November 30, 2022 - Surprisingly good.

The weather forecast didn't look good for today, but yesterday it had changed and there was no more rain to be expected. It hadn't rained for a few days now, but without sun and much wind, it dried very slowly. 
During the weekend one will never see me in Franchard Isatis, except when passing through. On a regular Wednesday though, it is a good place to be. Instead of an otherwise full parking lot, there were only four cars this morning, mine included. The conditions looked bad though when I entered the area and saw the first boulders. Upon touching them however, they were dry and in surprisingly good conditions as well.
I started with "Le Surplomb Gauche" as a warmup, but my fingers were cold, and my body still had to wake up. Nevertheless, it didn't take me very long.

Fontainebleau - Franchard Isatis - Le Surplomb Gauche 7A

The sitstart followed immediately after practicing the first move a couple of times.

Fontainebleau - Franchard Isatis - Le Surplomb Gauche (assis) 7B+(7B)

I continued my way and stopped at "Patte de Chat" of which I could do the 7B version on my second attempt. With these conditions it didn't feel harder than 7A+.

Fontainebleau - Franchard Isatis - Patte de Chat (du sol) 7B

Next, I had the intention of trying "Panzer", but on my way there, my attention was drawn by the low start version of "El Poussah" on the boulder right next to "Panzer". Having two crashpads with me, I decided to work in "El Poussah (rallongé)" instead. Again, with these surprisingly good conditions, it went down much faster than I had expected at first. 
I still had some time but decided to leave home to build a second climbing module and fix to the wall in my barn.

Fontainebleau - Franchard Isatis - El Poussah (rallongé) 7B

November 26, 2022 - A design becomes reality.

About a month ago, I had a concrete floor installed in my barn, and one of the first things that I wanted, was to build a small overhanging bouldering wall. After many designs using the free online version of SketchUp, I finally ended with a definite design and started building a few weeks ago.

The final design.

Because I took my time and also built other things in between, the progress was slow, but steady and earlier this week it came to the point that it was ready to put in place. I wanted a completely free-standing wall, without anything fixed to the wall, so putting it all up was not something I could do by myself. I therefor gladly accepted Pieter's proposal to help me out this weekend. The structure being very heavy, I called Christophe (Laumone) and Jean-Hervé (Baudot) asking if they could come over and give us an extra hand on Sunday, I was delighted that they both confirmed without any hesitation.

I met Pieter yesterday morning on the parking of Roche aux Sabots and we made our way to the Cul de Chien area with the intention to try and hopefully finish the beautiful and popular "Arabesque", also known as "L'Autre Toit". The first ten minutes we were alone at the big roof, but it didn't take long before other climbers arrived at the spot.
I managed to get away with "Arabesque", after which we decided to leave and look for a calmer spot at the 91.1 area on our way back.

Fontainebleau - Cul de Chien - Arabesque / L'Autre Toit 7B+

We ended up at the boulder with "La Serpe d'Or", which I was able to repeat quite fast. Pieter tried a lot but couldn't keep the left heel hook long enough and he came up with the idea to try something seemingly new on the arete to the right of it. Starting with a slopey crimp behind the arete right hand and the undercling left hand, it looked logical to make a dynamic move to some bad slopers, match it with both hands and then finish left into the top of "La Serpe d'Or". Maybe it were the conditions but it took quite a few attempts for me to make it.
Pieter agreed to name it "L'Arbitre" and even though he hadn't done it yet, the grade of 7A+(7A) seemed appropriate.

Fontainebleau - 91.1 - L'Arbitre 7A+(7A)

I left home to finish hammering the T-nuts on the panels for my wall, while Pieter stayed in the area and continue working "L'Arbitre". When he arrived at my home a few hours later, it was nice to hear that he had done it as well and confirmed the grade.
Being motivated by Pieter, we made some finishing touches to the structure of the wall and decided to try and put it up after a well-deserved pizza. We made big progress and thanks to Pieter managed to put it up and fix it a few hours later, it had become much later than anticipated and exhausted we went to sleep.

The structure erected; no Viagra was used.

After a good sleep, and the arrival of Christophe and Jean-Hervé, it all went very quick and barely an hour after their arrival, the panels were on the wall and well fixed. It was time to screw on the first holds.

Fixing the last heavy panel.

The first holds on the wall.

