May 31, 2019 - The battle for Saïgon.

As I had already mentioned before, I have been waiting to go back to "Saïgon" since last Sunday. I'm almost certain that I would have done it then if I would have had a spotter and an extra crashpad.
This morning, even though I had no spotter, I did take an extra crashpad with me to Apremont Fond des Gorges to try "Saïgon" again. At least the extra pad would increase the confidence level with at least one point, increasing my chances at the same time.

Coming from the other side this time, as I parked on the other parking, I had to walk much less and I felt fresh and in good shape when I arrived at the magnificent pillar of "Saïgon" in Apremont Fond des Gorges.
It was still early and the sun hadn't warmed up the left arete yet, on top of that, the air last night must have been quite dry, because there hardly any sign of morning humidity on the right arete of the boulder. Add to that the motivation, the skin that felt good and the deep desire to climb up this beautiful piece of rock. I was good to go.

Already on my first try, I felt more confident than before, but to keep the friction as good as it was, I took my time between attempts.
The big advantage of the better friction was that I could focus more on my foot placement, which suddenly put in a position that was good enough for taking the good, but surprisingly slopey rail.
I matched my other hand on the rail and in a fraction of a second, I was doubting to either take an intermediate sidepull on the right, like I had seen everyone else do on videos, or go straight up to the good top. In that same fraction, I decided to go straight up dynamically and couldn't resist shouting out the relief when I grabbed the top.
I almost couldn't believe it. It was just passed 10h am and I had already finished it.
Big thanks to the opener Grégoire Thibault for having opened such a gem. Five stars well deserved!

Fontainebleau - Apremont Fond des Gorges - Saïgon 7C

"Saïgon" from the other side.

May 30, 2019 - Fart alert.

Since I got so close to sending "Saigon" last Sunday, it didn't let me go, and ever since, I'v been looking forward to go back during the long weekend.
When I saw the threatening sky this morning though, I decided to stay close to home and went to have some fun in Grande Montagne instead.
Nothing new there, but I wanted to see if I could finish some of the problems that I couldn't do on previous visits.

The first that I wanted to try was "Pro-Fusion".
This didn't give me too much trouble, but it was sketchy to say the least.

Fontainebleau - Grande Montagne - Pro-Fusion 7B(7A+)

A bit higher up the hill, I still had to "Sarcophagus" to do, of which I wasn't able to the first and only difficult move yet.
Today, it felt easy though and despite the first move being hard, what follows is too easy to make up for the proposed grade in my opinion and I can't give it more than 7A.

Fontainebleau - Grande Montagne - Sarcophagus 7A+(7B)

What attracted me most today though, was "Elle-et-Vire" at the bottom of the hill.
I truly had a lot of fun trying this beautiful line and finally sending it too.
Definitely a hard one for the grade.
Warning: Farts can be heard in this video. I couldn't help it, it was in the heat of the battle.

Fontainebleau - Grande Montagne - Elle-et-Vire 7B

In the meantime, I had noticed some darker grey clouds coming my way, so I wisely decided to walk back to the car. By the time I got there, it was already dripping, but if I would have been five minutes later, I would have been soaked.

May 26, 2019 - Before & after.

This morning I spent some time trying "Saigon" in Apremont Fond des Gorges, and I'm quite sure that if I would have had a spotter and a second crashpad, I might have made it. Anyway, I can come up with any excuse I want, it will be for a next time.

In the afternoon, I finally cleaned the small boulder to the left of "Laimia-San" in La Ségognole.

Before.

After.

A good two finger pocket for the right hand to start with and a very low sidepull for the left. Reach for the left arete and mantle up directly on slopers.
Not sure about the grade, but at that moment it felt like it could be worth a soft 7A.

Fontainebleau - La Ségognole - Le Plat de Noah 7A

The exit more right at the highest point of the boulder felt substantially harder and definitely deserves a separate notion.
Again, I could be very wrong about the grades, but that's what it felt like at that moment. Let's see what the potential repeaters will say.

