December 14, 2024 - Staying low among the high.

First, a video from two weeks ago, when the conditions were too bad for the bad slopers of the conventional "Take It Easy (direct)" in Rocher de la Reine. I did, however, get away with a non-conventional version, using a high, very sharp crimp left hand. Conveniently, I called it "Take It Easier".

Fontainebleau - Rocher de la Reine - Take It Easier 7A(7A+)

Last weekend, on Saturday, the conditions weren't too bad later in the day thanks to quite some wind, but I had left the house a bit too early. On top of that, I wasn't feeling in shape and didn't manage to top out anything, besides a 6A at the warmup.
Also last weekend, on Sunday, it rained as good a the whole day, so I only went out for a walk around Dame Jouanne. I mainly wanted to see "Perudo" and on my way there, I did get a glimpse of "Le Plafond". Even though I didn't even walk over to "Le Plafond", but continued straight towards "Perudo", I couldn't stop thinking about finally trying the very popular "Le Plafond" during the whole week. It only made sense for me to finally go try "Le Plafond" this morning. 
"Le Plafond" is a long and very popular roof and besides having a look at it many years ago, I somehow never even tried it. Today, I wanted to at least try it and hopefully get away with a send. One can't do the second without the first, but the first can be done without the second.
It was near freezing this morning, and I took my time to warm up and try all the moves separately. As soon as I had been able to do all of them, I turned on the camera and starting trying the whole thing. Maybe, I should have tried doing some better links first, because I lost a lot of time and energy falling off due to stupid little mistakes. I did end up sending it though, and it felt good. A really beautiful line.

Fontainebleau - Dame Jouanne - Le Plafond 7B+(7B)

Last week, I had also walked by the beautiful steep overhang of "Dévertige" on the top of the hill, and figured that with the time and energy that I still had left, that I would go try it.

I must admit that it looked harder than I expected, because this was almost a sending train just by myself. Just trying to see if I could do the start, I ended up flashing the 7A "Dévertige (direct)". It was so unexpected that I hadn't even bothered to turn on the camera already.
Feeling confident after the flash of the direct version, I turned on the camera and did "Dévertige (gauche)" immediately, on my first attempt.

Fontainebleau - Dame Jouanne - Dévertige (gauche) 7A+

I wasn't really attracted by the longer version, "Dévertige", which traverses all the way to the right, but now that I was there, I decided to give it a go. 
Surprisingly, on my first attempt, I made it all the way to the jug on the right, but missed the easy topout due to a footslip, bad conditions on the top, and not really what to to do.
I took some time to do the topout separately, took a short break and was able to finish it on my second attempt, barely ten minutes after the first one. Unfortunately, the battery of my camera doesn't like the cold and had decided to call it a day in the meantime. Therefor, I only have a video of my first attempt, failing on the topout. Bummer, but so be it.

Fontainebleau - Dame Jouanne - Dévertige 7B (failed topout on the first attempt)

November 30, 2024 - Thumbed up.

The morning started very promising with the sun already out early, but somehow, by the time I left for climbing at around 10h, a dense fog had formed and blocked out the sun completely. I was on my once again to hopefully try "Contrôle A", but once again, even though the top was dry this time, the part to the left of the arete was damp. With the fog, I didn't bother waiting and hoping for it potentially get better, so I reverted to plan B and drove to Buthiers Ouest to check out "Pouce Doudoud", another one of Manuel's (Marqués) new boulders in that small sector that I started trying after doing "Synchronicité" two weeks ago. To my pleasant surprise, it was completely dry and in noticeably good conditions too.  Two weeks ago, I could all moves, except for the last one, a huge dynamic move from a terrible sloper left hand and a weird pinch-like hold right hand, where placing the thumb correctly is key to holding on. 
After a short period of warming up in the moves, I got to the same point as last time, starting from two moves in, and always falling off the last one. I did start cruising through the first part, which allowed me to take slightly more time adjusting my body position for the last move and progressed steadily, coming closer to sticking it each time. Then finally, after again a very minor adjustment, I stuck it. Having started from two moves in, I jumped off and setup the camera for the real deal from the actual start.
Still being only 1°C at that moment, adding those two additional moves at the start made my fingers feel a little more numb by the time I arrived at the last one, which didn't make convenient to repeat it. I kept the focus though, and after a few attempts more, I finally made my way from the start to the top, with frozen toes and fingers, but I made it.
A really nice problem with great moves. Four stars for sure and a thumbs up!

Fontainebleau - Buthiers Ouest - Pouce Doudou 7B+

November 24, 2024 - Insta inspiration.

If you hadn't taken the time to clear the snow off of some boulders on Friday, then the chances were very big that they would be wet on Saturday. I didn't have that chance, so the boulders that I had hoped to try were of course wet. Instead of climbing, I decided to go for a short hike around J.A. Martin with Olaf (Deppe). We did find some dry boulders on our way though and were able to climb a little at least.
It looked lie Tony (Fouchereau) was able to climb and even find good conditions in Drei Zinnen, where he cleaned and opened another boulder behind blue n°6. According to his Instagram post, he thought "L'Arnaque Climatique" could possibly be 7C.
This morning, with the sudden much higher temperature, I really expected all boulders to be soaking wet due to condensation, but I took the chance and went to Drei Zinnen anyway. To my pleasant surprise, it was all dry and there was no sign of condensation, at least not yet.
Before trying "L'Arnaque Climatique", I wanted to try the original deep start of "Close Contact". The deep start adds quite some difficulty, but after some time, I did find a way to make it through and just past the more popular start on the right. It definitely had potential, but after a while, the roof started to become wet from condensation after all. Feeling around some other boulders, it felt similar.
The conditions were starting to become less good, so I hurried to try "L'Arnaque Climatique". Lifting up from the ground and doing the first move seemed to be the crux, but it only took a handful of attempt to get going. A few slip offs due to bad conditions later, I did manage to stick and climb on to the top. In my humble, it felt more like soft 7B+ at most, but nevertheless, a fun problem.

