April 30, 2023 - Belly of the beast.

Yesterday evening, Pieter decided to come over the forest after all and we met this morning at Les Mammouths.
The warmup in "Grimper (assis)" went quick, even though Pieter made it look much easier.

Fontainebleau - Les Mammouths - Grimper (assis) 7A

We got kicked in the butt by "Osiris" and decided to let it pass, but after a small struggle, I managed to get away with the very nice "Le Ventre du Mamouth". It looked like Pieter was going to follow soon after me, but he was getting tired and had decided to let it go so we could look for "La Belle Vie".

Fontainebleau - Les Mammouths - Le Ventre du Mammouth 7A+

Unfortunately, we couldn't find "La Belle Vie" so we decided to try "Jackass" instead. A quite reachy problem on very bad slopers, but unaesthetically, I managed to fight my way to the top.

Fontainebleau - Les Mammouths - Jackass 7A(7A+)

April 29, 2023 - Got up.

I left home with one main goal, "Get on Up" in Cassepot Roches Oranges. I had tried "Get on Up" only once in 2017 after I did "Opportunity (direct)" on the same boulder, but it was a bit out of my league back then. The problem had never left my mind and I was determined to go back one day and dedicate some real time on it, that day being today.
I warmed up by working out the moves separately and finding a working sequence for the topout, which turns out to be the crux, at least for me. I was happily surprised when the separate moves went much better than anticipated and with only one crashpad, I did some separate links until I had the first moves dialed without making mistakes. It gave me the confidence to move the crashpad under the topout and doing some real attempts. I quickly made it to the last moves, but my fingers had become a bit sweaty and it was hard to keep enough friction for the slopey topout. After applying some Crystal chalk from Chalk Rebels which dried my hands really well, I was able to keep the friction and worked my way to the top. I have to admit that I was really close to slipping off any moment, but I fought back and got on up.

Fontainebleau - Cassepot Roches Oranges - Get on Up 7C

April 23, 2023 - Forest works.

I was in Belgium this weekend to visit family and didn't seem to have missed much concerning weather in the forest. We left on Saturday morning, in the heavy rain, and when we arrived back home this afternoon, the pools of water on the streets revealed that today was not much better than yesterday. There was quite some wind though and despite feeling very tired, I went to the forest to get some air, and hopefully climb something that had dried in the wind.
I didn't have to go go far and look for a long time, because to my surprise, most of the boulders at the base of the hill of Roche aux Oiseaux were dry. 
I decided to try the quite new "Travaux Forestiers", originally opened with a sitstart on a stone. My skin still hurt from trying "Neverland" on Friday, but nevertheless, I was able to finish "Travaux Forestiers" quite fast. In my humble opinion, it just didn't feel hard enough for the grade, and it felt closer to 6C+.

Fontainebleau - Roche aux Oiseaux - Travaux Forestiers 7A(6C+)

I added an extra move by starting with a sitstart from the ground, to the left of the stone, making it feel closer to 7A.

Fontainebleau - Roche aux Oiseaux - Travaux Forestiers (du sol) 7A

April 21, 2023 - Never say never.

It was a very busy week at work with a couple of long days and I almost couldn't have chosen a better time to take the day off today. I needed to get some of the work stress out of system and the best way I know to do so, is to go for a climb in the forest. Being a Friday, I decided to go to Cuvier as I was quite eager to finally try "Neverland", which has been on my list for a long time, but I had never taken the time to actually try it.
It was still early when I arrived, and the parking was nearly empty, but I wasn't alone at the boulder of "L'Aérodynamite", on which I wanted to warm up in the relatively new "Aérophiles". Same start as "Aéroheart", but with an direct exit, or slightly left, depending on how you look at it. It was a much longer warmup than I had bargained for, and after having lost already quite some skin, I did end up topping it out. A very nice addition on that popular boulder.

Fontainebleau - Cuvier - Aérophiles 7B+(7B)

I started trying "Neverland" without expectations, especially with already worn out skin, but after a few hours on it, I did manage to do all the moves, do the whole problem in two overlapping parts and make some very good attempts from the start. Despite not having done it, I felt very satisfied with what I had achieved on "Neverland", especially for a first session. I definitely know that I can do the whole thing, it's only a matter of time.

April 16, 2023 - Sunny clouds.

It was nice to see Pieter again after hadn't been in the forest for a month or two. Climbing with him is always a lot of fun and this weekend, despite the wet conditions on Saturday, was no different. We met at the Carrefour de Belle Croix this morning to have a climb in Rocher Saint-Germain Ouest. Plenty of boulders and a lot on our lists, but we only managed to top two of them. It was a great day after all, as it was announced to be cloudy, but we had sun all day long. Feels like Spring has finally started.

The warm up in "Le Labyrinthe des Ombres" resulted in a fairly quick ascent for both of us.

Fontainebleau - Rocher Saint-Germain Ouest - Le Labyrinthe des Ombres 7A

After working out the moves of "Lydie'lle" right next to it, the ascent followed soon, also for the both of us. It was motivating, but as the moves on both problems felt so nice to climb, the session already felt like a success and we agreed that anything that followed would just be bonus. I managed to work out all the moves of "Wrong Cops", including the topout, but my skin was so worn out by then and the power level low enough to prevent me from linking it all together.