Fontainebleau - La Ségognole - Le Plat de Noah (droite) 7A+(7B)

I let my youngest son Noah come up with some names, but even though some were funny, they were too ridiculous, so I had to steer the final decision a bit.

May 25, 2019 - Le Glouton.

It had rained during the night, and this morning it didn't look like there would be any climbing possible soon.
I needed to get to out into the forest though, so decided to have a look at the small area of Rocher des Ventes Héron. A small area near Restant du Long Rocher, where all of 17 problems are opened by Manuel Marquès. I had never been there before, and despite looking nice on the available pictures, the boulders were less interesting than I had hoped.
They were dry, but I didn't even want to bother going back to the car to get the crashpad.

Instead, as I wasn't far from Fontainebleau, I drove to Rocher Saint-Germain Est to try the recently published "Le Glouton", opened by Theo Konstantakopoulos.
Along the blue path, between the children's circuit and "L'Arête des Comiques", there is indeed this small, but very nice steep overhanging prow, hidden in plain sight. With toehooks and compression moves, it completely fits my style and it didn't take long before I had figured out how to work through the crux. I then finished it on my first attempt for the video, which basically is mostly my first real attempt.
Very fun problem this!

Fontainebleau - Rocher Saint-Germain Est - Le Glouton 7B+

May 24, 2019 - Le Cachou.

Just like the 95.2 area, you will rarely see me climbing in Franchard Isatis during the weekend or holidays. On a Friday evening after work on the other hand, it can be quite nice and calm.

This evening I went to Franchard Isatis with the idea of trying "Machete Kills Again", but I quickly discovered that this wasn't going to work out, at least not today, so I moved over to the nearby "Froggy Dick".
The motivation to do such a big dyno didn't really get in me, so I quickly gave up on that too and started browsing bleau.info for some other quick ideas. That's when I stumbled upon "Le Cachou" again.
I had tried "Le Cachou" on one of my previous visits in Isatis, but as that was already quite a while ago, I had totally forgotten about it.
Located on one of the huge boulders near "La Memel", it was close from where I was and I immediately felt psyched to try it again.

It had been quite warm today, which it still was and the bad slopers on the warmed up sandstone didn't offer a lot of friction, but when compressing it hard enough, it seemed still possible.
I took a ten minute break after working out the moves and a few attempts later, I found myself high on the top of that huge boulder. Luckily I was able to flash the downclimb!

Fontainebleau - Franchard Isatis - Le Cachou 7B+

May 23, 2019 - No Carlton.

I like to have my peace and quiet when I go climbing, so the area of 95.2 is definitely one to avoid during weekends and holidays this time of the year, but in the evening on a normal weekday, you can still find yourself all alone and it can be very enjoyable. Just like this evening was.

With only 32 known repetitions, mine included now, "La Ritz" doesn't seem to be very popular for the much frequented 95.2 area, especially knowing that most people who visit the area walk right next to it when entering the area.
I had already tried briefly a few times, but I believe it were the humid conditions on the slopey left arete that prevented me from coming even close to a send.
Apparently there is also a dynamic method without the left arete possible, and this evening after dinner, I went over to that method.
After a few times trying the dynamic move, I tried the method with the arete again, and to my surprise, this time it felt like it was possible and switched to that one again, which worked out in the end.

Truly a beautiful, seemingly underestimated problem that definitely deserves more attention. Didn't see any Carlton though.

Fontainebleau - 95.2 - La Ritz 7A+(7B)

May 19, 2019 - Border of rain.

Again there was rain announced for today, but around, after having done some household tasks, it was still dry and I took the risk to head to Apremont Marie-Thérèse to try the newly published "Pachamama (assis)", again, opened by Tony (Fouchereau).
Tony has opened quite an amount of new problems in that area, but I must say that even though the boulder is small, this is one of the nicest I have done there so far.
"Pachamama (assis)" is indeed a short problem, but the compression moves on those bad slopers from the sitstart make it much harder than it looks. The fight was a lot tougher than may appear in the video.