A huge, enormous thanks to Pieter, Christophe and Jean-Hervé, for helping out without any hesitation and on such a short notice! It is much appreciated!
Funny enough, when the wall was completely finished, we went for a climb ... in the forest. The weather allowed it and dry boulders outside are more attractive than an indoor artificial overhang. Climbing it would be for rainy days and dark evenings.
At Mont Pivot, Pieter climbed "Pulpo", and I was able to repeat it. Then it was time to go higher up and try the classic but scary "Pancras". Even though we both had already worked the sitstart in the past, Pieter and I had never even done the standing start, so we wisely decided to focus on that one. We were both exhausted from all the work, but to my big surprise, I ended up finishing this beauty. It was scary though.

Fontainebleau - Mont Pivot - Pancras 7A+(7A)

Thanks again Pieter, Christophe and Jean-Hervé for helping me make what started as a design, a reality!

November 19, 2022 - From high to low.

I have started building a bouldering wall in the barn of my house, and as I was eager to continue working on it, I decided to stay close and try to keep the climbing short. When I arrived at the boulder of "Malus Auto" in Rocher Cailleau and warmed up in "Guide de la Pince", I was surprised with how good the conditions were and how good the friction was. For a moment, I was thinking that maybe I should have gone back to "Entrailles" in Rocher de Milly, but the work on my bouldering wall felt more important. Besides, I did make my visit to Rocher Cailleau worth it.

Fontainebleau - Rocher Cailleau - Guide de la Pince 7A(6C+)

After "Guide de la Pince", I began on "Malus Auto (direct)", of which I was able to work out the first few moves last Wednesday but couldn't continue due to the boulder being too humid higher up. With a crux that high, I needed it to be in good condition.
The rather quick ascent of "Malus Auto (direct)" proved how good the conditions were, but despite that, the topout was really scary and quite sketchy. The feet felt so bad and made me think I could slip off any moment until I found myself completely on top of this beautiful high prow.

Fontainebleau - Rocher Cailleau - Malus Auto (direct) 7B(7B+)

Having some time left in my planning, I decided to look for the new boulder of "Voûte Entoilée" on top of the neighboring hill, above the phallus shaped boulder with "Le Gland Incarné". The contrast between the 4- or 5-meters high prow of "Malus Auto (direct)" and the barely 2 meters low "Voûte Entoilée" almost couldn't be greater. 
The first moves under the low roof looked too morpho at first, but it didn't take long to find a possible method. I quickly worked out the moves at the end and sent the problem immediately after. It made up for not having done the long walk to "Entrailles" and with a sense of relief I went back home to work on my bouldering wall. It will be a 2m50 wide and 3m40 high 35° overhanging face. I'll post a picture on my blog when it's erected and finished.

Fontainebleau - Rocher Cailleau - Voûte Etoilée 7B+(7C)

November 16, 2022 - Tony did it.

Last Saturday I repeated a few problems on the big boulder of "Le Cadeau" in Rocher du Télégraphe and Sunday we were quite a few who went to the "Dolmen du Divin" boulder in Rocher de Milly where I worked out "Entrailles" but lost too much energy on working out a method and was unable to send the whole problem from the start. It's on my list though.
When I looked at the weather forecast yesterday, it didn't look like it would be possible to climb, but when the forecast changed this morning, there opened up a window for a climb. Not risking doing the long walk back to Rocher de Milly, I preferred to stay close and went to Rocher Cailleau to check out the newly published problems opened by Tony (Fouchereau). I had noticed the big boulder of "Malus Auto" already a couple of years ago, and I remembered thinking when someone would do the effort to open a few lines on it. It turns out that Tony did it.
I had hoped to try the beautiful prow of "Malus Auto (direct)", but the left shady side of the boulder was still too wet to climb. Luckily, the face with "Guide de la Verticale" on the boulder next to it, was dry enough. 
It took me quite some time to find a good possible method, but when I finally did, I was surprised by the nice way it climbs.

Fontainebleau - Rocher Cailleau - Guide de la Verticale 7A+(7A)

November 11, 2022 - Unexpected sends.

I met with Pieter and Bram (Honorez) this morning on the parking La Feuillardière as we agreed to go climbing together in Rocher du Télégraphe. The boulders near the base of the hill were very damp, but higher up, the boulder with "Le Plat du Chef" was dry. I didn't really have a specific problem in mind, but as we all hadn't done "Le Plat du Chef" yet, we agreed to start with that one.
Pieter wasn't in his best shape, and Bram, who didn't climb for at least nine months, wasn't as well. I was the only one of us who got the send.

Fontainebleau - Rocher du Télégraphe - Le Plat du Chef 7A+

While the others were still trying "Le Plat du Chef", I was able to do the relatively new "Karim Abdoul Gullish" unexpectedly. It somehow didn't give me much trouble, besides the topout being somewhat scary.