Fontainebleau - Drei Zinnen - L'Arnaque Climatique 7B+(7C)

November 17, 2024 - The one that got known.

When I checked my weather app yesterday evening, there was no rain forecasted for today, but this morning were very grey and looked kind of menacing. As if it could rain any moment. Thinking that it probably wasn't a good time to try harder projects, I decided instead to go to the boulder of "La Chevauchée" in 91.1.
I had done the standing start of "La Chevauchée" way back in 2016, and at that time it was still a very unknown boulder with only a few lines on it. It was so unknown that the now quite popular "La Chevauchée" was still published as "Le Surplomb Inconnu!", and that's how I still had it logged in my ticklist spreadsheet. As written, I had done the standing start back then, and it required quite an effort at that time, even needing the help of my good friend Maarten (Robays) who was there to point the best holds out to me.
Below, a video of that time doing the standing start.

Fontainebleau - 91.1 - La Chevauchée 6C+ (aka "Le Surplomb Inconnu!" back in 2016)

For some reason, even after doing some other lines on that boulder, I never bothered to do the sitstart of "La Chevauchée". A good reason to back for it this morning.
It clearly didn't give me as much trouble as eight years ago, because I did the sitstart on my first warmup attempt of the day.

Fontainebleau - 91.1 - La Chevauchée (assis) 7A(6C+)

Immediately after, I also did the version with an exit more to right, also on my first attempt.

Fontainebleau - 91.1 - La Chevauchée (droite assis) 7A

Being warmed up, I walked over to the main sector of 91.1 to try something harder, but unfortunately, by the time I got there, it had started drizzling. I immediately felt that this was the kind of drizzle that would make everything wet really fast and kept on walking, back the car, passing multiple groups of climbers on my way. By the time I arrived back at the car, I was soaking wet, and so were the surroundings.

November 16, 2024 - In sync.

Last Monday I went back to Buthiers Ouest to try "Synchronicité" again, and even though the conditions were slightly better than the day before, my skin was almost completely through and I again kept on falling on the last move. When I left, I thought that it really felt like a good 7B+ so far.
Determined to finish it, I went back this morning with even better conditions and more skin on my fingertips. My warmup attempt flowed and I felt in sync with the moves, until the last, where I fell off again. Searching for a more controlled way to do the end, I reverted back to using a right toehook when doing the last move, and surprisingly stuck it very controlled. I had tried this same method last week, but somehow there was no way for my toehook to stick and kept slipping out. Now it didn't seem like a problem.
I went for my second attempt of the day, used the toehook and quite easily stuck the last move and mantled up. Now it felt more like 7B.

Fontainebleau - Buthiers Ouest - Synchronicité 7B(7B+)

Afterwards, I was finally able to also try "Pouce Doudou", which was wet last week, but not today. It took some time, but after a while, I was able to do all the moves except for the last one. A huge and quite scary move to a bad sloper. Unfortunately, it's not possible to work out that move separately without a rope, but it did allow me to find a good comfortable sequence up to there. I came very close a few times, but the very bad sloper left hand on the North side of the boulder definitely could use some better conditions. For sure a problem that I will go back for some time soon.
"Appui Coude" on the same boulder, shares the same first move, but stays on the South-Western side of the boulder. I was able to do this with relative ease and was a good way to end today's session.

Fontainebleau - Buthiers Ouest - Appui Coude 6C+(7A)

November 10, 2024 - No milk.

Going to Buthiers Ouest didn't seem to be the smartest idea as not everything was dry enough to try. The boulder with "La Horde Sauvage" was good dry though, and I was able to make quick work of the standing start, doing it on my second attempt.

Fontainebleau - Buthiers Ouest - La Horde Sauvage 7A(7A+)

Immediately after, the sitstart followed too, also on my second attempt.

Fontainebleau - Buthiers Ouest - La Horde Sauvage (assis) 7A+

Then, I spent a lot of time trying "Synchronicité".
The separate moves were quickly worked out, even the last one, which I did several times separately, but I was battling against very bad conditions and fell off that last move almost every attempt.
If the conditions would have been better, I would have certainly made it, but then again, if our cat was a cow, then she would give milk. And we don't even have a cat.
Below, a few of many attempts trying "Synchronicité", which I only posted on Instagram.

Fontainebleau - Buthiers Ouest - Synchronicité 7B(7B+) - Attempts

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November 09, 2024 - Hang on.

There was still a thick dense fog when I left home for climbing, and I could only hope that the boulders on the top of the hill of Apremont Portes du Désert wouldn't be wet. My terrace at home was though, unlike last week, so the hope I had was quite high. I wanted to try "Accrocheur (assis)".
I had done the standing start a few times already, the first time being back in 2016, but I never understood how the sitstart actually started. That was until I saw a video of it a while back.
Arrived at the boulder, I was pleased to find it dry and the conditions even weren't bad at all. As a warmup I repeated the standing start on my first go, after which I started working out the lower moves. I took my time for it and worked them out one by one until I had all of them done separately. I quickly made a good linkup from two moves below the standing start and topped it out again. Feeling quite confident, I turned on the camera and started trying from the sitstart. Linking the lowest seemed to be the hardest, but even after I passed the lowest part and got into the standing start, I still off the very last move a few times, I couldn't hang on to that top sloper. The last move, one that I could do every time from the standing start, proved to be a small crux on its own when coming from way below.
Before I got too tired, I took a longer, fifteen minute break, and sent it on my first go after the break.

