Brûlis on the way back home.
Indeed, no top conditions at all, but the few boulders that were completely dry were very doable; such as "Contusion", which I was able to top on my second attempt.
Last Sunday afternoon I had spent quite a good time in J.A. Martin again, trying a lot but not topping out. I didn't bother much, as it I had been bouldering after all that day, but still, I was eager to back today.
The sky was clear, but there wasn't that much wind, so it took a while before the morning humidity dried more or less out. I was patient and arrived at J.A. Martin around noon.
I finished my climbing session Sunday trying "PlanetSolar", giving it a lot, but I couldn't find enough force left in me to finish that mantle at the end. On the other hand, I had worked out the sequence of the first part and I still remembered it well.
I was pleased to top it out on my second attempt already this time. An easy looking small boulder, but don't be fooled.
Fontainebleau - J.A. Martin - PlanetSolar 7A+(7B)
The conditions on the nearby boulder of "Contact" were surprisingly good and as "L'Arête au Contact" was one of the other problems that I couldn't finish on Sunday, I went back to the car to get a second crashpad to boost up my confidence on this exposed problem.
Opened originally as a sitstart which isn't hard at all to get into the stand, I decided to go for a standing start first to be able to more easily work out the sequence of the second, hard, part.
I was so filled with joy when topping out the standing start, that I decided to keep the video as it deserves to be a variation on its own, according to me.
Fontainebleau - J.A. Martin - L'Arête au Contact (debout) 7B+
Now that I had worked out my working sequence, the sitstart followed immediately after.
Fontainebleau - J.A. Martin - L'Arête au Contact 7B+(7C)
It had rained hard until deep in the night, but there was also a lot of wind and the conditions didn't look impossible this morning.
To reduce the risk for disappointment, I was patient and did some other things before finally leaving for J.A. Martin again.
It was already almost 11h, I think, when I arrived at the "Travaux Forcés" boulder near the top of the hill and informed Jean-Pierre (Roudneff) about the conditions being not too bad.
There were still a few lines that I wanted to try on this boulder and I ended up doing all of them. In a way, they all felt like just below the proposed relative grades, but I know that I always feel stronger and much more motivated after a week without real climbing, so difficult to judge.
Nevertheless, I had fun with every one of them and must admit that I can feel it now. It was quite some work after all.
I started with "Le Bouclier (assis)".
Fontainebleau - J.A. Martin - Le Bouclier (assis) 7B(7A+)
I needed some more time for "Travaux Forcés (droite assis)", but all in all it was quite quick.
Fontainebleau - J.A. Martin - Travaux Forcés (droite assis) 7C
Followed by "Travaux Forcés (assis)" after a short break.
Fontainebleau - J.A. Martin - Travaux Forcés (assis) 7B+(7B)
My fingers really needed a rest after that, so I joined Jean-Pierre, who was inventorying some new still unpublished boulders a bit lower downhill.
Unfortunately, we had a couple of short light rain showers in between but still ended up both doing a sitstart of 21 red, which I believe is a different method for "Plat et Replat (assis)" and would fit with the grade.
Fontainebleau - J.A. Martin - Plat et Replat (assis) 7A
The past week it was either wet, already dark, or I was working. Not much left for climbing.
Finally this late afternoon, I had about half an hour of daylight left when I parked at J.A. Martin on my way home from work. It wasn't much time, but I knew where I wanted to be and headed straight for it.
A few variations on "Travaux Forcés", up on the hill above "Contact" had been opened already months ago, but only got published now.
Still in a hurry, I managed to make a very quick ascent of "Travaux Forcés (droite)", worked out the moves of its sitstart, but the sun was down before I could do anything more.
Hopefully tomorrow.
Fontainebleau - J.A. Martin - Travaux Forcés (droite) 7A
Same conditions like yesterday; dense fog and humidity, but this time however, there was a slight breeze to be felt. I had to hurry though, because my weather app predicted a 60% chance of rain starting around noon.
Not wanting to take any risk and loose time driving, I kept it close to the home and went to J.A. Martin to try the recently published "Orage Magnétique". Located on the big boulder to the right of "Contact", I knew that it wasn't immediately surrounded by trees; something that wouldn't have been good this morning, because the melting frost felt like raindrops when standing under trees.
"Orage Magnétique" was opened not long ago and proposed as a 7B(7B+), but already downgraded to 7A+(7A) by the few repeaters.
I must admit that it took some time before I found a method and executing the moves in the overhang felt much harder than I expected. I agree that it is not 7B(7B+), but it rather felt like hard 7A+ when the moves flow fluently.
A much nicer problem than it looks like at first.
Fontainebleau - J.A. Martin - Orage Magnétique 7A+(7A)
The conditions yesterday and the day before were perfect, but it was only today and tomorrow that I could take some days off work. I didn't mind it that much because all week, my weather app predicted light clouds, some sun and temperatures just above freezing. Ideal conditions.
This morning though, there was a thick fog, but according to my weather app, the fog would make place for sun around 11am, and even earlier around Fontainebleau. I waited it out for a while and left at 10h30 towards Rocher Saint-Germain, just outside the city of Fontainebleau.
The fog was still dense, but I kept a positive mind as the boulders that I could see looked dry and the friction on them was even pretty good when I briefly put my hand on them. The air was still so humid though, that the surface soon turned dark when warmed up by my hands.
I saw nearly every boulder in the long Saint-Germain area and even tried some here and there, but the air humidity was way too high for the problems that I wanted to try.
All in all, a couple of hours later, I decided to drive to the Apremont areas, hoping to find some better conditions there. Even though the fog was a bit less dense here and there, not being able to see any boulder of the Cuvier Rempart area when driving towards Barbizon, worried me. Especially that it was already near 2pm.
The situation in Apremont Est was not much better, but I found good conditions on the boulder of "La Conque". Being higher up the hill and in the open, it was struck by a very light cold breeze which made the friction near perfect.
The friction was so good that I sent it on my second attempt.
Fontainebleau - Apremont Est - La Conque 7A
The sitstart followed immediately after.
