November 29, 2020 - Three hours but only two kilometers.

We are allowed to stay outside for sports for 3 hours a day since yesterday, and up to 20 km from home. Even though I was desperately looking forward to finally leave the previous 1 km (!) radius, I only went exactly 2.1 km from home yesterday and today. "La Voie Active" in Mont Pivot had been an open tab on my web browser for some weeks already, to remind of going there as soon as I could.
Pieter and I had done "L'Imparfait du Subversif" on that same boulder a week before the first lockdown started here in March and we also worked out some of the moves of "La Voie Active" that same day and I had forgotten about it until a few weeks ago.

Yesterday I used up my 3 hours, although I have to admit that I was almost half an hour late. The weather was beautiful and perfect for climbing. Cold, but the sun was shining, it was dry and the conditions were way better than average. 
Even though I still remembered the first moves pretty well, it took a while before I was able to make everything fit perfectly to flow through the first part and have enough left for the last part. It was not very long after I had worked out the last part and taken a break that the sequence was carried out perfectly and despite an little unaesthetically executed struggle at the end, I worked myself through to the end.
Unfortunately my good old camera, or more specifically its battery, is starting to have it difficult when it's so cold. Especially after having been doing nothing in my backpack for almost a week without being kept on a charger. It definitely can't keep up for 3 hours in this cold; that's for sure now.
Anyway, the battery was completely empty and the camera was turned off when I wanted to pack up to leave. I didn't know when it had stopped though, but after checking the footage it must have been at most 10 minutes before I made the ascent. I did however, put together the footage I had and made composed a video in such a way that it features the topout of when I had worked out that part.
I didn't put online yesterday, because I was determined to go back today to make a better video. Knowing the sequence by heart and still having it in muscle memory, I was confident to repeat it again quick enough to leave me some time to try something else nearby.
The weather was not the same as yesterday though. It started out sunny when I woke up, giving me extra confidence, but even before the dawn was dry,  the sky had turned grey and the air felt humid. It was colder than yesterday without that nice sun and even though the boulder felt dry at first, it quickly turned damp. The skin of my fingers wasn't the same as yesterday neither and I must admit that I could feel yesterday's session in the form of much lower energy levels. There were a few attempts that I came really close, one even fell off the last move, but I had to throw in the towel after just under two hours of trying to repeat it. The motivation was still there, but the conditions weren't those that were needed for doing it and I was getting tired. I'm quite sure to come back again one day with Pieter. It's a beautiful line that he definitely should try again and I would be happy to join.

Fontainebleau - Mont Pivot - La Voie Active 7B(7B+)

November 2020 - Some discoveries.

Yet another strict lockdown has almost passed, but something tells me that it will not be the last. The whole month we were again confined to stay at home, but were allowed to go out for a walk for up to one hour per day and not further than one kilometer from home. For every time we went out of the house, we again had to justify being outside by filling out a form. Starting this Saturday though, some restrictions will be mildly loosened and we will be allowed twenty kilometers from home and this for up to three hours.
The previous lockdown, I had used to occasion to scout the one km radius around my house for new boulders. Mainly in the forests of La Charbonnière, La Renardière and Le Groison. When that lockdown came to an end, I left some partly brushed boulders behind, somehow knowing that another lockdown would most likely oppose itself again during the flu season that we are in now.
Not doing anything illegal, I made well use of the advantage of living where I live and continued my search for new boulders to brush and climb, staying well within my one km radius. The very few times that I did cross the invisible boundary, was when I had to go to the supermarket.

I found and brushed quite some new boulders again and had no choice but to update the previous small topo that I made. Most of the new boulders and problems are located around the sector of "Confinouf!" that I opened last time (boulders 18 to 22), and a completely new small sector that was hidden in plain sight at barely 200m from my house (boulders 23-27). I must add though that some of the boulders in the last sector had definitely been brushed before; especially the one with what I named "Cadeau Pour un Confiné" (boulder 24). A beautiful big boulder right on top of the small hill, hidden behind some houses, completely wiped clean of all moss. As if someone had cleaned it with a high pressure cleaner. As if someone just had given me a present, hence the name. I did some problems and variations on that boulder, and due to lack of any information about the boulder, I named and graded them. It must be clear though that I do not claim any first ascent on it and will change names as soon as more information comes in.

Below the updated topo, followed by some videos of the new problems that I did.