Fontainebleau - Apremont Portes du Désert - Accrocheur (assis) 7B+

November 03, 2024 - Good vibration.

There was much less to almost no fog yesterday morning, and I decided to go back to Montrouget Est. The conditions were somehow worse than the day before and on top of that, my body didn't seem like it wanted to work, so I didn't stay long and went back home do some work on a wood project that I had started on.
This morning, no fog at all, but I didn't leave very early. I was meeting up with Victor (Burger) around Larchant, but he could only come in the afternoon. Viktor's broken heel has completely healed, but unfortunately he tore the tendon of his pinky finger almost immediately after he was freed from the cast of his heel. He had an operation during which they reattached his tendon, so still recovering, we planned on doing only some easier blue and red problems as soon as he would join me.
It was almost noon when I arrived in Maunoury, and walked straight to "Pars Pro Toto". I had done the left version already back in 2017, but I was never able to really try the more direct version because the starting crack right hand was always wet. There was a climber from Lyon working in it who didn't mind that I joined him and told me that conditions were really good on it. Indeed, the starting crack was dry and the slopers felt sticky. I had a quick warmup attempt, using a bad method which made me come off, but was surprisingly able to finish it on my second attempt already.

Fontainebleau - Maunoury - Pars Pro Toto 7B

The area was quite busy, so I looked for and found some solitude at the "Baloo" boulder, but as the conditions weren't very good on it, I walked on to the big boulder of "Apophis" where I was alone as well. Being alone, I checked out one of the easier lines, "Good Vibrations (du fond)", and after inspecting the holds and imagining the movements, I was surprised to be able to do the whole long line on my first attempt.

Fontainebleau - Maunoury - Good Vibrations (du fond) 7A(6C+)

As it was almost time for Victor to arrive, I walked back to the main area where I was still able to make quick work of "Serendipity". 

Fontainebleau - Maunoury - Serendipity 7A+

November 01, 2024 - Gamble.

Being in full Autumn, the weather has been very grey with a lot of dense fog in the morning, lasting well through the day. It makes choosing where to climb a bit of a gamble. Leaving the house, not knowing if it will be dry in the area of choice is suspenseful, but it looks like last weekend and today, I have been quite lucky. 
Today's choice was Montrouget Est and even though there was still a lot of fog, no wind and a sky covered by grey clouds, I was lucky again. The boulders were dry, but I left the main area and continued up the hill towards "Figure de Style", which I had chosen as a main project for this session. I had tried this problem back in 2017, but couldn't even do the first move feeling very uncomfortable with the left heelhook for the start.
Even though the boulder was dry and I soon managed to do the first move, the conditions weren't ideal, and I slipped off the bad sloper right hand a lot of times. I persisted though and ended up with finishing the boulder. 

Fontainebleau - Montrouget Est - Figure de Style 7B

October 26, 2024 - Micro climate.

Last Tuesday evening after work I repeated the problem next to "Sale Mioche" in Roche aux Sabots. I had done it a first time thirteen years ago, before I even had a camera, the same day that I did "Sale Mioche". It was undocumented back then, but as I didn't even had to clean anything, I figured that this very logical line must have been done before by someone. I was gladly surprised that I saw it being published on bleau.info two weeks ago. Theo (Konstantakopoulos) had rediscovered it and named it "Sale Galoche (assis)". 
When I went to repeat it last Tuesday, I did it on my first attempt. Is that what they call a 'retro flash' ?

Fontainebleau - Roche aux Sabots - Sale Galoche (assis) 6C+(7A)

This morning, after an apparent rainy night, everything was wet and it made no sense to leave early, which was a good thing, because I had to pick my oldest son at the train station at 11h.
Around that time though, the sun came out and it looked like there was going to be some potential for climbing. Aiming for something quick drying, I went to Maunoury and walked straight to the far end on the top of the hill. Almost everything lower down the hill was still wet, but "Microclimat" was perfectly dry. It was as if there was a micro climate around that boulder. 
I had already spent two short sessions trying "Microclimat", and as I never managed to do a first move, I kind of had given up on it. When I saw a video of someone doing it using a heelhook on the right, it had drawn my attention again, only to get disillusioned  almost immediately again. There was no way that I could place a heelhook and reach the starting holds. Looking up the measurements of the climber in the video, I soon realized why. He is thirteen centimeters taller than me and had a six centimeters longer arm span.
As I was there again, I didn't let it get to me and managed to find a way using a bad toehook instead of the heel, but the few other moves still gave me a very hard time. Quite some time later, I had finally done each move separately and surprisingly only needed two attempts as soon as I turned on the camera. Always fun to get away with a problem that I had already given up on. Definitely a good 7B+ with my height and span.

Fontainebleau - Maunoury - Microclimat 7B+(7B)

October 20, 2024 - Still standing.

The four of us, me, Alberto, Jan and Pieter, made the decision to go to Apremont Milan today. It was a bit of a risk after the rain yesterday evening, but most of the interesting boulders are on the South face of the hills and there was a nice breeze. It worked in our favor and we all warmed up doing the easier problems on the boulder of "Pintonesque", all while having a good laugh.
I flashed the 6C+ "Pintonesque", immediately followed by Pieter and Jan. Unfortunately Alberto, even though moving quite well, had to let it go after a multitude of attempts, and we decided to move to the boulder of "The Seneca Effect".
After inspecting the line of "L'Effondrement des Civilisations", Jan topped it out on his second attempt, immediately followed by myself and then Pieter, who flashed it while following our indications.