Fontainebleau - Apremont Est - La Conque (assis) 7A+
I doubted for a while, but against better knowing, I decided to have a look at "Parenthèse" in the nearby area of Apremont Vallon de Sully. I had some good attempts in it a few weeks ago, even falling off the last move a couple of times, but couldn't finish it then.
Knowing that the boulder is not quite in the open and with the ever present thick fog, didn't give me good chances, but the desire and hope had taken over.
As I had feared, the boulder was in worse conditions than last time, but still doable, so put on my shoes again and gave it some tries.
I still had the moves in me, but after every attempt, the chalk on my fingertips was completely gone. Somehow though, when I was going for my last attempt of the day, I managed my work my way up and top the beautiful "Parenthèse". Some very delicate climbing at the end.
Really glad to have done this one!
Fontainebleau - Apremont Vallon de Sully - Parenthèse 7B
Everything was soaking wet when I looked out of my bedroom window this morning. The rain last night was predicted, but I had hoped that the wind that I felt yesterday evening was going to last until today and blow everything dry again. However, there was hardly any wind anymore and the light drizzle that wet my face when I went for a quick shopping, took away nearly all the last bits of hope there was still left.
Nevertheless, I still met up with Pieter just before noon at J.A. Martin and we left for a walk around, leaving all our climbing stuff in the car. The drizzle had stopped in the meantime, but had made everything even more soaking wet.
I showed Pieter some of the recent boulders in the East part of the area, where we couldn't ignore the fact that some Southern orientated boulders were not as wet as the boulders we saw near the bottom of the hill. Pieter found it a little too incredible to believe when I mentioned that there could be slight chance to find some dry boulders in the "L'Étrave" sector, but we still headed almost immediately in that direction, where we ended up finding enough dry boulders to go back to our cars and come back with our crashpads and climbing shoes.
Most of the interesting boulders there were dry and actually in very good conditions thanks to an icy cold breeze.
Despite all the wetness, it ended up being a very successful afternoon with mainly repetitions for me, such as the ultra classic and beautiful "L'Étrave" (7B+), "Le Ninja Blanc Bec" (6C+), "Le Toit du Ninja Blanc" (7A) and we finished with a likely first ascent of "Yoshi & Yuki (direct debout)", giving it about 7A.
Fontainebleau - J.A. Martin - Yoshi & Yuki (direct debout) 7A
I was fed up with the nearly constant rain and humidity and was looking forward to today, as they finally announced dry weather again for the weekend. It had rained until yesterday late afternoon though, and there seemingly wasn't enough wind for it to dry, so I feared for wet boulders after all.
This morning it felt great to see the sun shine and even though everything was still humid, it just needed some patience for it to dry.
After an absence of some weeks, Pieter had taken the risk and had arrived late last night. I proposed several options for chances of dry boulders and we decided to head towards the Maunoury area in Larchant.
With an empty parking and a wet ground, we were weary, but our worries quickly vanished upon seeing the first boulders of Dame Jouanne, most boulders were dry, and so was the big boulder of "Apophis" in Maunoury.
Pieter had tried "Apophis" on his previous visit in the area, but had too much difficulties with the required toehook for the right foot. I stood in front the boulder a couple of times, but had never dared to try it alone. It is quite exposed after all.
This time however, we were both of us, so it was the first boulder we headed for, and it was in surprisingly good conditions.
The boulder is very much my style and working out the moves and finally sending "Apophis" barely took me twenty minutes. It went flawless, but still the quick send was a nice surprise.
Pieter still needs to work on the right toehook though.
Fontainebleau - Maunoury - Apophis 7B(7A+)
The nearby 'Jungle Book' boulder, was too damp, and as we didn't really have a plan, we simply headed up the hill looking for more dry boulders and made our second stop at "Kut de Crêpe".
Pieter had done this last time but as the pillar looks so attractive to climb on, I wanted to give it a try.
A few minutes later I sent it with ease and Pieter agreed that this is rather 6C at most in our humble opinion. Nevertheless, still a very nice pillar which was worth unpacking for.
Fontainebleau - Maunoury - Kut de Crêpe 7A
By following the GR and the blue path over and around the hill, we still made several stops trying for example the high, exposed and very scary highball "Irréversible", the very hard lowball "Microclimat" and repeated "Waimea (droite)" and "Pars Pro Toto (gauche)" that I already had on video, but that Pieter now also can tick off.
After all it had turned out to be an excellent day with much more climbing than we had expected. What a surprise.
An extremely busy period at work and bad weather the times I was free had prevented me from being able to climb the past two weeks. It was so bad that I even went bouldering indoors last weekend when I was in Belgium. It wasn't the forest, but at least I had been able to move and release some of the stress that had accumulated at work.
Finally, today, I obliged myself to stop on time and head to the forest for a short climb. I needed to get out!
The weather forecast for around Barbizon had predicted no rain all day, but when I arrived in Apremont Marie-Thérèse, hoping to try "Humourisme (direct)", everything was soaking wet. It looked like a heavy rain shower had passed over moments ago.
I only had about an hour of daylight left, so quickly walked over to the nearby classical area of Apremont where most of the boulders surprisingly were quite dry. That rain shower must have been really local, or even worse, with the temperature rising again, maybe condensation is setting in?
I wasn't able to try a much, but managed to flash "Légitime Adhérence (assis)" as a warmup.
Rain, rain and more rain. Lots of it.
It was tense until this morning, but as soon as I woke up, I was delighted to see that no rain was predicted for the day. My best chances for some rays of sun were, according my weather app, around Barbizon, so I headed off to Apremont. Vallon de Sully to be precise.
It was grey, no sun to be seen and the air felt humid when I parked at the buvette, there even was still some fog.
Far from promising, but I had all day ahead of me and hoped for the best. After all, it was barely 10h in the morning so I could take my time.
Most boulders in the spread out area weren't wet anymore, but still felt damp from the morning dawn. "Le Pouce" however was doable.
