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.