Fontainebleau - Apremont Milan - L'Effondrement des Civilisations 7A+(7A)

Having done that line, it only made sense to also do the longer version "L'Effondrement des Civilisations (en traversée)", which we did quickly.

Fontainebleau - Apremont Milan - L'Effondrement des Civilisations (en traversée) 7B

October 19, 2024 - Long time no see.

After just over a year of not having seen Pieter, he finally came back to the forest with Alberto, who I hadn't seen for even longer, closer to three years. I let them decide on where to climb and Pieter came up with Apremont Vallon de la Solitude, "Mandela" more in particular. Pieter had deliberately chosen a boulder that I hadn't done before, and there was a reason for it. I did spend two sessions on "Mandela" in the past, and I found simply too hard. There was no way that I could more than two moves in that problem. With the three of us, there would be more possibilities and maybe a slight chance to finally climb it.
The weather had been quite bad with a lot of rain the days before, and even this morning there was a slight drizzle. Everything looked wet, but the boulder of "Mandela" and the surrounding boulders were perfectly dry and even in very good conditions. It was a pleasant surprise.
Before trying "Mandela", we warmed up in "Madiba", right next to it. After working out the sketchy top part, I was able to get the ascent.

Fontainebleau - Apremont Vallon de la Solitude - Madiba 7A(6C+)

Pieter tried more, but was missing something. Not having been here for over a year had taken its toll and he was getting tired quickly. Before getting too tired, and in need for a change, we decided to start with "Mandela". 
It didn't take long before Pieter and Alberto realized why I had never topped out this problem. Being the three of us though, we didn't give up and tried a lot of possibilities. When Jan (Gorrebeeck) joined us too, we had a fourth opinion and some new ideas, but we were still stuck and a hard time making progress. 
Then after about two hours being stuck, Alberto made a good suggestion changing a minor detail on one of the methods that seemed to work best for me. Changing that minor detail finally got me further to the point where I was able to go for the top slopers, but I missed the best part of it and still fell off. Two more attempts after that, I finally was able to stick it and top it out. I had already turned off the camera by then, but I had witnesses. Jan was getting close too, and while he kept trying, I decided to try it again for having a video of it. Still having the muscle memory, I topped it out again immediately, followed by Jan about fifteen minutes later.
It was a great session with even greater company.

Fontainebleau - Apremont Vallon de la Solitude - Mandela 7A(7A+)

October 13, 2024 - Subside.

I spent a weekend with my sisters at a gite in the Belgian Ardennes, but after a four hour drive back home today, I was eager to head for a short climb, despite feeling stiff and tired from the drive. 
I had tried "Subside" in Vallée Ronde two short sessions already, but each time it was in the morning in Summer, and the sun was full on the boulder, making it quickly too hot to stay there. Now in Fall later in the afternoon, it was perfectly in the shade. I arrived at the boulder and didn't expect anything more than just having a good time there in solitude and hopefully manage to at least do the crux this time.
When I somehow managed to do the crux move, I became somewhat hopeful and did some attempts from the start. To my big surprise, I only needed a handful.

Fontainebleau - Vallée Ronde - Subside 7B

October 05, 2024 - Execution.

It was nice to receive a message from Jan (Gorrebeeck) this morning, asking what I had planned. He agreed to come with me to Les Mammouths, where I wanted to especially try the new "La Pervenche Citronelle", suggested to me by the opener. A nice looking boulder with toehooks, so I definitely was game for it.
With the toehooks being completely my style, I was able to do it on my third attempt. I would have almost said that it could rather be 7A+, but as Jan needed to work out another method and needed almost two hours to get it done, I'm thinking that (soft) 7B could be right.

Fontainebleau - Les Mammouths - La Pervenche Citronnelle 7B

As Jan had almost even given up on "La Pervenche Citronnelle", his morale had gotten a boost after finishing it after all, after some encouragement, so he was in for another 7B, "Dragon Skin", where we joined Jerome (Hergle).
Both Jan and I only needed a handful of attempts to get it done. 

Fontainebleau - Les Mammouths - Dragon Skin 7B

We said goodbye to Jerome and moved over to one of the new problems of Laurent (Darlot), "Solinidée". We both executed it quickly but agreed it was a very nice one.

Fontainebleau - Les Mammouths - Solinidée 7A+

September 29, 2024 - Jammin'.

There were a few problems that I wanted see and maybe try when I was walking towards Apremont Envers. I ended up trying only two of them, but I was able to finish both of them.
The first one, was "Apnéiste", which in my opinion is definitely 7B when you don't have long legs. It felt quite morpho, and I even didn't see it possible to do the first far move without a kneepad. Without it, my leg didn't even fit to establish the kneebar. The conditions were mediocre at first, but while working out the moves separately, it only got better. 
A nice problem totally worth the effort!

Fontainebleau - Apremont Envers - Apnéiste 7B

On my to "Electro Style" in the far sector of the area, I stopped at a few other problems, but didn't get further than only seeing them, keeping them for some other time.
"Electro Style" though, looked really nice despite my first thought that I didn't have a clue how to approach this one. I was determined to work it out, but I couldn't find a way to avoid a painful hand jam, jamming the left pinky until it's almost torn off. A good layer of tape did a good job helping me cope with it and I soon found a way for the other moves to get out of the roof, after which the holds are good and the topout quite easy. When I got there quite unexpectedly though, a slight panic moment trying not to fall got over me, but I topped out, leaving aesthetics way behind me. I didn't care, I made it and was glad with the ascent. All in all, also a very nice problem well worth the detour! 

