July 30, 2020 - Eliminated.

A little bit too hot for real climbing this afternoon, but having bought new shoes in the well known outdoor shop "S'Cape", I had to make sure that they fitted well or find any other excuse to put them on for a moment.

I stayed very close to home and went to the boulder of the easy "Léon" in Roche aux Sabots Sud, just above the cemetery.
Shortly after Tony opened much of the problems in the area a few years ago, I had been trying an eliminate dyno, trying to make a 5+ graded problem much harder by skipping all the good holds between the first and the last. Of course, this involved a dyno.
It is only a game, but when standing in front of the boulder, it just looks obvious.

Pretty fun jump, I must say. The dyno fans will probably like this one, and it's nicely in the shade, so recommended on a hot day.

Fontainebleau - Roche aux Sabots Sud - Le Saut du Léon 7B

July 29, 2020 - Skin-burn.

What I thought would be another short session to scout and try some of the boulders in the further end of Justice de Noisy behind "San Ku Kai", turned out to be well over four hours. Most of the time though, consisted of creating a small path between the high and dense ferns for future visits.
Unfortunately, a lot of the boulders that I was able to locate need some re-brushing and it was too hot to be busy with such intense work. The nice boulder of "Les Tuniques Bleues" on the other hand, was completely in the shade and already clean enough after some slaps with a towel. It looks a lot like "San Ku Kai", but the difficulty, not quite, at least for my size.

The first part is not very hard, but coming around the nose to reach the best part of the sloper on the far left was a hard battle.
The bad slopers were a little sandy at first and trying to avoid bad falls between two boulders, I had no choice but to scrape my hands, arms and upper body over the grainy surface, leaving big abrasions and burns all over them. I already knew at that moment that I would be singing in the shower this evening.

Personally, I rather estimate this to be hard 7A+. If the first part would have been a bit harder, it could even be 7B. Nevertheless, absolutely a very nice problem and perfect for in Summer.
The holds under the roof are very fragile, so please only try this after a long dry period and when the holds are completely dry.

Fontainebleau - Justice de Noisy - Les Tuniques Bleues 7A+(7A)

We are only halfway Summer and I already had to remove my seventh tick. They are having a good year.

July 28, 2020 - While waiting.

I was meeting a Belgian friend, Stef (Jacobs), this morning at the boulder of "Beatle Juice" in Cuisinière Crête Sud and as he and the people he was with weren't as early there as me, I already started working out the moves of "L'Homme à la Dent Creuse". Same start as "Beatle Juice", but topping out more left, using two pinches right hand.

Working out the moves separately took me longer than I expected, but just when I was at the verge of calling it a day, I found a working method for the last crux and decided to give it another attempt from the start.
Even though I almost slipped off the last and good hold, I managed to hang on and finish it off.

Quite defined, but in the end a very nice problem with some great moves and a painful thumb lock on the second pinch.
Despite the few bad falls on my elbows next to the crashpad, I really enjoyed trying this, especially being perfectly in the shade during these hot days.

Fontainebleau - Cuisinière Crête Sud - L'Homme à la Dent Creuse 7B

July 26, 2020 - Coquibeauty.

I had some friends over with their kids for a few days and despite having climbed together, I considered it as a few days of rest. It was climbing all together with all our kids, so I stuck to easy orange, yellow, blue and some red circuit climbs.
As they left yesterday afternoon, it was time again this morning for some harder climbing in a more isolated area, such as Montrouget in the midst of the oh so beautiful Coquibus.
I had never tried anything in the very nice roof of "Eldorado", but knowing that it would be in the shade, today seemed like a good time for it.

The warmup in "Colorado" didn't take long as I topped it on my second attempt already. My skin felt surprisingly good and despite mildly sandy holds, the friction was there.

Fontainebleau - Montrouget - Colorado 7A+

Between the problems that I wanted to try, there was of course also "Eldorado" itself, but I was somehow more attracted to "Laisse Tomber l'Eldorado".
Some very nice moves, I must say.

Fontainebleau - Montrouget - Laisse Tomber l'Eldorado 7B

Almost immediately after, I also managed to pull off "Laisse Tomber l'Eldorado (sortie droite)", which starts the same, but finishes more to the right in "Colorado". Again, a beauty.

Fontainebleau - Montrouget - Laisse Tomber l'Eldorado (sortie droite) 7B+

July 21, 2020 - Little big sister.

Back to Justice de Noisy this morning, but this time a bit earlier than yesterday to profit from the fresher temperature and the cooled down rock from the night. After falling off the hard mantle of "Manon (gauche)" multiple times yesterday, I knew that all bits could help.
The sun was already out shining on the boulder, but the difference in heating it up was remarkable and I'm sure that it helped me to achieve the goal.
Not yet published on bleau.info, so need to mention that this version has been opened by Tony Fouchereau.

Fontainebleau - Justice de Noisy - Manon (gauche) 7B+(7C)

July 20, 2020 - Sissy block.