Fontainebleau - Apremont Vallon de Sully - Le Pouce 7A
The next two hours, until just after noon, I spent trying the beautiful "Parenthèse", but fell off the last moves many, many times. One time I even had the final big hold, but slid off with wet fingers.
One I definitely will go back for when conditions are better.
After a long break, in the form of moving to Cuvier Est, I managed to make a quick ascent of "Nile Delta (assis)" and noticed that despite my long arms, I still came short for the first move of "Echoes (assis)".
Fontainebleau - Cuvier Est - Nile Delta (assis) 7A+
By coincidence, Jean-Pierre (Roudneff) walked by and we both made a flash ascent of a nearby arete on slopers and crimps. Only about 6B(6C), but one that apparently Grand Master Philippe Le Denmat wasn't able to do. He must have overlooked something.
Before going back home, I stopped at J.A. Martin with the intention of trying the real sitstart of "Yoshi & Yuki".
The conditions there were way better than elsewhere and with the help of a bad toehook that I found for the left foot, I made the (probably) first ascent of the real sitstart.
Fontainebleau - J.A. Martin - Yoshi & Yuki (assis) 7A+
The past week has been dominated by rain, it's as if all the rain we didn't have during Summer, is trying to catch up.
Only a few moments a day when the rain stops, but never long enough for it to dry.
This morning however, everything was wet, but it wasn't raining and there was a lot of wind. Definitely worth the chance to go the "L'Étrave" sector in J.A. Martin, one of the quickest drying sectors in the forest. On top of that a new problem, "Yoshi & Yuki", was opened there recently.
"Yoshi & Yuki" was opened with a crouching start, one which I repeated very quickly and deemed quite soft for the grade.
A real sitstart is also possible, adding a hard violent move to start. I had started working on it, but the rain came back and chased me away.
Two of my youth home town friends, Bart and Lynn, were here for the weekend and the plan was to all spend the night on the bivouac of the Hippodrome in Fontainebleau, just like the old times when I was still living in Belgium.
Knowing that we were going to climb together yesterday, I hadn't really set any expectations besides having a good time together in the forest, like the old times.
I had chosen to go to the Apremont areas because Bart and Lynn were better off with climbing some of the circuits. However, after walking up the hill of Apremont Envers, they already needed a break, so I started working out the moves of "Compresse Nez", the version that I already thought was too morpho.
Surprisingly, I found a way through the first crux and when I also found a method for the end, I started giving some real attempts.
I hurt my fairy tailbone again by falling on a big stone with it, but despite that, I managed to finish it after all.
The rest of the day was spent climbing some different coloured circuit lines, and grabbed a quick ascent of the not so difficult "Stephalloïde" in Apremont But aux Dames.
Fontainebleau - Apremont Butte aux Dames - Stephalloïde 7A
Even though I had made a nice bed with the crashpad in my car, I had a terrible night due to a painful tailbone.
This morning I had the impression that wanting to do like the old times, rather made me feel like an old timer.
After having spent three sessions trying and doing "La Coccinelle" this week, my body felt tired and is in need for some energy recovery.
Pieter and Alberto arrived Friday night and they had their mind set on trying technical slabs. Not really my style, but I was in for some change and we met at Cuvier Merveille.
During the whole day, I worked in three 7A slabs and couldn't top out any of them and my body felt more tired than ever.
Today, we went to Buthiers Canard, still very tired, but at least managed to flash the rediscovered "Knee Bar", immediately followed by Pieter.
Fontainebleau - Buthiers Canard - Knee Bar 7A
Pieter still managed to finish the beautiful "L'Esprit du Knee Bar", which starts deep in the cave and end in "Knee Bar". I fell near the end two times, leaving me completely powerless for the rest of the day.
Trying "L'Esprit du Knee Bar". Thanks to Pieter for the picture.
The last three sessions, each of about an hour, I had spent trying the harder version of the ultra classic "La Coccinelle" in Buthiers Tennis. Almost every time falling off the last moves.
I think that it was partly due to always having doubts after the dynamic move to the pinch, about which method to try.
Today, I got rid of all doubts and decided to really only focus on trying the easier version.
The first moves are so memorised in my body that they I even made the dyno to the pinch on my first try of the session today. But later on, my foot slipped and I had to start over.
I took a five minute break and made it through to the end of the 7C+ version.
I felt glad, but somewhat disappointed that I hadn't focussed on that sooner.
Anyway, the harder version is in sight. No doubt about that.
Fontainebleau - Buthiers Tennis - La Coccinelle 7C+(8A)
According to my weather app, the best to place to avoid the rain today, was Buthiers. It doesn't happen very often, but it was correct.
Not everything was dry and the conditions were far from good on what was, but it didn't seem to stop me from doing a quick ascent of "Formication".
Might look easy, and I only needed two attempts today, but I think it was my fourth session spent on it.
Fontainebleau - Buthiers Canard - Formication 7A+
Had some fun in "Paie ton Mac Do", but need better conditions for the high sloper and ended with some very good attempts in "La Coccinelle".
On my last attempt before the rain finally arrived, I even fell on the very last moves.
For a long time I had been trying "La Grande Caravane" in Gorge aux Châts off and on, and for that same time, I had always thought that the far move to the right was too morpho for me.
It wasn't really a project, but I tried it now and then when I was out of inspiration for something else in the area.
Today was no different, I had some time after work, but didn't have a lot of inspiration and decided to simply spend some time trying the moves of "La Grande caravane" again.
Somehow, I don't know why or how, it all felt much easier this evening, and the problem started to feel possible.
The advantage of climbing without expectations is that there is no sending stress at all, which keeps me calm and under control.
Then suddenly, barely twenty minutes later, I made it through the first two hard moves and topped out "La Grande Caravane".
Far from the nicest problem around, but definitely had fun. F**k yeah!
Fontainebleau - Gorge aux Châts - La Grande Caravane 7C
It was barely a few weeks ago when I spent a good session on "Aeroheart", and was at inches from topping out so many times. The conditions were terrible and I decided to wait for better before trying it again.