Fontainebleau - Apremont Marie-Thérèse - Pachamama (assis) 7B+

After "Pachamama (assis)", the skin on my fingertips was completely wrecked, so I called it a day.

While walking to the car, I crossed Laurent Darlot and during the short talk we had, he told me that it had been raining hard around Milly-la-Forêt, which seemed a bit weird because the few drops that I had felt, were countable on two hands.

Indeed, barely 5 km from where I had been climbing, the streets were soaked when I drove through Arbonne-la-Forêt. I had really been climbing on the border of the rain.

May 18, 2019 - Pump it!

It was still early when I left home for climbing this morning. All week long, the weather for today was forecasted to be rainy today, but as everything was still dry when I woke up, I wanted to make use of the occasion.
The sky looked threatening, as if it could rain any moment, so I wanted to stay close and went to the nearby Roche au Oiseaux to try "Satan m'Habite". Quite a while ago, I had worked out all the moves, but wasn't able to make the dynamic move to the jug anymore after having done all those previous moves. I knew that I could do it, if only I could keep the continuity in movement.

Despite the early hour, two other French climbers arrived when I had worked out the moves again, which resulted in a nice stack of crashpads lined up. Definitely not a luxury with the rocky exposed landing. It seemed to have given me enough confidence, because it was still before 9h30 when I finished "Satan m'Habite". I was pumped though.
This is truly a stunning line on an even more stunning boulder, and should be on every climber's 'want-list'.

Fontainebleau - Roche aux Oiseaux - Satan m'Habite 7B+

Still not a single drop had fallen, and I moved to Rocher de la Cathédrale to try "Love les Tartes".
The bad sweaty skin on my scraped fingertips decided differently, so I turned to "Sexy Sushi" on the boulder next to it instead.
It was only after seeing a video of the opener, Guillaume Joubert, that I was able to determine how to start and what to do.
The first part, until halfway is definitely the hardest, which makes the easy second part also quite hard getting pumped like I was.
Luckily, I have started taking some dried raisins with me, the small energy boost that they gave me was just enough for me to make it through to the end. I was catching my breath and was completely pumped.

Fontainebleau - Rocher de la Cathédrale - Sexy Sushi 7B

May 17, 2019 - Promise to self.

When I started this blog, I sort of made a promise to myself to update it the same day every time I was able to climb and make a new video.
There are some days however, that I totally have no inspiration what to write. Just like today.
I usually stick to my promises, so here I go:

Went to Apremont Marie-Thérèse after work for only a short climb before the rain comes in for the weekend.
Had fun on some boulders and was able to top out the new problem "Black Panther".
Very good friction on that piece of rock!

Fontainebleau - Apremont Marie-Thérèse - Black Panther 7B(7A+)

Stay tuned.

Done.

May 14, 2019 - Training.

I was motivated for some quick evening climbing after dinner, and being limited in time, I decided to just go the beautiful well known boulder of "Yogi" and try to repeat whatever I could on it.
"Yoga" went down on my first attempt as a warmup, "Yogi" followed barely ten minutes later, and ended with "Yoguignol" on my second attempt.
It came to my mind that my video of "Yoguignol" of 2015, was quite dark so I decided to repeat that one once again for a new video with some more light.

Fontainebleau - Rocher des Souris - Yoguignol 7B

Only a quick half an hour of climbing, but I had fun and it felt like a good short training. It sure beats going to train in a gym.

May 12, 2019 - Sunshine after rain.

Yesterday it rained nearly all day, but I went out to explore the area of Rocher de Milly Est. I especially wanted to see if the long walk when coming from the other side at the Route Ronde, would be shorter. At the same time, I wanted to locate some of the spread out boulders of the area.
The first thing I noticed when I started walking, was that the path was going more through the forest, which would offer some shade when it's hot in the sun. However, with today's rain it was of less importance even though the trees do provide some shelter against some of the rain.
I was surprised with how soon I already arrived at the Route de Louveteau, which more or less marks the end of the area of Rocher de Milly Est when coming from the other side. This was at least ten minutes less walking.
Rocher de Milly Est is a very stretched out area and I walked around for at least another hour, trying to locate most of the boulders, until it started raining too hard to stay any longer.
I decided to walk back using the crest and the plateau on top of the hill, where many small ponds had started to form in the meantime, sometimes creating idyllic sceneries to which any picture trying to capture it, always does injustice.
I was completely soaked when I arrived my back at the car, but decided to come back soon when it's dry.