No, not a sissy boulder, but rather a "sister boulder" as one of six sisters is named Manon.
Another one not yet published, but using Tony's notes, I knew how to identify the problems on boulder 2 of the topo on bleau.info (https://bleau.info/topos/topo1228.html).
A rather quick ascent, but had to leave its bigger sister, "Manon (gauche)", for another time. The slopers do start catching a lot of sun after 10h am.

According to Tony's notes, opened by Franck, Tit and Thierry. I'm not exactly sure who its all about, but all credits go to them.

Fontainebleau - Justice de Noisy - Manon 7A+(7B)

July 18, 2020 - On smaller scale.

Having planned to do some work in the garden today and also not fully recovered from two days ago, I went to Justice de Noisy this morning to stroll around and have a look at the new and rebrushed boulders.
I didn't go far though, because the first boulder that I passed by immediately caught my attention. Reminding me of "Onde Sensuelle", but on smaller scale, the boulder begs to be climbed.
I climbed what seemed like the most obvious line and sent a message to the most probable opener, Tony (Fouchereau). According to his feedback, I apparently climbed "Sai Ku Kai", opened by him and Thierry (Vasseur).
He sent me the descriptions and names of the other over 70 boulders and about 250 problems going from 2 to 8. Always fun to have a new playground so close to home.

Fontainebleau - Justice de Noisy - San Ku Kai 7A

July 17, 2020 - Exhaustive.

I didn't have soar legs from yesterday's long mountain bike ride, but my body simply felt completely exhausted.
The short climb in Bois des Hauts de Milly this morning was between 10h and noon, but it was hot and the air felt heavy, which didn't quite improve my exhaustive state; on the contrary.

I did manage to flash "Sergent Poivre", a boulder that I never dared trying the few other times I stood in front of it.

Fontainebleau - Bois des Hauts de Milly - Sergent Poivre 7A

The last bits and pieces of energy were then completely sucked out by the hard mantle of "L'Anti-Moustique", opened by our good old Belgian friend Ivan (Moreels).

Fontainebleau - Bois des Hauts de Milly - L'Anti-Moustique 7A

July 16, 2020 - Heel-click by convention.

Dave (Olbrechts), a friend from my hometown in Belgium, is camping in the area with his wife and kids. As I was meeting up with him this afternoon to do some mountain biking, the climb this morning in Franchard Hauts Sablons was not very long.
Just after the lockdown on a rainy morning, I did a walk around the area there and had noticed this small overhanging boulder right next to the Route du Louvard. It was obviously already cleaned, and looked like it had been tried, but as I couldn't find any information about it and didn't want to "steal" anyone's project, I quickly forgot about it. Until a few days ago, some lines on it were published on bleau.info. Opened by Jason Kester and Helen Dudley, who live in the nearby village of Arbonne-la-Forêt.

Looking like my style of climbing, it seemed an obvious choice to start with "Beefeater".
When watching Jason's video of the first ascent, I actually found it quite funny how it ended with him doing a heel-click on top of the boulder, mentioning that the ascent is only valid when doing the same. In a way, it opens up the discussion about some conventions that are defined by openers sometimes, but I don't want to go there.
Very nice problem this one! Even with the heel-click.

Fontainebleau - Franchard Hauts Sablons - Beefeater 7B

On the same boulder, same place to start, but with both hands in the crack and finishing directly, "Sentry Post" took me only three attempts, but I have to admit that I had to pull quite hard.
Nice boulder!

Fontainebleau - Franchard Hauts Sablons - Sentry Post 7A

July 12, 2020 - City tripping.

My oldest son Anthony had to take the train today from Paris to Bordeaux and then on to Mimizan near the Atlantic Ocean to join a friend on vacation.
As his train was leaving early afternoon from the station Gare de Montparnasse, I used the occasion to also take my youngest Noah and spend the morning together in Paris before bringing Anthony to the station.
I was surprised by the crowd, or rather the lack thereof, when we walked from Centre Pompidou, passed the Hotel de Ville, which actually isn't a hotel, but the town hall, and on to the Notre Dame.

Anthony & Noah in front of the "Hotel de Ville" near the "Notre Dame" in Paris.

Back home in the afternoon, I still had some time to climb.
It was already the hottest moment of the day, but luckily I found some shade just below the top of the hill of Châteauveau.
The topout however was on warm slopers and with the sun straight into my face.
The sound of the text notification of my phone at the start of the video, by the way, was Anthony updating me that he arrived in Bordeaux and found the train that had to take him towards Ychoux, near Mimizan. I would be lying if I said that I wasn't relieved.

Fontainebleau - Châteauveau - L'Invité du Jour 7A+(7B)

July 11, 2020 - Blistered.

I had planned to do some work in the garden today, but did take out about two hours in the morning to go for a walk and a climb.
No projects or problems that I had worked on before, but just trying some boulders that I had always left aside for some other day, like today.

I started in Bois Rond Auberge, where I pulled off "Le Festin (assis)" on my second attempt. Some bad slopers into an easy topout.