It had finally rained a lot and quite hard at times, yesterday, which gave the boulders a good rinse and let the dust settle. The temperature also dropped a bit and there was some wind, so I was hoping for the best.
Looking at the weather forecast, I only had one good opportunity, which was today, a Monday. Luckily, my oldest son Anthony has piano lessons on Monday evening, which leaves me with some free time after work before heading to Milly-la-Forêt to pick him up.
Knowing that after today, it will be rainy for at least a week, made me nervous and was about to give me sweaty hands, but the right mindset calmed me down and I calmly started my attempts.
Keeping calm is exactly what is needed to top this one out. Acting too quickly or making a slightly wrong move can immediately make the difference between falling off or topping out. Something I had noticed quite a few times before I finally did the latter. Still, I owe it to the rain.
Last Sunday when I did "Les Abdominables" in Rocher du Guetteur, I also tried the direct version, but only briefly. However, it had gotten my interest, and being so close to home, I was determined to go back for it soon. Which I did today after work.
I don't know what I did wrong on Sunday, but today it went like a charm. Feeling fresh, and the toehook and compression on slopers being completely my style, I only needed a handful of attempts.
Fontainebleau - Rocher du Guetteur - Les Abdominables (direct) 7B+
Frustration, sarcasm, mocking, swearing and cursing, it's all part of the fun for me while climbing, or attempting to do so. This was no different when I tried "Mauvais Esprits" last Monday evening. I had to give up due to time constraints, but for the first time, I knew that the hard crux move was possible.
This evening, I had some spare time after work and stopped at Drei Zinnen, determined to finish "Mauvais Esprits".
The skin on the fingertips of my right hand was completely wrecked, but I didn't give up and finally managed to top this very short, but powerful problem.
One of my five beloved sisters was in the neighbourhood with her boyfriend and his family and they came around for a nice two hour walk in the forest.
It was already hot and very crowded when they left back home, but I figured that Rocher du Guetteur would do for a short climb.
The parking lots that I passed on my way were completely full, but I was all alone, overshadowed by the huge boulder of Rocher du Guetteur.
There are many problems on this boulder, some quite exposed and high, some I had already done, but I was there only for "Les Abdominables" this time.
An easy start with jugs, traversing to the right with a very hard shoulder move to end on an okay pillar with compression moves.
Had a lot of fun with it!
I couldn't find a method for the direct version, which sitstarts under the pillar, but it's something I will gladly go back for.
Fontainebleau - Rocher du Guetteur - Les Abdominables 7B(7A+)
Yesterday afternoon, I wandered around the Cuvier area and ended up trying "Aeroheart" and got shut down on it. I lost count on the amount of times I couldn't find any friction on the very last sloper until loosing balance and falling off.
The warm rock surface combined with countless layers of magnesia on greasy-like slopers and bad skin weren't exactly good conditions, but nevertheless, it felt frustrating. The forest is in a desperate need of some longer hard rain to wash the boulders clean.
After having spent yesterday afternoon in the crowd of Cuvier, I was in need of some solitude this morning, so I headed toward Côtes de Courances, deep in the Coquibus. As some might know by now, one of my favourite parts of the forest, if not the one.
Manuel (Marquès) has opened quite a few new problems in the area, where the boulders are scattered around, but despite the vague location description, I had an idea where to be.
Almost all the boulders are quite a far walk there, but the as the forest is so beautiful, all I do is enjoy it.
I found "Un Quart de Cercle" more or less where I had expected it to be, right next to "Pas Normal Celui-Là", but the latter has such a bad landing that I didn't even think for a second trying, so I started with the first.
I don't know many times I hurt my leg trying to get that right toehook on the good spot, but the bruises and black spots show that it's a lot. I didn't count them though.
Quite a nice problem this one.
Fontainebleau - Côtes de Courances - Un Quart de Cercle 7B(7B+)
Further up the steep hill, just below the viewpoint, Manuel opened some problems on a nice low roof, luckily I was able to reach it easily, something that isn't always for granted in the chaos of the sector.
Make sure that if you happen to be around, to go up to viewpoint and enjoy the magnificent view over this valley in the Coquibus.
One of the breathtaking viewpoints of Côtes de Courances.
The only problem that I was interested in for now, on the small roof, was "La Mémoire du Futur (direct)".
Don't be fooled by the good looking rail under the roof, it is very slopey and not very convenient to keep a grip on. Very fun problem though!
Fontainebleau - Côtes de Courances - La Mémoire du Futur (direct) 7A+
It struck me this week, that I apparently already have almost 1200 videos on my YouTube channel, with nearly 400 000 views, a little over 220 subscribers, have done almost 1100 7A and above in Bleau and turned 40 yesterday. But hey, who's counting?
Despite having climbed quite hard yesterday, Pieter had a remarkably good second day, which we spent in the beautiful and calm area of La Fontaine Saint-Bernard.
Not very much problems there, but Olivier Joanon yesterday mentioned some new lines, such as "Banzaï!" that he opened there and from what I had seen on his video, it definitely looked like it merited a visit.
We warmed up in "Joie (assis)" and "Joie (droite assis)", respectively 7A and 7A+, which I both repeated on my first try and even though Pieter needed some more attempts and work out a different method, he also was able to top both relatively quick.
Jean-Pierre (Roudneff) had joined us for a short while in the meantime, also on the lookout for "Banzaï!" that he published on bleau.info yesterday. He was able to give us some good indications so we more or less walked straight to it.
It's a small boulder hidden between others, the boulder of "Banzaï!", but that nose covered with typical Bleau-like features, just begs to climbed on.
It didn't take me very long and it felt more towards 7B to me, but my long arms definitely were in my advantage here. Also toehook skills are required, something that Pieter had to find out the hard way again today. He couldn't work his way through.
Fontainebleau - La Fontaine Saint-Bernard - Banzaï! 7B+
On the same boulder, same start but staying left at the start, Olivier also opened "Ce Nez, ce Cap...", a nice little 7A that I did on my second attempt, followed by Pieter not long after.
