February 23, 2022 - One that counts.

Being off work on Wednesdays is nice. It gives me the possibility to go to areas that I would usually try to avoid during the weekends to avoid any potential crowds. I appreciate the forest so much more when I'm alone.
When I was on my way to Rocher Saint-Germain this morning, it didn't look as dry as I hoped for, but the rock felt doable. It was far from perfect, but good enough to start trying "Un P qui Compte",my main goal for the day.
I warmed up trying the first move and to my surprise, I cruised it, until the belly, where I fell out. That definitely felt promising. I took the time to work out the part over the belly, and when I was confident enough about that part, I turned on the camera thinking that "Un P qui Compte" would go down pretty soon. Somehow though, the left toehook at the start didn't want to stick anymore and I couldn't do the first move anymore. I must admit that it started to frustrate me a bit as the fruitless attempts were counting up more and more. Almost half an hour later, having still not topped out, I took a longer break. Apparently it was what I needed, because on my second attempt after the break, I managed to work my way up to the top. Truly a beauty, this one.

Fontainebleau - Rocher Saint-Germain - Un P qui Compte 7B(7B+)

My main goal for the day was done, but I still wanted to climb and made quick ascent of "Le Cisrhénan (direct)", doing it on my second attempt. This particular boulder has always been special to me, as it is the first boulder that I can remember when I came to Bleau for the very first time many, many years ago.

Fontainebleau - Rocher Saint-Germain - Le Cisrhénan (direct) 7A

I ended up trying "La Vague Scélérate" on one of the first boulders in the area when coming from the parking, but got shut down by it after always falling off the very last moves. I was exhausted, but satisfied.

February 20, 2022 - Recharging.

The weather last Wednesday wasn't good but there was a lot of wind and during a dry moment, I drove to Coquibus Auvergne where I was able to make a very quick ascent of the very quick drying "Queen Auvergne". For once, I didn't bother to write a blogpost about it that same evening, so here is the video of me doing the problem on my second attempt last Wednesday.

Fontainebleau - Coquibus Auvergne - Queen Auvergne 6C+(7A)

Yesterday it was apparently a beautiful sunny day, but as I had to be in Belgium, I couldn't take advantage of it.
I left Belgium this morning and had hoped to be at home around 14h, but due to making a detour to see my son's new student studio in Paris, and at the same time drop off some things that he needed, I was back much later.
It rained a lot on the way to Paris and a hard wind pushed my car sideways sometimes, so I had to adapt my speed and drive extra careful. The announced storm was well on its way to struck probably hard later this evening and during the night. There was less and less rain the closer I got to Paris, so I didn't fear for wet boulders, but rather hoped that I would be home early enough to do some climbing after the drive.
It was almost two hours later than planned that I arrived home and after a very short break from the drive, I jumped back into the car for yet another drive, but this time it was only two minutes to Justice de Noisy. 
I didn't care much about what I had still left to climb there, and walked straight to "Fifi Brin d'Acier", a nice pillar that I deliberately left aside especially for a moment like today. It felt great to be back home in the forest, even after being away for just one day, and the motivation was high. The conditions were quite good and I topped the problem on my second attempt.

Fontainebleau - Justice de Noisy - Fifi Brin d'Acier 6C(7A)

A quick look on bleau.info on my phone helped to find another problem that I hadn't done before, and I moved over to the nearby "L'Azur Estival". I had never tried this because it didn't seem to be my style, but in the end I only needed a handful of attempts to climb my way up.

Fontainebleau - Justice de Noisy - L'Azur Estival 7B(7A+)

Immediately after, I also finished "L'Azuré Commun" just left of it, also on my second attempt and repeated it again, but this time filmed from a different angle. I felt like I was completely recharged again after the long drive earlier today.

Fontainebleau - Justice de Noisy - L'Azuré Commun 7A(6C)

February 13, 2022 - Tranquility.

It was beautiful day, but yet it was all tranquility in the quite popular small area of Bois Rond. I didn't want to try anything too hard, but just some problems that I had tried long ago and since forgotten about.
One of them was "La Mer de Tranquilité", with a name that set the mood for the morning. Luckily this didn't take me too many attempts, because the tiny sharp crimp right hand started cutting deep in my fingertips fast.

Fontainebleau - Bois Rond - La Mer de la Tranquilité 7A

I probably walked around the area more than I actually climbed, but it was just a beautiful sunny moment and I enjoyed every second of it regardless of what I was doing. Still managed to finish the very nice "La Bombe Humaine (droite)". Such a joy to climb.

Fontainebleau - Bois Rond - La Bombe Humaine (droite) 7A+

February 12, 2022 - No cherry on the cake.

I went to Franchard Raymond today with the intent of trying "Futebol (assis)". I had done the standing start in September 2016, so as a warm up, I was able to repeat it fairly quickly as opposed to back in 2016. I could have filmed it again, but as I already had a video of it, I decided not to. Maybe I should have, because the sitstart proved to be way too hard for me, at least that first move. I didn't feel like spending a whole morning on only one move, realizing that it might as well be too morpho anyway. I had a cake, but not the cherry.
Below is the video from the standing start in September 2016.

Fontainebleau - Franchard Raymond - Futebol 7B+

I looked for something else nearby, and my curiosity was caught by "Épiphyse". A nice looking prow with bad slopers and tiny crimps. It turned out to be harder than I expected, but I persisted and ended up doing probably the most ugly ascent of this otherwise so nice problem. I honestly couldn't care less, because the goal is to get on top, which in the end, I did.