Fontainebleau - Apremont Envers - Electro Style 7B

September 28, 2024 - Better than expected.

Last Sunday I went to try the low version of "Brulaap", published just recently. Having done "Brulaap" itself a long time, I remembered it being just below the top of the hill, and it had a good chance of drying fast after rain. The boulder was indeed dry and even though I had dialed the moves of "Brulaap (bas)" pretty quickly, I lacked the power to finish it completely and fell off the last hard move a few times. My long session in "Hypo-Tonus" the day before had taken its toll, and I had to let it go.
Determined to go back to "Brulaap (bas)" this morning, I hoped that the boulder would be dry after a few days with quite a lot of rain. To avoid being disappointed, I kept my expectations low, but was pleased to find the boulder dry with near perfect friction. I felt fresh and still remembered the moves well and after a short warmup trying a few separate moves, I managed to finish it on my third attempt from the start.

Fontainebleau - Franchard Hauts Sablons - Brulaap (bas) 7B+

Having done "Brulaap (bas)" so quickly, it was still early in my climbing session. I felt stronger than expected and was still eager to climb more. I decided to walk to another sector of Franchard Hauts Sablons, knowing that I would pass by the boulder of "La Gauche au Pouvoir", a problem that I had done four years ago, but of which I still had the extended version on my list. Knowing that the left part of the boulder dries rather slowly and where the extended version starts, I had even lower expectations than before, but apparently not rightfully so. The whole line was perfectly dry.
I took my time to do the regular version again until I got past the crux move. The hard mantle can suck out a lot of energy, so I jumped off there, but knew then that the extended version, "La Gauche au Pouvoir (rallongé)", could be done. Still having the crux move in my body, I only needed a few attempts to finish the extended version. 

Fontainebleau - Franchard Hauts Sablons - La Gauche au Pouvoir (rallongé) 7C

At the other sector afterwards, I stopped at the boulder of "The Last Waffle", which I was able to flash without too much effort.

Fontainebleau - Franchard Hauts Sablons - The Last Waffle 7A

"The Last Waffle (gauche)" required a bit more effort, but also went on my first attempt.
I was pleased with my session.

Fontainebleau - Franchard Hauts Sablons - The Last Waffle (gauche) 7A+

September 21, 2024 - Harder in my book.

My climbing plan for today was to go to Coquibus Arcades, where I wanted to try a few problems, "Hypo-Tonus" on the boulder of "Sinus-X", "Le Chasseur", and "Yahtzee". It had unexpectedly rained yesterday late afternoon and evening, and I hoped that at least one of them would be dry. 
I walked straight to the "Hypo-Tonus", left my gear at the boulder and went searching for "Le Chasseur". Being a relatively new boulder located somewhere isolated, it was the only that I hadn't seen yet. Luckily I found it quite easily, pleased to see that it was dry. But first I wanted to do "Hypo-Tonus", which was dry as well, but of which the start required some rebrushing. Having done "Sinus-X" and its sitstart back in 2016 and 2017 respectively, and "Hypo-Tonus" supposedly having the same grade as "Sinus-X (assis)", I expected it to be a relatively quick deal. Nothing could be farther from the truth.
"Hypo-Tonus" exits in "Sinus-X", but has a sitstart on the right of the magnificent prow. I soon realized that the first two moves were way harder than the sitstart of "Sinus-X" and only made slow, but consistent progress. What I thought would have been a quick deal, turned out to be long and hard battle. The consistent progress slowed down and I kept falling from different places and moves. There is not much room for error, and I had a hard time finding the flow, making small but stupid mistakes that threw me off the boulder.
After at least twenty attempts, and probably much more than that, spread over more than two hours, I almost threw in the towel a few times, but had an even harder time letting it go.
Then suddenly, having taken peace with the possibility of having to come back for it and going for an ultimate last attempt, I finally had a flow, kept it all together and made my way to the top.
Supposedly 7B, but finding this much harder than "Sinus-X (assis)", which is also 7B, I would say that "Hypo-Tonus" is at least 7B+ in my book.
I was exhausted, my fingers and hands felt hot and the skin on my fingers was wrecked, so I didn't go to any of the other boulders anymore, but walked back to the car. Everything felt much heavier than on my way here a few hours ago, but nevertheless, I felt good and was pleased with the send.

Fontainebleau - Coquibus Arcades - Hypo-Tonus 7B(7B+)

September 18, 2024 - Head over for an evening climb.

With the nice weather, comfortable temperatures in the evening and my back feeling better, I decided to head over to Gorge aux Châts Sud for an evening climb after work.
Last Sunday, I briefly tried "Manon's Head (assis)", but didn't give much effort due to having severe back pain from falling on a small boulder the day before.
After a short warmup working the middle section a bit, I almost did on my first attempt of the day from the start, but fell off the very end, the hard mantle. Luckily, I was able to do the attempt after, but not having eaten anything yet all day, my forearms were quite pumped when I topped out.

Fontainebleau - Gorge aux Châts Sud - Manon's Head (assis) 7B+

Still wanting to repeat "Machine Head", I took a short break while trying to shake out the pump as much as possible. Wisely, I tried the end of "Machine Head" first, just to make sure that I wouldn't have to think about what to do when I would pass the first part. 
I then repeated "Machine Head" from the start straight away.

Fontainebleau - Gorge aux Châts Sud - Machine Head 7B (repeat)

September 15, 2024 - Manon's Head.

Just a quick and pretty short visit to Gorge aux Châts Sud, where I wanted to try one of the problems on the "Machine Head" boulder.
The easiest being "Manon", I started with that one, but the extremely high heel hurt my back too much, so I quickly moved over to "Manon's Head". Starting as for the standing start of "Machine Head, but with a harder exit on the right.