Fontainebleau - La Fontaine Saint-Bernard - Ce Nez, ce Cap... 7A
Nearing the end of the session, we spent the time locating some of the other boulders and decided to finish with "Le Régaliste". A problem where a toehook and flexibility are key to success, which are exactly Pieter's weaknesses.
Even though I had to pull quite hard, I made it on my second attempt without too much problems.
Pieter on the other hand, used the occasion to train his weaknesses and I would lie if I would say that he didn't make any progress.
Fontainebleau - La Fontaine Saint-Bernard - Le Régaliste 7A
Pieter wanted to go back to Buthiers Nord, so the decision was quickly made and that's where we headed. It was going to be hot again, so climbing in the cool shade of the roofs there sounded like a good idea.
Olivier Joanon, who has been opening quite some boulders this Summer was there too, but wrapping up to leave. It was nice to talk to him in person though, after some emailing back and forth some time ago.
We warmed up in "Matrix", that I easily repeated on my first attempt and where Pieter fell off the mantle on his flash attempt. He was literally standing on the boulder, on his tipping point, but just didn't get over it and fell back.
As I had done it only yesterday, I also repeated "Matrix Reloaded" on my first try, and for Pieter it turned out that he really needs to start working on his toehooks.
Yesterday I had briefly tried the crux of "Matrix Revolution", but it seemed impossible at that moment. Even though I hadn't planned on really trying it, after some encouragement and a tiny bit of advice from Pieter, I nearly did the move and all of the sudden it seemed possible.
It's a huge swing to make it into the start of "Matrix" when coming from the left, but once you're able to hold it and don't fall off, you only have to keep calm and climb "Matrix" again. Still, it was suspense until the very end.
Fontainebleau - Buthiers Nord - Matrix Revolution 7B+(7C)
We still spent quite some time under the other roof where Pieter made good progress in "Trinity", but proved yet again that toehooks are his weakness, and maybe also some flexibility.
I played a bit in "Blozone" and worked out the first quarter of the long problem, but that's when it starts to become really hard.
Last Sunday I had fallen off the last hard move of "Trinity", the conventional method, several times so I had done everything from the start quite a lot. I had a big feeling that I would have been able to do it if my body wasn't that tired yet.
The whole week, I couldn't stop thinking about it until finally this evening after work, I had some time to go back.
I had taken two crashpads with me, but just like Sunday, there were still three crashpads lying in the back of the cave. Someone is most likely projecting "Blozone", or maybe something new.
It allowed me to cover the complete line, including the small boulder under it, which wasn't an unnecessary luxury.
Having tried it so many times only a few days ago, I still had the moves in me and on the first attempt of the day, my muscle memory guided me me through the problem. I was barely thinking, just executing, until I had the final hold.
A very nice line!
Fontainebleau - Buthiers Nord - Trinity 7B+(7C)
With the time I had left, I managed to make a rather quick ascent of the beautiful "Matrix Reloaded" on the other big roof at the start of the area.
Fontainebleau - Buthiers Nord - Matrix Reloaded 7A+(7B)
Followed by the sandy and not as nice the other problems, "La Guerre des Machines". A lot harder than it looks, but that's probably due to the sandy holds.
Fontainebleau - Buthiers Nord - La Guerre des Machines 7A+(7A)
It was going to be very hot again today and Pieter gladly accepted my proposal to go the shady and calm area of Buthiers Nord.
It was Pieter's first time in this small sector, so after a quick introduction, we warmed up in "Freedom (direct)", a not so hard 7A completely to the right in the big roof. I had already done this one not even a year ago so repeated it quickly and Pieter followed soon after.
Just to the left of it, we then started working in "Neo", which also didn't take me very long to figure out and climb to the top, not really caring about aesthetics.
Fontainebleau - Buthiers Nord - Neo 7A
While I started in "Freeneo", the one that starts as for "Freedom", traverses to the left, to exit in "Neo", we got the unexpected, but very pleasant company of the climber known as 'Ritoon's' on bleau.info.
In the meantime, I finished "Freeneo" and watched the others climb and make some tops while taking a short break.
Fontainebleau - Buthiers Nord - Freeneo 7A+
Pieter was climbing better than yesterday and also topped "Neo", but had to go deep until he found a better method for him, as shown by Ritoon's.
I made a rather quick ascent of "Trinity (sans convention)", before starting to work out the conventional version, where the first rounded hold for the right is not allowed, forcing you to stay lower to the left under the prow.
Fontainebleau - Buthiers Nord - Trinity (sans convention) 7B
Ritoon's followed not long after, using his method, but Pieter was looking for a third one.
He had to look for quite a long time, but did find one that seemed to work for him, but lacked the energy to finish it.
I managed to climb "Trinity" in two overlapping parts, but fell off the last hard move a few times when coming from the start, my energy reserves were also becoming exhausted. We had been climbing quite hard for a few hours after all.
Rocher des Demoiselles was known before as Rocher des Putains because some famous French kings used to hide there with prostitutes. For touristic purposes over time, the name got changed into the more decent and attractive Rocher des Demoiselles.
However, the many paths with names like Route de l'Amour, Route de Vénus, Route des Filles, Route de la Séduction, to only name a few, are still remnants of its history.
Pieter is finally back in the forest after a few months, and we couldn't resist the seduction to go climb in Rocher des Demoiselles Est.
It was hot, there were no prostitutes to be seen and at the end of the day, there was only boulder topped, but it was a day well spent with a few more projects added to the list.
The only problem topped was the quite hard, but very nice "La Loi du Talion". Much harder than it looks.
Fontainebleau - Rocher des Demoiselles Est - La Loi du Talion 7A+
It was only a short visit to Apremont Ouest this evening after work, but still I managed to top out "Lullaby".
Basically it adds two hard moves to get into the standing start, but they seemed to fit me well. One of them is a beautiful shoulder move that for some reason reminded me of Pieter. I was delighted to get a call from later this evening, confirming that he will be here again after quite some time, but that as a long side note.
I had tried "Lullaby" before one day, but it was in bad conditions and I couldn't make much of it. I wanted to go back for it, but of course forgot about it until recently.