Fontainebleau - Rocher du Télégraphe - Karim Abdoul Gullish 7C

After a while, we moved over to "Coup d'Epaule" on the boulder next to it. I had done it already back in 2016, and the sitstart as well, but not the direct version, without the good holds behind the arete. I had tried it a few times long ago but couldn't do more than one move.
After we witnessed Bram flashing "Coup d'Epaule", I somehow managed to get past the crux of "Coup d'Epaule (direct)" but jumped back off to turn on the camera. I was able to finish this beauty off on my second attempt afterwards. This one came truly unexpected but made me want to come back for its sitstart some other day.

Fontainebleau - Rocher du Télégraphe - Coup d'Epaule (direct) 7B+

November 09, 2022 - Make it count.

After last night's and this morning's rain showers, I expected and was prepared for bad conditions in Franchard Sablons. I was hoping to try "Modulor" and carried two crashpads to be on the safe side. The boulders near the base of the hill were wet but got dryer when moving higher up and I felt lucky to find "Modulor" dry. I had spent a few short sessions on it long ago but had never been able to release the left toehoek without swinging out too far and touching the boulder on the left. Even though there was quite some humidity, the parts of the boulder that I had to use were dry and actually in pretty good conditions.
For a moment I thought that I would end up touching the left boulder again all the time, but when I was finally able to reach high enough, I barely took a swing and topped out this beauty much quicker than I had anticipated.

Fontainebleau - Franchard Sablons - Modulor 7B+

As I had carried both crashpads, I wanted to make it count and moved over to the boulder with "Jokari", of which I wanted to try the sitstart. After a few fruitless attempts trying the first move and then matching both hands on the high undercling, I feared that it wasn't going to work out and that it would just be impossible for me. I took my time though, made some tiny foot placement adjustments and after a while, I had the first move and matching both hands dialed and was able to get into the position of the standing start soon after that. When I was then able to quickly repeat the standing start, I setup the camera and went for it from the sitstart. Two attempts later, it was done. I made it count.

Fontainebleau - Franchard Sablons - Jokari (assis) 7B+

November 06, 2022 - Another kind of progress.

It was a bit risky to leave for a climb this morning because they predicted rain, and it looked like it could start any moment. I was lucky though and no rain had fallen by the time I arrived at "Reverse Progression" in Franchard Hautes Plaines.
My skin was barely warmed u and nor was my body, but I was able to finish "Reverse Proression" on my second attempt, almost without blinking my eyes. This felt like a mild 7B at most.

Fontainebleau - Franchard Hautes Plaines - Reverse Progression 7B+(7B)

Still no rain and I had packed up to move to try "Le Solitaire (assis)", but when I had a last look at "Reverse Progression", I was tempted to stay and try a very low crouching start, almost lying down. I figured that there had to be a way to start both hands on a low slopey crimp behind the right arete, and a toehoek on the left. 
After quite some fails and continuous tweaking small details, I managed to fight my way up from the very low crouching start. This one felt more like hard 7B+ or mild 7C, depending on one's body morphology. Loved the moves on this one!

Fontainebleau - Franchard Hautes Plaines - Reverse Progression (bas) 7C(7B+)

November 05, 2022 - Blown up.

The conditions were not very promising when I left for Mont Ussy Est. I had made note of a few boulders that I wanted to find, and hopefully try. First on the list was "Bouboule", but when I unexpectedly walked by the new "Hey J", I decided to give a try, even though it wasn't really on my list.
It took a moment before I was able to figure how to go for and hold the vertical crimp in the left face, but once I knew what to do, it went down quick.

Fontainebleau - Mont Ussy Est - Hey J 7A

Looking for the boulder of "Bouboule", I found the boulder of "Le Corps Epouse la Forme" by coincidence, which was on my list, but too humid to try, especially given the bad landing, so I continued my search for "Bouboule". The high ferns made it difficult to walk through and look far, and thinking it was the right boulder, I found myself in front of another boulder on my list, "Vite avant Cours". Being there, I used the occasion, worked out the moves and sent it rather quick. Very cool problem.

