August 31, 2019 - Swinging.

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.

August 30, 2019 - Muscle memory.

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)

August 25, 2019 - Third man method.

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.

August 24, 2019 - Seduction.

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+

August 23, 2019 - Sing me a song.

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.

Fontainebleau - Apremont Ouest - Lullaby 7C+

August 19, 2019 - No better than this.

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

August 16, 2019 - Quick.

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+

August 11, 2019 - Isolated in plain sight.

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+)

August 10, 2019 - Scorched earth.

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.

Fontainebleau - Vallée Chaude - Audacieux (gauche) 7C

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.

Scorched earth.

August 04, 2019 - King of the hill.

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.

Fontainebleau - Coquibus Auvergne - Crotale 7B(7A+)

"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.

August 02, 2019 - Vacation is tiring.

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