The overhang is facing a shadowy East, so usually dries slowly, but after the drought we had, and being in the cool shade, the conditions were quite good now. The crimps needed some tries for the friction to become better, but as soon as they were, it was only a matter of executing the very nice moves on this beautiful line.
Grade wise though, it felt more like 7C at most, maybe even 7B+. Nevertheless, a stunning line.
It was a very stressful day and this evening after diner, I was longing for some climbing. Somehow, and luckily, stress mostly boosts my motivation to go climbing and get it all out of my system.
After having done "Ça Tend à Gauche (raccourci)" quite easily a few days ago, I knew that the longer original version would follow soon, especially now, after two days of rain and no climbing at all.
I was right, it didn't even take half an hour, with long breaks in between tries, but I must admit that I was pumped and catching my breath when I stood on top of this magnificent boulder.
Getting rid of stress can't get any better than this!
Fontainebleau - Roche aux Oiseaux - Ça Tend à Gauche 7C
Spent some time with friends and kids but managed to find the time to climb "Ça Tend à Gauche (raccourci)" in the afternoon.
Never tried it before, because I didn't think I would have the reach, but only took me a handful of attempts in the end.
Very nice problem!
Fontainebleau - Roche aux Oiseaux - Ça Tend à Gauche (raccourci) 7A+
As it was raining on Friday evening, I had a close look at the map and went looking for the very isolated boulder of "Goal Post" in a so remote part of Roche au Four, that it doesn't really belong to any area.
I must admit that my search for it came with the necessary amount of cursing and swearing, but when I finally found it, I was amazed. I immediately knew that I would come back for it this weekend, but needed to find a better way to get there, preferably with two crashpads.
The easiest and quickest is to park on the parking of Croix St. Jérôme, walk North until the Chemin de la Charme and follow that one to the right for a few hundred metres. Take the obvious path of Chemin de Marchais until it crosses with a small blue marked path. Take that one again to the right and follow it up a small valley where the boulder can be seen at about 30m on the right of the path, near the top of the small valley. It's mostly slightly uphill and packed with two crashpads, it took me about twenty minutes. The boulder is totally worth it.
The problems are opened by David Evrard and Olivier Lebreton and that is very noticeable on the grading. Especially "Goal Post (direct assis)", the problem I started with, opened as 7A is extremely tight.
At first, when I sat under the boulder, it felt like there was no way that would ever be able to get my butt off the ground, and from that position you still have to make a big sideward dynamic move and then catch a huge swing.
I persisted, found my position and made in the end, but still, the start alone felt like 7B on itself. Very nice problem though.
Fontainebleau - Roche au Four - Goal Post (direct assis) 7A
Now that I could do the start, I knew that the original version with the arete on the left had to work out too.
Even though that I found a way to make the second crux slightly easier, this could still have passed for a 7B+ if you ask me. Yet another high class problem, as usual from David and Olivier.
Fontainebleau - Roche au Four - Goal Post (assis) 7B
Walking back to the car, I knew that I was going to pass very near the boulder of the beautiful "Le Sacre du Printemps" and decided to make the small detour and have a look how the conditions were on it.
To my pleasant surprise it felt great, so I unpacked with the idea of checking out if some of the moves would work out. The other few times that I was here and tried it briefly, I remember that I had to give up on it quickly, but for some reason I moved through it pretty well up to the point that I decided to setup the camera, just in case.
I had worked out all the moves, except for the topout and got punished for it as it was exactly there that I came out, trying the wrong thing.
After that lesson in humbleness, I worked out the end, which didn't take long, went for it again and against all my expectations, sent this beautiful gem. I was exhausted, but delighted.
Fontainebleau - Châteauveau - Le Sacre du Printemps 7C(7C+)
It had finally rained a lot yesterday, but this morning it was all dry. The sky looked grey and threatening, and just when I left home, a short rain shower made everything wet.
I wasn't worried, because there was a lot of wind and on the warm rock, the rain dries quickly. On top of that, I was going to the boulder of "Audacieux". Completely isolated in a remote part of Vallée Chaude at exactly 1.8km from the nearest parking, the same one as for Rocher Guichot in Le Vaudoué, there was still enough time for it to dry.
I really enjoyed the half hour walk, taking some shortcut paths that I had never walked on before and stood in awe when I arrived at this beautiful isolated boulder.
It's high and quite impressive, but as the ground gets higher as you climb up, the landing is never deep.
I was able to top out "Audacieux" already on my second attempt. The fact that I watched a video of it a couple of hours earlier most likely helped. Still, a very nice line, with very nice moves.
Fontainebleau - Vallée Chaude - Audacieux 7A(7A+)
After briefly working out the left exit, I finally only needed three attempts to top it out.
Also a beautiful line, but most subject for a little downgrade. 7C might be a bit too high graded.
On the way back, I looked for the even more isolated boulder with "Aloha" in an even more remote part of Le 111 area, found it but quickly discovered that it was far from my style and couldn't motivate myself enough for it.
While looking for the boulder, I walked through a small part of the forest that had been on fire probably not very long ago. The smell of scorched earth was still in the air.
Yesterday I had to drive to Belgium and back, good for about 900 km. It tires the mind and the eyes, but for my body, it was good rest. Especially with an automatic gearbox and cruise control. Okay, it's a complete day lost driving, but for someone who can't sit still, just like me, it's a good alternative for a day of rest.
Unfortunately today was my last day of vacation before returning back to work tomorrow, but at least I made it count.
I was already playing with the idea to go back to the "King Cobra" boulder in Coquibus Auvergne and try some of the other lines on it, for a while and yesterday evening, before going to bed, I made the decision to do that this morning. The weekend promised to be crowded in the forest, so that isolated boulder in the back end of the area seemed like a good idea.
I had already done "Little Crotale" and "Little Cobra" a while ago. Both finish left, but I hadn't tried any of the four other, mostly harder, variations that finish on the right.
I noticed that my body had recovered a bit, because already on my second attempt I finished "Little King Combi", the one that starts under the roof and finishes in "Crotale" and where all holds are allowed.