Fontainebleau - Mont Ussy Est - Vite avant Cours 7A+

According to what I read, "Vite avant Cours" is supposed to be above the boulder with "Bouboule", so logically, I walked down the valley looking everywhere I could, but nothing that resembled the boulder I was looking for. It's as if someone just blew it up and made it disappear.
Having walked all the way down the valley, I decided to walk on to the boulder with "Percolation Critique", but as that was too humid to try. "Criminsix", right next to it, was dry, but required some cleaning. Not feeling like leaving, I decided to stay and clean the boulder again. Due to humid air, the holds stayed quite dirty and sandy, which made the standing start of "Criminsix" feel like hard 7A instead of the published 6C+.
After I finished the standing start, I went for the sitstart and was able to top this out as well after a handful of attempts. The dirty and sandy holds made it feel like the proposed 7B+, but I can very well imagine that it would rather be 7B with better conditions.

Fontainebleau - Mont Ussy Est - Criminsix (assis) 7B+

November 02, 2022 - One move wonder.

Being off work on Wednesdays until the end of the year allowed me to spend another climbing session as good as alone in yet another otherwise popular and densely crowded area, like Apremont. Following Jan's (Gorrebeeck) advice, I decided to try "L'Arête du Boucher", its sitstart and hopefully also "Un Os sous l'Arête". The standing start of "L'Arête du Boucher" didn't feel too hard, and I flashed it with relative ease as a warmup.

Fontainebleau - Apremont Est - L'Arête du Boucher / Appréhension 7A(6C+)

Almost immediately followed by the sitstart, on my second attempt.

Fontainebleau - Apremont Est - L'Arête du Boucher (assis) 7A+

"Un Os sous l'Arête" sitstarts far left, follows the arete to the right on bad slopers and a few crimps in the overhang, to finally exit in "L'Arête du Boucher". Working out the moves went quicker than I expected and soon I was able to make the whole linkup to the standing start of "L'Arête du Boucher". Even though the weather conditions were in favor, my skin was not, and I wasn't able to keep the friction long enough to make it to the end. I had a feeling that with this skin, it was pointless to keep on trying, but being able to make the link up to the standing start felt like a good progress, it definitely feels possible. Satisfied with the progress, I decided to move to the central area of Apremont and try "Marginal (droite)", which was also on my list.
I was surprised to top it out on my first attempt.

Fontainebleau - Apremont - Marginal (droite) 7B(7A+)

Still eager to climb, I doubted between "Massacre à l'Intermarché" and "Futura Santé". Even though I had tried the latter long ago and it felt impossible at that time, I decided to go for "Futura Santé". With only one very hard move to a bad sloper instead of the continuous bad slopers of "Massacre à l'Intermarché", it was probably better with such bad skin.
I had tried "Futura Santé" briefly about four years ago, but as it felt so impossible, I had opened another easier left version back then. This time, I was determined to spend more time on it and see if there would be any possibility for progress.
The first couple of attempts seemed to confirm my thought that it was indeed impossible for me, but after some time, making minor adjustments, there was mild progress. The right hand move from a low undercling to a high bad sloper is huge and really hard, but when I was finally able to touch the sloper, I turned on the camera to add some pressure. It still took more than an hour of attempt after attempt until I finally stuck the move, but still fell off afterwards. Thinking it would go fast now, it took almost another half an hour of attempts before I stuck the move again. This time, I stayed focused and struggled further to the top of this small boulder. A one move wonder followed by a sketchy mantle with bad and slightly sandy slopers.

Fontainebleau - Apremont - Futura Santé 7C+(7C)

November 01, 2022 - Good to be back.

After many months, I finally returned back to Belgium for a long weekend to attend a family reunion, and to be honest, it was good to be back in Belgium and spend some days with family. People who know where I live will probably understand that it felt good to be back home as well, maybe even better.
It was a long drive, but after a coffee at home, I left to the forest for a climb. Feeling pretty tired, I stayed close and went to Bois Rond Auberge to climb something not too hard and walked straight to "Les Evadés", which I had never bothered trying before.
It went down quickly.

Fontainebleau - Bois Rond Auberge - Les Evadés 6C+

"Les Evadés (prolongé)" followed immediately after.

Fontainebleau - Bois Rond Auberge - Les Evadés (prolongé) 6C+(7A)

Having done both versions so quickly, I was still eager to climb, and "Avatar" on the boulder next to it, was a logical next step, even though I didn't come with the intention to try it. I had tried several times before, but never got further than lifting my butt off the ground, and I was never able to figure out what to do next. That was several years ago though, so I guessed it wouldn't hurt giving it another shot.
It took a while before I finally found a possible method and started making progress.
I was very pleased to very unexpectedly and unplanned tick this problem off. It's good to be back.

Fontainebleau - Bois Rond Auberge - Avatar 7B