Fontainebleau - Rocher Saint-Germain Ouest - Lydie'lle 7B(7B+)

April 13, 2023 - Licking wounds in vain.

I was delighted to see a new boulder in Roche aux Sabots having been published this evening and with its quick and easy access from home, it made me want to go for a short climb after dinner and give it a try. Upon arrival at the boulder, I realized that it was one that I had thought about cleaning when I did "La Soupe Cosmique" right next to it back in 2018. I had forgotten about it of course, but I was glad that someone else did.
When looking at the boulder from the ground, it didn't look very difficult, but when I got at the slopers, I was quite surprised with how bad they actually are and how hard the mantle was going to be. Nothing but very bad slopers, a very bad vertical slopey crimp and an even worse slopey mono crimp. It was a fight, but I did end up keeping the friction long enough and finally get over my tipping point and top out. A very nice addition to this oh so popular area.

Fontainebleau - Roche aux Sabots - Vip'Air 7B+

The forest is still licking its wounds after the extremely busy Easter weekend and got some help from the two days of rain we had, but I was amazed and honestly disgusted with how much magnesium was still and again left behind on way too many holds and mostly easy problems and holds. Clearly, still way too many climbers don't clean the holds after climbing. I'm ashamed for them.

April 10, 2023 - Tick territory.

As the temperature starts to rise, the ticks come out and start their dreadful hunt. On their quest for blood, they crawl to the top of a blade of grass or a leaf and extend their legs outward. When an innocent stroller passes by, brushing the grass or bush, they grasp on and, like little ninjas, sneakily find their way to a soft piece of skin tissue, mostly undetected. When they found a suitable spot, they quickly latch onto the skin with their specialized mouthparts and use a barbed feeding tube to penetrate it and begin drawing blood. They then secrete a cement-like substance called "cementum" around their mouthparts, which helps to anchor it firmly in place. They are so tiny that when they are hidden well enough and you missed that spot, it sometimes can take several days before they are noticed, when their ugly body has grown thicker after sucking so much blood. 
Nope, I didn't see any ticks yet this season, but rest assured, they are there. Also didn't see any other human being, climber nor hiker, in that beautiful isolated spot in Mare aux Corneilles where I was. I had peace and quiet the whole long Easter weekend, it was a great success.

Fontainebleau - Mare aux Corneilles - Climat-Tique 7A+

April 09, 2023 - Oh, there they are.

The long Easter weekend is without a doubt the busiest weekend of the year in the forest and this year was of course no exception. Climbers and hikers from all over the continent gather to enjoy the boulders and the beauty of the forest. It's a weekend where I try to be lower than usual under the radar and makes me look for the most isolated boulders in the lesser known areas. Yesterday I chose Rocher aux Voleurs where I wasn't able to top out none of the boulders that I wanted to try and today it was Mare aux Joncs. Both areas are deep in the Coquibus and in both I didn't see another person, no climbers nor hikers, besides my oldest son who drove me there and carried a second crashpad. With my youngest son, I had a bike ride through the forest in Trois Pignons yesterday, and the it was packed everywhere. So that's where everyone was again, which was far from a surprise. 

This morning, when I started trying "Coup de Patte", I feared that it would be another day without any successful ascents. I wisely decided quickly to move over to the nearby "Ghost Rider" where I needed quite some time to warm up my fingers and get acquainted  with the bad crimp under the overhang. It required a lot of body tension and I also had a hard time getting the method straight. Then suddenly, after some tweaking and changing some minor details, I was able to top it out.

Fontainebleau - Mare aux Joncs - Ghost Rider 7C

Now that I had the moves dialed and stored in my muscle memory, I went for the sitstart and to my great pleasure, topped it out as well. This definitely adds a '+' to the stand in my humble opinion.

Fontainebleau - Mare aux Joncs - Ghost Rider (assis) 7C+

April 02, 2023 - Pet salute.

My son had to take the train in Avon late afternoon, so we went to the quick drying Cuvier Rempart on the way there. It's an area where I can seldom be found during the weekend, but it was worth a shot.
The boulders were dry, as expected and we walked straight to "Salut Chat", which I topped out rather quick. I couldn't find enough friction to try hard on the harder left exit of "Salut Chien" and I didn't feel comfortable climbing above the small boulder just below it. I will come back some other day to salute the dog.

Fontainebleau - Cuvier Rempart - Salut Chat 7B+

April 01, 2023 - No kidding.

I had my son drive me to Larchant early afternoon as it seemed like the best chance for dry weather and I figured that "Mégalodon", out in the open spot of the small Mont Blanc Est area, would be dry quickly, especially with the quite hard blowing wind.
I think it was my fifth or sixth session on it today, spread over about two years, and when I started trying, I figured it would nit be the last one neither. It was difficult to find the required friction to hold on the very bad slopey high crimp for the left hand and it took a while before I could actually do something with it. Nonetheless, I didn't even come close to doing the next move. I analyzed what I could do better and as I wasn't kidding myself with possibly doing the problem today, I was climbing relaxed and didn't feel any pressure. It seemed to be an undeliberate good approach, because after some time, I suddenly came really close to the top and decided to turn on the camera. Despite feeling very confident all of a sudden, I didn't let the sending stress take over and started with the same attitude. It was a flow and I made it look easy when I topped out. Just in time, at the start of a rain shower.

Fontainebleau - Mont Blanc Est - Mégalodon 7B+