One of the many little ponds on the plateau of Rocher de Milly.

After rain comes sunshine, and this morning started with a blue sky with some small clouds passing by from time to time. It was forecasted to be sunny the next few days, so I headed back to Rocher de Milly Est, using the same approach and walked straight to "Robocop". It was still early though and the sun didn't have enough time yet to dry the morning humidity off the boulder.
I could have waited it out, but out of the blue, decided to walk on for another 500m to "Le Dolmen du Divin" in the classical sector of Rocher de Milly. I had tried this beautiful problem only once a few years ago, but to no avail. For some reason, I hadn't gone back to it, but now it seemed like a good occasion.

I stood in awe when I saw a picture and video of "Le Dolmen du Divin" for the first time, and even more when I stood in front of it. This stunning boulder is just magnificent.
After working out the moves, taking couple of hard falls, falling off the mantle and spending a lot of energy, everything suddenly came together and I was able to work my way through to the end.
It felt great to top this beauty!

Fontainebleau - Rocher de Milly - Le Dolmen du Divin 7C

I still tried "Robocop" on the way back, but will need to come back, I know a shorter way now.

May 06, 2019 - One of those days.

There are some days, I have maybe 3 or 4 of them each year, where everything just seems to fit. Feeling in good shape, being motivated, good conditions, nice weather and having enough time to climb.
Little did I know that today was going to be one of those days when I was preparing my list of problems for today's visit to Apremont Envers.
Being still in holiday until Wednesday, I had plenty of time, I was motivated, the weather was nice, but I didn't know how good or bad the conditions were and if I would be in good shape.

Based on the list that I had prepared, I had in mind to start with "Inespéré", in the beginning of the area when coming from the buvette, work my way towards the back end of the area and see how far I would get with the list.
For some reason, while walking towards the area, I decided to do it differently and start with "Strigidé" in the back end and go from there.

Thanks to the sun that dried out the morning humidity out of the air and off the boulders, combined with a lot of cooling shade from the trees, the conditions turned out to be very good and there was a lot of friction on "Strigidé".
I took the time to work out the moves one by one and quickly noticed that I was in fairly good shape.
The good shape was confirmed by topping on my first real attempt from the start. One off the list and I felt good and extremely motivated.

Fontainebleau - Apremont Envers - Strigidé 7B+

I left a few problems for what they were for the time being and made the next stop at "La Langue de Boeuf", which indeed looked as nice as on the picture.
Also here the friction on the slopers was near perfect and after briefly working out the possible cruxes, I sent it on the first attempt from the start. Another very nice problem off the list.

Fontainebleau - Apremont Envers - La Langue de Boeuf 7A+(7B)

There was more that I wanted to have a look at, but with growing realisation that it could be one of those days, I walked on to "Hadès" with "Zeus" almost next to it, in the back of my mind.
I had tried "Hadès" already a couple of times and wanted to make use of the positive vibe that was going on.
After shortly working out the moves separately, it suddenly went down like a glove. This is a true beauty when you like compression climbing.

Fontainebleau - Apremont Envers - Hadès 7C

"Zeus" however, I had never tried before, before I just couldn't see a possibility getting up there when I stood in front of it a few times. Now, the odds seemed to be different and I decided to try the first move just to see how that would go.
To my surprise, I was able to stick the second move too, so I jumped off to setup the camera. There is no working out the moves separately without a rope or a ladder, so every following attempt would be a real one.
When I made the second move again and saw how far the next hold was, it looked ridiculously far and I jumped off.
The attempt after that though, I knew what to expect, completely went for it and reached out as far as I could. To my big surprise I had it and it stuck. I stayed as calm as I could, mantled over the arete and even when standing up it felt like I could come out any moment. Then suddenly, totally unexpected I stood on the top of "Zeus".

