November 11, 2021 - Off and on the list.

As today, Armistice Day, is a public holiday in Belgium and France, I had planned a prolonged weekend months in advance. Pieter had done the same and as the weather forecast looked good, he drove over from Belgium again to have a good time in the forest. There was a very dense fog though yesterday evening which is hardly ever promising for good conditions. The fog was still present this morning, so we knew that we could only hope for the best when we were on our way to Apremont Portes du Désert.
Luckily it hadn't rained since Sunday morning, so the boulders weren't wet, but just damp here and there. The sector of "Furtif" wasn't very bad, so it was a good spot to start.
After a short warmup, we both finished "Neurotoxine", one that I couldn't do back in the 2016. Yes, it was apparently since then that I hadn't been back in the area, besides doing the walk through it in the rain with Pieter last Sunday.

Fontainebleau - Apremont Portes du Désert - Neurotoxine 7A+(7A)

Even though it was dry, the damp conditions and high air humidity didn't make it obvious to stick the slopers of "Furtif Haut". Not at all Pieter's style, so he unfortunately didn't get further than the starting hold. Doing the first three moves separately was quickly done for me, but it did take quite some time to make it through to the end when trying from the start. A few times, I came close to giving up for the day, but persistence took over until I made it. The easy looking topout, turned out to be not that easy, but the motivation to not come out of the boulder was greater than the fading energy that I still had in me. This was on my list already since my last visit in 2016.

Fontainebleau - Apremont Portes du Désert - Furtif Haut 7B

I then quickly repeated "Accrocheur" on my second attempt, followed by Pieter not long, but quite some more attempts, after.
To finish off the day, we started working in "Elementary", on which I found a flow to cruise through the first part of the line, but the boulder started feeling more humid again and I couldn't stick the top slopers. A new one on the list.