1) Muramasa 7B(7B+) - David Evrard

2) Pas à Toit 6C(7A) - David Evrard (+ several variations)

2') Bancroche (assis) 7A(7A+) - Stéphan Denys (+ several variations)

3) Backyard Lockdown 7A+ - F. Notebaert (+ left exit 7A)

4) Les Quarante Haines 7B - F. Notebaert

5) Arête au Confinement! 7A+ - F. Notebaert

6) Titrou 5+(6A) - F. Notebaert

7) Jouet de Bloc 5+(6A) - F. Notebaert

8) Déconfinement 6C+(7A) - F. Notebaert (+ sitstart left and exit on arete 7A(7A+))

8') Retour de Déconfinement? 7A+ - F. Notebaert (video below)

9) La Balade des Confinés 6C(7A) - F. Notebaert

9') Câlin Confiné - 5+(6A) - F. Notebaert

10) Confiné Caché 7A - F. Notebaert (video below)

10') Chercher le Confiné 7A+ - F. Notebaert (video below)

11) À Vue de Nez 7A - F. Notebaert

11') Le Fils est Sûr 6A(6B) - F. Notebaert

11'') Le Père Est Maître 6B+(6C+) - F. Notebaert

12) Arête de Carrière 6B+ - F. Notebaert (+ several variations)

13) Shogun 7B+(7C) - David Evrard

13') Rönin 7A - David Evrard

13'') Tanuki 6C+(7A) - David Evrard

14) Moins d'un Kilomètre 7A(7A+) - F. Notebaert (+ some variations)

14') Dans le Périmètre 6B(6B+) - F. Notebaert

15) Confinîle Flottante 6B(6C) - F. Notebaert

16) Hold-Up le Bloc 7B+(7B) - F. Notebaert (videos below)

17) Beauty Full 7A - Thierry Guéguen

18) Confinouf! 7B - F. Notebaert (+ sitstart, slightly harder)

19) Arquée Masquée 7A - F. Notebaert (video below)

20) Sangliers sans Masque 7A - F. Notebaert (video below)

21) Masquerade de Gauche 6C - F. Notebaert (+ right exit, slightly easier, videos below)

22) Brushed by me, but free for all to open something

23) Petit Avantage du Confinement 7A - ??? (+ some games, videos below)

24) Cadeau Pour un Confiné 7A+(7B) - ??? (+ several variations, videos below)

24') La Proue Masquée 7A(6C+) - ??? (video below)

25) Was once brushed by someone but needs rebrushing

26) Brushed by me, but free for all to open something

27) Was once brushed by someone but needs rebrushing

Videos of the new problems (sometimes more like a game, but it keeps one going), ordered from oldest to newest:

Fontainebleau - La Charbonnière - Confiné Caché 7A (boulder 10)

Fontainebleau - Auvers - Petit Avantage du Confinement 7A (boulder 23)

Fontainebleau - Auvers - Petit Avantage du Confinement (par convention) 7A+ (boulder 23)

Fontainebleau - Auvers - Petit Avantage du Confinement (direct) 6C (boulder 23)

Fontainebleau - Auvers - Cadeau Pour un Confiné 7A+(7B) (boulder 24)

Fontainebleau - Auvers - Cadeau Pour un Confiné  (droite) 7A (boulder 24)

Fontainebleau - Auvers - Cadeau Pour un Confiné  (prolongé) 7B(7B+) (boulder 24)

Fontainebleau - Auvers - Cadeau Pour un Confiné  (droite prolongé) 7A+ (boulder 24)

Fontainebleau - La Charbonnière - Chercher le Confiné 7A+ (boulder 10)

Fontainebleau - Auvers - La Proue Masquée 7A(6C+) (boulder 24)

Fontainebleau - La Charbonnière - Masquerade de Gauche 6C (boulder 21)

Fontainebleau - La Charbonnière - Masquerade de Droite 6C (boulder 21)

Fontainebleau - La Charbonnière - Arquée Masquée 7A (boulder 19)

Fontainebleau - La Charbonnière - Retour de Déconfinement 7A+ (boulder 8)

Fontainebleau - La Charbonnière - Hold-Up le Bloc 7B+(7B) (boulder 16)

Fontainebleau - La Charbonnière - Hold-Up le Bloc (direct) 7B (boulder 16)

Fontainebleau - La Charbonnière - Sangliers sans Masque 7A (boulder 20)