Fontainebleau - Franchard Raymond - Épiphyse 7B

Strolling around the area, I stumbled upon "Sans Pâtisserie", that I was able to do on my second attempt despite the very hard mantle on nothing but very bad slopers.

Fontainebleau - Franchard Raymond - Sans Pâtisserie 7A+

The remaining time, I spent on trying "La Force Tectonique", but I didn't get further than working out the first three or four moves. Some other time maybe, or maybe not.

February 09, 2022 - Just like Spring.

It was only 0°C when I left home this morning but the weather was announced to be beautiful. With a clear blue sky it looked like the forecast was going to come true. Being Wednesday, I drove towards Cuvier without any real goal, I just wanted to try some more of the new boulders opened by Manuel (Marquès) in Petit Rempart and more importantly, enjoy the forest in solitude, which is not for granted during the weekend in that and the nearby areas. As I wanted to find most of the new boulders, I spent more time trying some than that I actually topped, but nevertheless got away with nice little harvest.
The first one that I managed to top out was "Maboule", a short problem with not too painful holds, so ideal for a good body wake-up call.

Fontainebleau - Petit Rempart - Maboule 7A

"Le Nœud Pap" wasn't new, and not opened by Manuel, but as it is right next to "Maboule", it was an obvious choice. I only needed two attempts for it, and even though the top part was quite sketchy, it rather felt soft for the proposed 7A+. Nice climb nevertheless.

Fontainebleau - Petit Rempart - Le Nœud Pap 7A+

A few fails on other boulders nearby later, I ended up at "Drôle de Trou". A quite uncommon start for on this boulder, and even though some might not like it, I had some fun. It did require quite some energy and after I was able to finish "Drôle de Trou (direct)", I needed a little break.

Fontainebleau - Petit Rempart - Drôle de Trou (direct) 7A+(7B)

The weather was just like a Spring day and knowing that I still had some tasks planned at home, I decided to use the break to walk to "Bon alors Bon..." on my way back to the car. 
This is one is at the very end of Cuvier Rempart, but might as well belong to the Petit Rempart area. I could feel that I had lost already quite a bit of energy in all the other boulders, including those that I didn't top out, but despite that, I still managed to pull it off and top out this small, but nice slopey prow. It was a good end of the session.

Fontainebleau - Cuvier Rempart - Bon alors Bon... 7A+

February 05, 2022 - Two chickens.

When Pieter sent me message yesterday evening to choose a highball for the weekend, it meant that he was coming over to the forest for the weekend. My immediate and first thought was the magnificent "Ebats" in Gorge à Véron. With about 8m high, a true highball. I remember seeing it for the first time many years ago and thinking how beautiful it is, but at the same time I also thought that I was never going to try this one. The biggest issue wasn't the height, but more how extremely exposed and dangerous the landing is with a huge sharp boulder just underneath the high overhanging face. You would reach a point of no return where you either make it, or get really badly hurt, or even die.
When he answered that he was up for it after looking at some pictures that didn't really show the real danger, I started to get excited, but also nervous and anxious.
When we arrived at the huge boulder this morning, Pieter understood my fear, but after a short warmup, we decided to give the start some tries and see if we could build up some confidence. Only a couple of tries later, we both chickened out and agreed that it would be safer and more wise to at least try this with a rope first, get familiar with the moves higher up and then maybe give it a ropeless attempt. It definitely wasn't going to be today. Chickens ...

David Evrard in the end of "Ebats" (picture taken from bleau.info).

We stayed in the beautiful area of Gorge à Véron, but moved to the nearby boulder of "Coup de Foudre" where we got slapped by a 7A+ traverse with an exhausting crux at the very end.
I had already done "Coup de Foudre" in 2017, but when Pieter started looking for a start deeper under the steep overhang, he ended up with a really nice possibility and a problem that featured some very nice moves. Being completely my style, I was attracted to it and after some time, was able to do all the moves separately, but failed at the attempt from the start.
I was running out of time, but after a short recovering break, I decided to turn on the camera to add some pressure and give it one last go. It wasn't the most beautiful attempt, certainly not the last part, but I ended up working my way to the top, barely, but I made it. It was nice to end my session this way.

Fontainebleau - Gorge à Véron - Coup de Foudre (du fond) 7B+

February 02, 2022 - Shooting a Blanco.

Pun intended.

I knew that I had a lot of vacation days accumulated on my work's Time Savings Account, but I didn't realize that it was a total of 76 days that I had saved there. It was definitely time to start using them, so I got approval to be off work every Wednesday for the next 15 weeks, starting with today.
The weather forecast didn't look too bad for today, but when I was driving to Rocher Saint-Germain, a drizzly rain shower made everything wet. I walked around the area, but it didn't look like it was going to be dry again soon. Due to its immense popularity I don't often go to the Cuvier Rempart area, but being a Wednesday and being nearby, I decided to try my chance there. After all, it is known to dry quickly there.
Of course, it had rained there as well, so I walked on to the small area of Petit Rempart to have a look at some of the new boulders that were recently opened by Manuel Marquès. I didn't get further than the first boulder that I found, the small, but pretty nice and apparently very quick drying "Blanco". At least the left side dries very quickly. The right side required a lot of towel drying and especially patience.
I was able to work out all of the moves separately, but it was a time consuming process with humid slopers on the right side. The boulder felt better and better with each attempt though and by the time I had done all the separate moves, it was dry enough to give it some real attempts and setup the camera.
Being a short, steep overhanging prow with tense compression moves on bad slopers and the possibility to use toehooks on both sides, "Blanco" fits my style pretty well. It was well worth the wait.

Fontainebleau - Petit Rempart - Blanco 7B