Fontainebleau - Apremont Envers - Zeus 7C+(7C)

I felt that I still had something left in me and decided to walk straight on to "Inespéré", the problem I originally wanted to start with.
I knew that this one would be in the sun and I kind of liked that idea. I was in for some nice warmth after being for so long in mostly shade where it felt quite chilly from time to time.
The warmed up slopers of "Inespéré" had substantially less friction than in the shade, but a hard fight later, I was also able to tick this one off. Much nicer than it looks, and it felt harder too.

Fontainebleau - Apremont Envers - Inespéré 7B+

I would have been happy with ticking off one or two problems from the list I had prepared, but I had never expected this. Just one of those days.

May 05, 2019 - Weird weather.

Very weird weather today. Sunny and warm periods were interrupted by short rain showers, chilly winds and a few times even hail.
I took the risk to drive to Apremont, and was somewhat surprised by the few number of cars parked near the buvette, not an every Sunday view this time of the year.
Far from all boulders were dry, but those that were seemed to be in very good conditions thanks to the cold breeze that found its way through the trees. I didn't want to take too much risk and set my mind on a specific project, but wanted to stroll around and try what I would feel like on the way.

The recently (re)developed area around "Basket Ball" has been named Apremont Marie-Thérèse now and quite a few new boulders have been opened by Tony Fouchereau and Thierry Vasseur.
The first new boulder that I tried was "Épiphénomène", which felt a bit soft for the grade as it was done on my second attempt.

Fontainebleau - Apremont Marie-Thérèse - Épiphénomène 7A

I briefly tried many other boulders, but was interrupted by short rain showers a couple of times which made me decide to move on to the next one. There wasn't really anything that was nice enough staying longer for, waiting for it to dry again.
I finally ended up trying a few problems in Apremont Butte aux Dames on the way back, and was able to tick off the one-mover "Débardage".
One hard and far move from very bad crimps to a slopey two finger pocket. I finished it just in time, because it started to hail again when I was packing the crashpad.

Fontainebleau - Apremont Butte aux Dames - Débardage 7B+

May 03, 2019 - To Mont Blanc and back.

No, not the Mont Blanc in the Alps, but the nice, small and quiet area of Mont Blanc, just behind Éléphant.
It was especially quiet this morning, because having to drive to Belgium later today, I was there already early and the forest was still waking up.
I feared at first that I might have been there too early, because the soil was wet and the from a distance, the boulders looked still humid from the morning dawn.
I walked straight to "Mastodon", a line that was recently opened on the huge boulder in the Northern part of the area.
Even though I dared starting in it, I didn't dare to do the crux move without spotter. Something to back for with Pieter.

I did have some other problems in mind and the sun that broke through the clouds from time to time had dried out the humid, which turned the boulders in remarkably good conditions.
For "La Gogotte" for example, I only needed one attempt this time.

Fontainebleau - Mont Blanc - La Gogotte 7B

Also "Cépanou (assis)" was in exceptionally good conditions and even though not without a fight, it went down relatively quickly.
Doing that mantle on only half a metre of rock surface before the sand on the top, was quite challenging and came as an unexpected surprise.

Fontainebleau - Mont Blanc - Cépanou (assis) 7B(7B+)

May 02, 2019 - Change of schedule.

I'm in holiday until next Thursday, but as it was forecasted to rain from the early morning on until the afternoon today, I had scheduled my day accordingly.
Even though the sky was grey and doubtful, it still wasn't raining by 10h30, so I changed my schedule and headed to the nearby area of J.A. Martin. The clouds looked threatening as if it could start raining any moment, so I didn't want to loose time going anywhere further.

Wanting to try "Déformation Professionnelle", one of the recent openings from Tony (Fouchereau), I walked all the way up the hill to start.
I flashed a left exit to warmup, thinking it was "Déformation Professionnelle", but it as I wasn't sure about it, I immediately did another exit more to the right, which felt more like its grade. Not much, but just enough.

