October 16, 2020 - Prouesse (assis).

Just over a year and a half ago, I tried "Prouesse (assis)" for the first time with Pieter. We both couldn't bare the pain on our fingers and we deemed it way too hard after many attempts.
Last weekend, I tried it again for a while, together with Jan (Gorrebeeck), but it was after having worked for several hours together in "Le Proueptologue" in Cuvier Sorcières, so my energy levels were pretty low and the skin already wrecked. Thanks to some useful tips from Jan though, I did make some progress and actually believed that it was possible. Just not that day anymore.
Jan had been working for several sessions in "Prouesse (assis)" already and just before I had to leave he caught the swing, made a small mistake and fell off at two moves from the top. Later that day, he sent me a message that he fell off the very last move during the attempt right after I left. The boulder had sucked him dry and a long lasting headache forced him to let it go again and come back for it. Watching a video of that attempt that he sent me few days later, I realized that anything can happen until it's really over.

This evening, I had just enough time after work to go for a climb and decided to go to the nearby Rocher des Souris and try "Prouesse (assis)" again. The conditions didn't seem as good as last week, but I was filled with energy and motivation to climb off the work week. I had no high expectations though.
Surprisingly, my first attempt of the day went much better than I expected and now I really started to have the feeling that it might go.
I started to feel the so called sending-stress and felt nervous about falling off the very last moves. But then suddenly, some attempts later, somehow I managed to let go of the right foot and stay perfectly balanced. It gave me the time to place my feet on the tiny holds and prepare for going towards the top. The image of Jan falling off that last move was racing through my head, but I kept it together and shouted from relief when I hung on the last hold, big enough to not let go anymore.

Fontainebleau - Rocher des Souris - Prouesse (assis) 7C+