The first few tries, I had a hard time figuring out how to move towards the right, but once I knew what to do, it was sent quickly. Not the hardest for the grade, but pretty nice.
I briefly tried the sitstart, but with too much back pain, I gave up, keeping it as something to do on an evening after work.

Fontainebleau - Gorge aux Châts Sud - Manon's Head 7B

September 14, 2024 - Painful atmosphere.

I didn't feel like walking too far, nor trying something too hard, so I decided to keep it simple and go and stay in the most Eastern part of Rocher des Demoiselles Est, right above the small parking. It's a small sector of the area, but with some nice problems very close to each other.
I warmed with flashing "Basic", more 6C+ than 7A in my opinion, but ideal to wake up the body.

Fontainebleau - Rocher des Demoiselles Est - Basic 7A(6C+)

Then, on the other side of the same boulder, I definitely wanted to try "Atmosphère", which I tried briefly many years ago, but couldn't get out of the small roof. My fingers weren't strong enough to hang on the tiny crimp under the roof and going dynamically left hand from the starting holds seemed to be out of reach.
It turns out that my fingers have gotten stronger since then, because on my first tryout attempt, hanging on the crimp and making the next wasn't a problem. I turned on the camera and sent it immediately after.

Fontainebleau - Rocher des Demoiselles Est - Atmosphère 7A(7A+)

The atmosphere was set, and now that I knew that the first part wasn't too difficult anymore, I stayed on the spot and started working in "Le Retour du Bonobo". Same start as for "Atmosphère", but with a much harder exit on the right. Instead of properly working out the end separately, I gave it goes from the start, thinking that any attempt could be the good one. On my third attempt though, I took a bad unexpected fall and fell with my back, the part just above my tailbone, next to the crashpad, directly onto the small boulder below. It hurt really bad and my first thought was to leave, so I turned off the camera and even had to lie down (on my side) for a moment. Luckily I didn't fall on my tailbone itself and after a short time, when the pain slowly faded away, taken over by adrenalin, I felt lucky that sitting wasn't painful. As I had fallen off the very end "Le Retour du Bonobo", I decided to give it another try anyway. Luckily I didn't fall anymore and was able to finish it then.

Fontainebleau - Rocher des Demoiselles Est - Le Retour du Bonobo 7B

September 13, 2024 - Long time classic.

I had taken the day off today and climbing wise, as a regular week day can be enjoyable in Cuvier, I had set my main goal to the ultra classic "Le Biceps Mou". Indeed, after all this time, I had never done this must-do classic. Mainly because it's too mostly too crowded and a the few times that I did see a chance to briefly try it, I always gave up quickly because it felt like I was going to rip my finger off at the start. A few days ago though, I had seen a few videos with a start that avoids the painful mono, so I was determined to go for it this time.
My oldest son Anthony had joined me and I politely suggested him to climb some circuit problems while I was trying "Le Biceps Mou", someone watching me and seemingly waiting for me to finish it, puts too much pressure on me and affects my focus.
Barely fifteen minutes later, I made my way up to the top, glad having finished this classic.

Fontainebleau - Bas Cuvier - Le Biceps Mou 7B

I then joined Anthony, doing some blues and reds until the the place was starting to become crowded. Seeking some solitude, we walked over to the "Makhno" boulder in Cuvier Nord. There are so many lines on this boulder and it seems like there will always one that I haven't done yet. This time, I focused on "Dolus", which I did relatively quick. A nice bonus to my main goal of the day.
Even though Anthony was waiting, I felt no pressure because he had phone coverage there, so he could distract himself while waiting for me to finish.
The session ended with both being eye in eye with the most beautiful deer that I had ever seen in the forest. I always feel privileged seeing deer, and this one was a real treat. 

Fontainebleau - Cuvier Nord - Dolus 7B

September 08, 2024 - Detox.

This morning when I got out of bed, I could immediately feel that wasn't feeling great. The season change that seems to be early this year made my body start it's seasonal detox. I am of the opinion that what most perceive as a cold or even flu, is just the body detoxing the previous season. At least it's a more positive approach to understanding how I feel and why.
No use to try any hard projects, so I scrolled through my 'wantlist' and decided to go to Rocher de la Salamandre Est to try "Bio-Nique". The fact that I know it to be a quick drying area helped with that decision.
There was a mild wind with some harder gusts and the friction on the boulder felt really good. After a short warmup and a first attempt with a foot slip that made me fail, I did it quite easily on my second attempt.

Fontainebleau - Rocher de la Salamandre Est - Bio-Nique 7B

Looking for something else not too hard, and not being able to figure out the sitstart of "La Loi de Murphy", I contented myself with the standing start that went on my first attempt.

Fontainebleau - Rocher de la Salamandre Est - La Loi de Murphy 6C+(7A)

On the way back home, I stopped at Rocher de Cailleau, remembering that a new fun looking boulder was published recently. "Sit on That Thang". With all my respect to the opener, a contender for the being in the top ten of boulders with a stupid name. But then again, what's in a name, as long as the climb is good.
Without too much effort, but almost slipping off a few times, I did manage to send it on my first attempt. The climb made up for the name.

Fontainebleau - Rocher Cailleau - Sit on That Thang 7A(7A+)

September 06, 2024 - Gone wild.