Fontainebleau - Coquibus Auvergne - Little King Combi 7A+
Now that I knew how to top out in "Crotale", I also only needed two attempts to finish that one from the start.
Very nice logical line, but probably more 7A+ than 7B.
"King Cobra" seemed to be too morpho at first, but after a good fight, I managed to find a method and work my way through to the end.
Beautiful and very powerful problem.
Fontainebleau - Coquibus Auvergne - King Cobra 7B+
"King Cobra" had taken quite some energy and I needed a longer break, not sure what to do next.
I could have gone to the other side of the area to try "Liaison Dangereuse" or try the only remaining, but hardest problem on this beautiful roof, "King Crotale".
"King Crotale" starts and ends as "Crotale", but goes through the middle of the roof, avoiding the big holds of "Little Cobra" on the left.
It may all sound complicated and is somewhat eliminate, but the lines are all quite logical and almost all merit four stars.
Some very powerful moves!
Fontainebleau - Coquibus Auvergne - King Crotale 7C
I have now done all problems on this boulder and for a mere couple of minutes, I felt like a king. The king of the hill.
Vacation makes me tired after a while and this year has been no different. Just like every year, a lot of it consumed by working in the garden and doing stuff around the house. There is always something to do and I can't keep still.
Yesterday was a full day of garden work and I could really feel it this morning. It's nearing the end of my vacation and I feel tired.
Of course, this doesn't stop me from going out the forest for a nice climb, but the end result is affected by it.
This time, I came home having done only what I thought was "Régime Sec" in Mont Simonet Ouest, but after checking the opening video's at home later today, it turned that I did an extension to "Kilo en Trop".
I started about one and half metre to the left, adding about two good moves to get into the original start, making it more like a 7A instead of the original 6C+.
Surprisingly nicer than it looks.
Fontainebleau - Mont Simonet Ouest - Kilo en Trop (prolongé) 7A
My body felt somewhat tired this morning, but I wanted to get some air, so why not go to 95.2 and try some dyno-ing.
"Air", next to "L'Ange Naïf", seemed like a good one to start with, even though I had never dared to really go for it in the past. I was doubting to take a second crashpad, but didn't after all. When I arrived at the boulder, I again was spooked by how high it is and why I maybe should have taken that extra pad anyway.
So be it, I was there, and decided to slowly build up the confidence. Still, that big boulder in the back was worrying me.
Surprisingly, it didn't take me as long as I expected and finished it after a handful attempts.
Fontainebleau - 95.2 - Air 7B+(7B)
I knew that the dyno to the right was even more scary and even closer to that boulder in the back, but decided to give it some tries anyway.
After a few times not making the jump and falling really close to the boulder behind me, I was scared off and started packing. For some reason I changed my mind and decided to try a few times more, trying not to think about that boulder behind me and really jump.
It was a huge relief when it suddenly stuck and I mantled up. Very scary and quite hard dyno this one.
Fontainebleau - 95.2 - Air (droite) 7A+
I hadn't planned on trying "Jafesse Connexion Airline" again, as I sort of had already given up on that one. I just didn't see myself doing that huge dyno, covering about two metres from the starting hold to the next.
My curiosity took over though and after the first try this morning, I immediately had the feeling that this could work. Which it did in the end.
This huge dyno to compression on slopers is much nicer than it looks. I wonder why I never bothered trying it more before.
I had collected enough air miles for the day and headed back home. There was still a lot of work in the garden to finish, so at least I would still be getting some air.
Boulders come in all kind of shapes, formes and colours. Especially in Bleau.
The small but widespread area of Cassepot Roches Roses is a good example.
It's quite a long walk up to the last boulder in the far end of the area, but it's the most interesting one with many problems, all definitely worth it.
The shapes on that boulder offer many possibilities but I was able to finish two of them today.
First one was "Mik Mak", which looked like an easy warmup, but required much more effort than expected. Beautiful line with a quite scary topout.
Soon after, it was followed by the even more beautiful "Coeur de Flamme".
Truly a stunning line on a very special boulder with a scary uncertain finger lock at the end.
Fontainebleau - Cassepot Roches Roses - Coeur de Flamme 7A+(7A)
I lacked on energy for finishing any of the other problems, but spent quite some time trying and working out moves. This boulder hasn't seen the last of me yet.
I like the far end of Franchard Sablons. The Franchard region can be very crowded, but it's quite rare to see other climbers or hikers in that part of it.
I wanted to try quite some problems, but it was already hot quite early and my hands were sweaty for some reason and I couldn't find good friction anywhere. It didn't bother me very much though, because even though I couldn't top out, I was climbing and enjoying the deafening silence of the forest.
Deer skull at "L'Arête de l'Abri-Bivouac".
The only problem that I managed to top out this morning, was the very nice line "Matagot (sortie droite)". A problem that I had never dared trying due to the exposed factor created by the boulder just below you when doing the last moves.
Somehow it didn't scare me away this time, but practiced the last moves and finished it on my first attempt from the sitstart.
Me and my family have spent the past week in the Var department, enjoying a nice relaxing, but also tiring vacation. Even though I'm not a fan of sun bathing or tanning, and the only times you will see me in the direct sun is when walking from one shade spot to the next, I did seem to have gotten a tan. You be the judge, I have been so already.
Anyway, after a smooth eight hour drive, we arrived back home yesterday afternoon, but I still have a whole week of holiday in front of me. One that will be spent at home, in the always so beautiful forest.
This morning I went back to what is now called the Mont Blanc Ouest area. During my vacation, where I didn't climb at all, Olivier Joanon had been busy in the area and had opened quite some new problems, out of which a handful in the seventh grade.
I warmed up in "Nom d'un Menhir", on the backside of the boulder across "Rasta Roquette". Nice little prow where it's mostly about foot placement. Not hard for the grade, but I did have fun with this one.
Fontainebleau - Mont Blanc Ouest - Nom d'un Menhir 7A+
As I was there and still had plenty of battery left in my camera, I decided to repeat "Rasta Roquette (assis)", which I opened just before leaving on vacation, but wasn't able to get a video of it.