The left exit.

Fontainebleau - J.A. Martin - Déformation Professionnelle (gauche) 6C+(7A)

And the right exit, the one that turned out to be the correct one for the originally opened version after reading the more detailed French description at home.
Also did it on my first attempt.

Fontainebleau - J.A. Martin - Déformation Professionnelle 7A

Back down the hill, I hoped to still have enough time for "Coupe sur Coupe" before it would start raining.
Luckily I only needed about fifteen minutes, because I could feel the first drops when I was standing on top of the boulder. By the time I arrived at the car, the street was soaked.

"Coupe sur Coupe" is a very nice line, and harder than it looks.

Fontainebleau - J.A. Martin - Coupe sur Coupe 7A

May 01, 2019 - 1003.

Just like in many other European countries, the 1st of May is a public holiday in France and the weather was announced to be very good.
Despite that, there was a dense fog and it was still cold when I started walking towards Franchard Basses Plaines. The amount of vans, campers, and people slowly waking up near them, indicated that it was going to be crowded today in the forest, hence my choice for Basses Plaines deep in Franchard.
I had scouted the area for the first time on a rainy with Stef Jacobs a few months ago, and now was a good moment to go try what we discovered back then.
I didn't have in mind to try too long on something, but wanted to try as much as possible and come back for the nicer lines that I would not be able to finish today.

All the boulders are scattered around in an area of about 100m on 200m and located on sometimes different hills. I knew that this meant a lot of walking, but I had a route planned out.
First stop was the boulder with "Casper".
This looked like something that could be flashed, but the topout turned out to be the crux. With the slippery marbled slopers, it reminded me of the topout of "Excalibur" in Cuisinière Crête Sud, to give you an idea. Maybe if you're taller it would easier. Nevertheless, a very nice arete that definitely felt like a spot on 7A for me.

Fontainebleau - Franchard Basses Plaines - Casper 7A(6C)

Tried "Le Nombre d'Or (droite)" and "Le Nombre d'Or (gauche)" briefly, but it was lying in the sun and already quite hot warm in the meantime and as it required too much cleaning for the topout, I quickly gave on them. Maybe some other time.
Next stop was the boulder with "Les Alcôves" not very far from there, but quite hidden now with the flora growing again.
It was difficult to place the camera, and the sun didn't make it easier, so the video does a lot of injustice to how how nice this problem actually is.
Even though I only needed two attempts, I really enjoyed climbing this one.

Fontainebleau - Franchard Basses Plaines - Les Alcôves 7A

On to "Flesse Bleue" on the top of the hill, one that only required a handful of attempts.
It's harder big brother "Longbow" starts the same, but climbs directly through the roof with a small crimp and exits a bit more to the right. I tried it a number of times, but seem to lack length to do one of the moves. I didn't want to loose too much time in it, so it's one I will definitely come back for.

Fontainebleau - Franchard Basses Plaines - Flesse Bleue 7A

I was starting to get tired, but decided to have a last stop at "One", an isolated roof just under the plateau on the neighbouring hill. The kind of roof where you can stand on top of looking for it and not seeing it. To my surprise though, I did find it quite quickly, but going down and up a steep hill again took a lot of energy in this warmth.
Opened by Manuel Marquès, and with only one hard move, it promised to be a hard one.

It definitely was a very hard move! Pulling up on a slopey crimp in the middle of the roof, without footholds, then placing the left foot on a tiny crimp close to the body and push out and grab a good hold, but with a very sharp edge to it.
That one move was really hard, but once you stick it, the problem is over and there already has to happen a lot to still fall out of it.
I don't really know why I finished the way I did, but as it was possible I just did it in a kind of reflex.

Fontainebleau - Franchard Basses Plaines - One 7A

The parking was overloaded and cars were parked until more than halfway the Route du Loup. There were people everywhere, but where I had been, I didn't see anyone.

While driving back home, I remembered that I was going to reach the 1000 boulders 7A and higher very soon. After counting again later it turned out that "One" is number 1003.