I remember that the first two times I went looking for the very isolated and well hidden boulder of "Into the Wild" in Boissy Le Goulot, I didn't find it, not realizing that I actually even stood on the boulder while looking for it. The third time was in the Winter of 2016, together with my good friend Maarten (Robays) who was visiting me from Belgium. I remember that it had snowed those days, because we were actually doing a snowy walk in the neighborhood of Boissy-aux-Cailles when we decided to go look for "Into the Wild" again. I almost can't believe that this is already almost eight years ago. As it turned out that the problem was dry, I went back to the car to get a crashpad and my climbing shoes while Maarten waited for me on top of the boulder so I could easily find it back. "Into the Wild" has not stolen its name. Back then, I could do a few moves, but it was unbearably cold and I couldn't spend too long on it.
For some reason, it took me almost eight years before I decided to go back to it a little more than a month ago. It was near the end of my Summer vacation, in the beginning of August. It was very hot that morning, and the even though the dense foliage of the chestnut trees offered a lot shade, the heat of sun pierced through with ease and while taking breaks to rest, I had to sit as deep under the roof to find the cooler spot. It was a long session during which I was able to work out most of the moves, except for the crux, going left hand from a shallow two finger pocket under to roof, to a small knob above the lip of the roof. I just couldn't keep my feet far under the roof and always cut off, taking a swing, impossible to hold.
Last weekend, I went back for my third session, along with Matti (Faes), Quinten and Brent. Again a pretty long session, but with good progress. that time, I did the last move, the dyno, and was also able to do the crux move, but with a left barefoot. I had come up with trying that move barefoot, as it allowed me to hang with my big toe in the small crack deep in the roof. Unfortunately, doing the whole problem barefoot wasn't an option, even though I tried. It made the part under the roof way harder. I then tried to do the crux again with shoes, and even though I was really close that time and actually started believing it was possible, I still hadn't done it with both shoes. Nevertheless, I felt that if I would be more fresh, it should be possible.
I had a very busy and stressful week at work this week, but I always kept thinking about going back to "Into the Wild". The weather for the weekend doesn't look good at all, but as today was a beautiful day, I decided to go back this evening after work and stopped half an hour earlier. It was exactly 17h when I arrived at the boulder and despite I felt tired and a bit dazed from work, it was only tiredness in my head, but my body felt strong and fresh. Already when I only touched some of the holds, I felt that I was going to climb much stronger on it. On top of that, the conditions felt very good.
During my first attempt as a warmup, I got to the crux, but fell off, even though I did have the small knob left hand. Without giving myself any false illusions, I knew that a send could be any time. 
On my second attempt, it all flowed, I stayed in control the whole time, did the crux as if I had done it many times, looked towards the top, set off and got it. Climbing on was only a formality and I topped out, not even fifteen minutes after I had arrived at the boulder. To top it all off, I immediately did it again, for having a video from another standpoint. I felt amazed and psyched and the crowd (in this case just me) went wild. A beautiful problem that I can finally get off my list.

Fontainebleau - Boissy Le Goulot - Into the Wild 7B+

August 31, 2024 - Old and new.

It was a fun and chill session today in Restant du Long Rocher. I met up with Matti (Faes), owner and host of the Sticky Tips podcast, available on Spotify and YouTube. Even though Matti is also Belgian, he now lives with his wife and dog in the South of France, near Tautavel. Matti is a climbing coach (www.coachmatti.be), but together with his wife, they also own and rent out a guesthouse, so if you should be in the region and looking for a nice place to stay, with nice hosts, consider supporting them and stay at their guest house (www.casa-tramuntana.com).
Also joining the session, were Brent and Quinten, both Belgians, from the younger generation. Even though the older generation didn't fail to show them how it was done (wink).
The session started with a quick ascent of "Le Papillon", featuring a beautiful shoulder move. Even though I wasn't able to do it back in 2018, I now only needed two attempts and repeated it again for the video. Matti followed soon after, on his turn followed by Brent, who unfortunately fell off the mantle on his flash attempt. Quinten tried it too, but decided to save his energy for "U751", a decision that might have turned out in his favor.

Fontainebleau - Restant du Long Rocher Sud - Le Papillon 7A

In between, after watching Quinten trying the nice 6C, "La Pirouette", and advised by Matti, I couldn't resist and went for it as well. Only needed one attempt for it, but it was nice. Quinten followed in my footsteps.

Fontainebleau - Restant du Long Rocher Sud - La Pirouette 6C

I had done "U571" six years ago, in 2018, and I completely forgot how it went. Matti had done it yesterday on his second attempt, and Quinten and Brent had worked in it for a long time then, but failed to get the send then. Both were eager to hopefully send it today. 
I fell off the mantle on my first attempt, but was able to repeat it on the second. 

Fontainebleau - Restant du Long Rocher Sud - U751 7B

Not long after, after taking some advice from Matti, I also managed to do "La Boule d'Epaule", also on my second attempt.

Fontainebleau - Restant du Long Rocher Sud - La Boule d'Epaule 7A

I saw Brent and Quinten falling off the mantle of "U751" a couple of times, but just before I left, still watched Quinten top it out, making it his first 7B. Always nice to see the happiness when someone sends a 'first of the grade'. I was happy for him and realized that I didn't even remember what my first 7B was, but imagined that I must have felt the same way like Quinten did. 

August 25, 2024 - High end grade.

My body felt somewhat soar today, but still I went for a climb in Le Calvaire, an area that I don't visit often. I had done "Morceau de Sable" there a little over a year ago, but couldn't try the sitstart due to wet holds in the back of the small cave. Now it was dry and I decided to spend a short session on it.
It took me longer than expected, but I ended up doing it after all. Maybe it was me feeling soar and maybe a bit tired, but I found this problem quite hard and high end 7A+. I would have believed it if they told me it was 7B instead. Anyhow, a nice fun climb, perfect for hot Summer days.