This morning I got it on video, but not without losing some skin off the back of my hand.
Fontainebleau - Mont Blanc Ouest - Rasta Roquette (assis) 7B+(7C)
At about 80m from there, I noticed someone between some boulders, and it turned out to be Laurent Darlot who was working in "Mont Suribachi", one of the boulders that I still wanted try this morning.
I watched him send it and remembered some of his beta, but as we don't quite have the same morphology, nor the same strengths, I had to use a different one. One that turned out to be a good one for me in the end.
I really enjoyed this boulder. Very nice one.
Fontainebleau - Mont Blanc Ouest - Mont Suribachi 7B(7B+)
As the name "Rasta Moquette" apparently was already chosen, I changed mine to "Rasta Coquette". The good thing about that, was that I was reminded of the first "Rasta Moquette" that was opened not very long ago in the back of the 91.1 area.
I had already seen it, but as the boulders in that part of the area dry quite slowly, I didn't have the chance to try it and had forgotten about it.
We are having a long dry period already, so I knew that it would definitely be dry now and went to 91.1.
"Rasta Moquette" looks and is quite small and short, but the moves make it a really fun line to climb.
I really enjoyed this one.
Being in holiday, I had time to climb and set off to the Ouest of the Mont Blanc area behind Éléphant.
I went with the idea of trying the new "Slippery Joe" at about 200m to the Ouest of the main Mont Blanc area.
Unfortunately, "Slippery Joe" wasn't really what I expected and still suffering from pain on my fairy tail, I didn't feel like trying something that didn't fit my style.
Strangely enough, I hadn't thought of a backup plan, but I hard my hard brush with me, and as there were quite some more bigger and smaller boulders in the immediate vicinity, I decided to have a look around and see if something would be worth brushing.
On the way, at about 30m to the East of "Slippery Joe", I had passed a boulder that had drawn my attention, so it was a good place to start.
I had already visited this small unknown sector with Neil (Hart) about six years ago, even before the Mont Blanc area was made public, so many of the boulders around had already been cleaned before six years ago and then again forgotten about. The boulder I cleaned could be one of them, but time at least had taken its toll and I can assure you that I had to clean off a lot.
"Rasta Coquette" is the right line and "Rasta Roquette" the left.
Did four problems on the same piece of the boulder, but unfortunately only two videos.
"Rasta Coquette", the right line on the picture, is about 6C(6B+) depending on your height.
Standing start with both hands on low small undercut crimps and exit directly or slightly left, using two big oblique slopey crimps.
I didn't bother making a video of the standstart, as I did the sitstart soon after. The sitstart start with two hand on the same two small undercut crimps, but getting off the ground requires a very hard pull on them. Maybe enough to make it a little 7A. Grade to be confirmed.
Fontainebleau - Mont Blanc - Rasta Coquette (assis) 7A
"Rasta Roquette"'left line on the picture, starts the same as "Rasta Coquette", but make a dyno to a good sandy hold on the left, without using the big slopey crimps of "Rasta Coquette". Exit slightly left.
Even though it might look not that hard at first, this took me quite some time. The position to dyno from makes it a very strange and hard move.
Fontainebleau - Mont Blanc - Rasta Roquette 7B+(7B)
Finally, now that I had gotten the hang of that move, it didn't take me many attempts anymore to do its sitstart too, "Rasta Roquette (assis)". I estimate that grade to be about 7B+(7C). Of course, also to be confirmed.
Unfortunately, while taking a longer break before attempting the sitstart, I had forgotten to turn off the camera and the battery didn't want to wait until I was finished to give up on me. Something that will not happen soon again.
Anyway, it probably will not take too long before I go back and make a video, as the static version of "Rasta Roquette" is still a project and there are more boulders with potential.
Bois Rond Le Moine is a relatively new sector near the Auberge, consisting of only a handful of mostly isolated boulders spread over the hill on the South.
When I went looking for the boulder of "Mon Cochon" a few weeks ago, the description to get there, still mentioned taking the Chemin d'Arbonne à Achères for about 1000m and then go right for about 110m. I ended up at the boulder of "Lithothérapie", but wasn't able to find "Mon Cochon" afterwards.
I wasn't able to find the boulder of "La Maison du Sanglier" neither, even though that description said to the Chemin d'Arbonne à Achères for only 250m and then go right and the that boulder can be seen from the path. I walked to every small boulder that I could see from the path, but nothing.
This morning started cloudy and a bit colder, so I thought it would be a good occasion to look for those boulders again. Especially after seeing that the description to find "Mon Cochon" was updated and mentioned to take the Chemin d'Arbonne à Achères for only 400m instead of the 1000m written before.
Using the updated description, I did manage to find "Mon Cochon" this time, even though not without a bit of luck. To future possible repeaters, it helps to know that it's near the top of the hill. Still well hidden.
Hiding under the snout of "Mon Cochon".
Standing in front of the boulder and sitting under that nose, clearly revealed the obvious name of the line I was about to try.
Still suffering from severe pain on my fairy tail, I was afraid to fall and getting hurt even more, so maybe that's why it only took me three attempts. Still it was well worth having played that hide & seek for. A very nice line!
Fontainebleau - Bois Rond Le Moine - Mon Cochon 7A+
I tried to find "La Maison du Sanglier" again following its description, but again nowhere to be found. Until I noticed another path on another side of the hill and deviated from the area I was supposed to look according to the description. There it was clearly, clearly visible from the path below, yet that path is the Chemin Descamps.
Anyway, again only three attempts after having worked out the moves, but not without getting hurt first.
Fontainebleau - Bois Rond Le Moine - La Maison du Sanglier 7A+
So to get there, on the parking standing at the barrier of the Chemin d'Arbonne à Achères, immediately turn right and follow the obvious Chemin Descamps for about 250m where you can see the backside of the boulder, about 50m up the slope on the left side.
Now compare that with the original description and you will understand why hide & seek can take a long time that way.
