I was hoping to go back to Petit Rempart today to continue with "Mojo Rising (assis)", but that hope dissipated as soon as I woke and noticed how sore my body felt. The three hours of working it yesterday had taken its toll and it didn't make any sense to back today already. Still eager to climb though, I wanted to go somewhere close to home, like the quick drying Justice de Noisy, which kind of limited my choice in boulders. Having done most medium hard problems in the close vicinity, I started looking for some short traverses and ended up at "Mnémotechnique". Bad slopers that required some rebrushing, but not too long and seemingly positive for the fingers. Against my expectations, it felt like quite a nice problem, with two tricky parts on very bad slopers, separated by a good jug, allowing for a short rest.
Fontainebleau - Justice de Noisy - Mnémotechnique 7B
Another traverse that looked quite nice on bleau.info, was "Geppetto par Pinocchio", but when I arrived at the boulder, it just looked too long and I didn't feel like wearing myself down after having done "Mnémotechnique" moments before. The much shorter version though, "Pinocchio (assis droite)" looked really nice and didn't even look a traverse at all. It just follows a very logical crack with underclings for about a meter to then top out at the prow. Definitely worth four stars in my opinion.
Fontainebleau - Justice de Noisy - Pinocchio (assis droite) 6C+(7A)
It rained quite a lot yesterday and even though it lasted until deep in the night, there was a lot of wind, so I was quite confident this morning that "Mojo Rising" in Petit Rempart would be dry already. The boulder was indeed completely dry when I arrived, and the friction even felt really good; so good that I topped "Mojo Rising" with relative ease on my second warmup attempt. It gave me confidence for the much harder sitstart, which was the main reason for my visit to the area. I worked hard on it for about three hours, short breaks included, am able to do all the moves and even did the boulder in two overlapping halfs, so I knew it would just a matter of time and having a lucky shot. After three hours though, I ran out of 'mojo' and had to let it go for the day. I will go back soon, hoping to finish it then.
I am not broken, nor did I break anything, but I am not keen on crowds or people around me, so I guess I do am a bit a-social. "Fracture Asocial" in Coquibus Rumont has both in its name though. Every time I passed that big boulder, I had a look at it and told myself that I should come back for this especially, but that moment never came, until this morning when went to Coquibus Rumont with only "Fracture Asociale" as a plan. When I felt the holds and started working the moves separately, my first impression was that this might take a while. I started with trying the topout, which went pretty well, the first move went as well, but the moves in between the start and the lip of the overhang felt hard and made me doubt about a an ascent happening today. It was mainly the move to the flat undercling that gave trouble and it didn't feel like I could stick it, until I decided to take a small intermediary in the crack instead of making a big move directly, completely out of balance. To my big surprise, it worked out and I decided to give it real attempt from the start. I didn't expect to stick the flat undercling again, but when I did, I carried on, trying to not slip out of it as it felt like that could happen any moment, even more when I stuck the move to the lip. I knew that if I could stay on until my right foot was locked, that I should be able to finish. I stayed on, locked my right foot and executed the final moves with regained confidence. A true beauty this one!
Helen (Dudley) reminded me yesterday that "Wolverine" in Apremon Désert was on my radar. I had only tried a few times, very briefly, because I could never remember any beta videos and no possibility to view any when being there as I have no phone reception. It was actually only yesterday evening when I was looking at some videos, that I noticed the kneebar that everyone was using, a method that never came to me when I was at the boulder. I watched the videos again this morning right before I left home, and tried to remember as much as I could. It was still early when I arrived at Apremont Désert and as expected, I was the only on there, just how I like it. Unfortunately, I could only remember little parts of the different betas that I watched, but I knew that the kneebar was key and started working around it. Not being sure which knee, left or right, was used, I switched the kneepad from one knee to the other a few times, only to conclude that I needed both knees on different parts of the problem. The beta that I figured out around it, made me arrive at the edge with my wrong hand, but luckily I remembered a video from Nathaleigh, who went feet first to be able to switch hands. Which is what I ended up doing. I only have one kneepad, and on my attempt to determine on which knee it would be most useful, I suddenly found myself at the edge, my fingers felt slippery, but I went for it, switched hands and topped out with mild despair.
Fontainebleau - Apremont Désert - Wolverine 7C
In the meantime, a big group of about 30 to 40 people had gathered around the big boulder of "Le Pilier du Désert" in the center of the area. Obviously it was a club of some kind and to avoid climbing with a crowd, I decided to leave, but stopped at the boulder of "Obélix" and flashed "Obélix (gauche)" to finish up my session. Call it superstition or whatever you want, but maybe, just maybe, having my towel back gave me luck ?
I was disappointed this morning in Franchard Meyer when I opened my crashpad; my dirty towel/cloth was missing and the only place where I could have left it was last Wednesday at "Chocolat" in Justice de Noisy. Jason (Kester) and his wife Helen (Dudley) were there too though and as they left after me, I sent them a text message asking if they had seen it by any chance. The whole thing got me kind of out of my focus and I had a really bad session. On the way back to the car, I consolidated myself with a flash of "Wu-Tang (gauche)" in Cuisinière Crête Sud. Around the same time, I got answer from Helen who confirmed that Jason had noticed my towel and had taken it. As I had to pass through Arbonne on my way back, I stopped by and was reunited with my cloth and Helen got me an idea for something to try tomorrow. Thanks again to Jason and Helen!
Fontainebleau - Cuisinière Crête Sud - Wu-Tang (gauche) 7A
Due to other important matters, I couldn't find the time to write a a blog post yesterday, so here it goes today. Last week, after I did "Hobby (accroupi)", I tried the isolated "Aragorn" and was able to do all the moves except for the second one. The first few moves require constant body tension and even though I knew that I would be able to do it, I didn't have enough energy left then. "Aragorn" kept spinning in my mind the whole week and I was determined to go back on Saturday, yesterday. I was early, so it was still nice and fresh when I started warming up and I immediately felt the difference in friction on the bad slopers. My main focus after warming up went of course to the second move, but I was struggling and became frustrated with the small ledge used for the heels. After a while though, I decided to put on a pair of older shoes that I always carry with me and surprisingly, I stuck the second move with them. Somehow, I was able to keep the heelhooks much better with the old pair. I knew that I had a chance now and was able to send it immediately after. The boulder of "Aragorn" doesn't look like much, but the problem is so much nicer than the initial impression.