Fontainebleau - Bois Rond Auberge - Le Festin (assis) 7A+(7B)

Played a bit in "Sang et Lumière (en traversée)" on another side of the same boulder until I decided to make a stop at J.A. Martin on the way home.
There, I easily flashed "Mobil Homme" ...

Fontainebleau - J.A. Martin - Mobil Homme 6C(7A)

... but needed a bit more attempts to top "Les Poignes d'Amour", without using the (sadly) chipped hold on the top of the boulder, by convention.

Fontainebleau - J.A. Martin - Les Poignes d'Amour 7A(6C+)

My hands are blistered now; not from climbing, but from working in the garden for the rest of the day.

July 10, 2020 - Flip the switch.

It's been quite some years ago when I first tried "Paie ton Mac Do" in between the areas of Buthiers Canard and Buthiers Tennis. Even though I think I couldn't even stick the first move, it was a boulder that in some way attracted me and I found it strange that it only had a handful repetitions for such a popular area. I'm quite sure that if this boulder would have been in the center of for example Franchard Isatis,, you would have to stand in line to give it a try.
Up to a few weeks ago, when I started trying it again, it was even stranger that it still only had six registered repetitions on bleau.info, the last one being in March 2016.

This evening was the third session spread over three weeks that I spent trying "Paie ton Mac Do" and the previous two, I never managed to stick the crux move, going for and holding the small crimp for the right hand near the top of the prow. I touched it nearly every time, but as it's oriented in a wrong way, I hadn't been able to hold it for longer than half a second.
Somehow, the bad sloper for the left hand felt better than before and it appeared to be what I needed to hold the crimp and continue to the slopers above. I had never gotten to that point before, and to my surprise, there wasn't much anymore that I could hang on to to move higher up. On top of that, it all felt a bit sandy and my hands started to sweat. Mentally, I noticed that I was starting to prepare to fall or jump off, but I flipped a switch, tried to remain calm and struggled myself to the top.

Still only seven registered repetitions now for what is a truly underestimated beautiful boulder.
There still is the sitstart and a variation to do on it, so this boulder definitely hasn't seen the last of me yet.

Fontainebleau - Buthiers Canard - Paie ton Mac Do 7B

July 09, 2020 - Hot relief.

It has been quite a week up to now, and mentally, I needed a little break this evening. It was a pleasant coincidence that I had some extra time for climbing after work, so despite the heat, I went to Coquibus Auvergne.
My initial plan was to try some of the lines on the boulder of "Le Crunch Stat'", but just as I actually remembered, the landing below the boulder was a bit too exposed to try alone or with only one crashpad.
So instead, I decided to spend some time in the relatively unknown "Le Drapeau Noir".

It's difficult to find "Le Drapeau Noir" in completely dry conditions during the colder seasons, but in during long hot a dry periods like now, humidity is not really the problem. It's rather the heat that adds to the difficulty.
I had tried it a few times, but never long. If it wasn't because of the conditions, then it was because I couldn't find the how to move through the problem.
This evening though, I was really psyched and to my big surprise, was able to work out the moves quite quickly.
For a moment I feared that the heat would prevent me from doing the problem in its whole, but somehow, I managed to work my way from start to finish.
Really nice problem this one, much nicer than it looks at first sight.

Fontainebleau - Coquibus Auvergne - Le Drapeau Noir 7B(7B+)

July 04, 2020 - Meh.

Not much to say about today's climbing.
A lot of walking around Apremont Brûlis, going from one isolated small sector to the other, trying a lot of boulders on the way. Except for "Fake Karma", that I tried for almost half an hour, never longer than ten minutes. I had bad skin and the conditions of the boulders were far from good, so anything much longer only made it worse.

Only managed to get away with "Odor", on my second attempt.

Fontainebleau - Apremont Brûlis - Odor 7A(7A+)

July 03, 2020 - Chocolate makes one smile.

Just a quick climb after work, but after a long and exhausting work week, it felt good to be out in the forest alone.
I stayed close to home and went to the nearby new area of Justice de Noisy. Well, not completely new, as it gathers the boulders behind and around the already for long known "Fanny Chipie". It is the sector where "Halleluja" is, and where Tony Fouchereau and Thierry Vasseur opened many more boulders just before the lockdown.
Most of them are not published yet, but the topo can already be found on bleau.info (https://bleau.info/topos/topo1228.html).

Last Friday after work, I was there to try the older "Le Rire d'Evelyne", but it was so hot that day, that it wasn't possible to get to the top. I was determined to go back when it was less hot, like this evening.
I did work out what to do last time, but the first moves are very subtle, and I had to get into it again, but it worked out in the end.

Fontainebleau - Justice de Noisy - Le Rire d'Evelyne 7A(7A+)

There was still some time left, so I headed to boulder 8 on the topo, to try problem 'b'.
I had noticed the boulder on one of my previous visits and it is a logical and attractive problem, but it needed some more time to dry.
Now it was perfect, and somehow, I managed to flash it with relative ease.
According to the information that I received, I did "Chocolat", opened by Tony and Thierry. Nice line with one hard, big move.

Fontainebleau - Justice de Noisy - Chocolat 7A