Fontainebleau - Le Calvaire - Morceau de Sable (assis) 7A+

August 24, 2024 - Pleasure problem.

Until two weeks ago, I had passed by "Les Dents Bleues" in Cuisinière Carnage two times. The first time, many years ago, I didn't even bother trying it, because it looked too hard. The second time, I briefly tried it, but couldn't even do the first move and the crimp under the overhang was humid anyway. Two weeks ago, though, the day after I did "Djembé", I went with the intention to dedicate some real time on it, despite that my tail bone was hurting really bad after falling on it on one of attempts on "Djembé". Just walking already hurt and somehow I knew in advance that the sitstart of "Les Dents Bleues" would really pose me a lot of trouble. Nevertheless, I went anyway, even if would mean just trying the moves. It turned that that it indeed wasn't more than that. I was able to do the moves separately, even the sitstart, with a lot of pain, but when I started a real attempt for the full problem, I slipped of a sloper and fell on my behind on the crashpad, which hurt my tail bone extremely hard. The pain being unbearable, I was forced to leave it behind, but was determined to come back for it as soon as my tail bone didn't hurt anymore.

I went back this morning, before the heat, and knowing that "Les Dents Bleues would still be nicely in the shade. Still remembering the moves and without pain on my tail bone with every move, I was able to do them quickly and started trying real attempts. Much quicker than I had anticipated, I made my way to the top of this beauty. A five star problem if you ask me, and a true pleasure to climb.

Fontainebleau - Cuisinière Carnage - Les Dents Bleues 7B+(7B)

Right before it got full sun on it, I was also able to make a quick ascent of "La Virgule" on my way back.

Fontainebleau - Cuisinière Carnage - La Virgule 7A+

August 18, 2024 - The real thing.

Early Spring, with no detailed information about the problem, I thought I did "Pleine Prouesse", thinking it was way easier than the proposed grade of 7B+(7C). Not long after though, I was given detailed information and the description updated on bleau.info, and it turned out to be a fairly eliminate problem, forcing you to only use a quite bad slopey crimp in the prow, followed by two more hard and sketchy moves.
I immediately went back to try the real thing and quickly discovered that the move to the crimp was very reachy and the move that followed seemed nearly impossible. After spending a long session, I hadn't even been able to do the crux move separately. The session after that, about a week later, I still hadn't been able to figure it out and even played with the thought that it might even be too hard for me, or too morpho.
It took a while before I went back for a third session, but two weeks ago, after having done "Mine de Rien (assis))", I was finally able to do the crux and even almost did the move after it. I believed in it again and wanted to go back soon.
As I was visiting family and friends in Belgium from Thursday until this morning, the first chance I had, was this afternoon, after a long four hour drive. Having driven for half a day and not having slept in my own bed, which made me feel tired. Nevertheless, I went back to "Pleine Prouesse" and, given the condition I was in, didn't set any expectation in actually doing the problem. It went surprisingly well though and despite making a bad fall, I suddenly climbed my way to the top of this eliminate, yet logical and beautiful problem.

Fontainebleau - 91.1 - Pleine Prouesse 7B+(7C)

August 10, 2024 - Loading barefoot: 50%.

Since I managed to do all the moves of "Djembé" at the beginning of my vacation a couple of weeks ago, it kept lingering in my head, but I was forced to wait for the splits in my fingers to heal. As I started work again last Monday, there was finally some time for the skin to heal and grow back and I paid special attention to and took good care of the splits. Also, there was time to think about what I could do better to get a higher succeed percentage on the crux move of "Djembé", the one where the left foot goes into a pocket and the left hand has to do a long move to a high slopey three finger pocket. Even though I did that move a few times then, it had to be more consistent. I was thinking that maybe doing that move with the left foot barefoot, I might be able to push up and at the same time use my big toe to grab the pocket and pull inwards so my body would stay closer to the boulder. It was a theory that I was going to put to the test today, so I went back this morning with high hopes.
I usually don't like being barefoot, and rather being a socks person, I normally even climb with socks. It's a habit.
Arriving at the boulder, I warmed up starting with the pocket left hand, the low crimp right hand, did a dynamic campus move to the jug far right and topped out. I could do this section every time that way. 
I took off my left shoe and sock and tried the crux move separately and was amazed by how better and more controlled it felt. It was great to notice that what I had been thinking about, actually worked really well. Now I only had to get used to doing the first move with the left foot barefoot. This was hard at first, but as soon I got used to smearing the naked big toe for the first move, it went nearly every time.
When I got to the high pocket left hand though being barefoot left, my position was slightly different for the dynamic move and surprisingly, I completely missed it and fell on the small boulders behind me. When the exact same thing happened a second time, I fell with my tailbone on one of the small boulders, which really hurt. I realized that the dynamic move was no longer for granted and knew I had to really focus more when I got there.
When I got to the point for doing the dynamic move again and thought that I wasn't going to let that happen again, I focused hard and put in some extra effort. I grabbed the jug and held on for dear life. A shout of relief couldn't be suppressed as soon as I got it.
Doing "Djembé" almost felt like a dream come true. It's one of those boulders that, when I saw it for the first time about ten years ago, I knew I wanted to do one day. One that I had tried, given up hope on, gained hope again and finally got it. Really glad with this beauty!!

Fontainebleau - Côtes de Courances - Djembé 7C(7B+)

Summer vacation 2024.

What better place to spend my Summer vacation at home ? I can't think of many.
Avoiding too many blogposts in a row, I decided to gather the climbs that I did during my vacation into one longer post, so here it goes.

Sunday, July 14th

The cave-like boulder with "Nono" near the top of Apremont Brûlis has quite some problems, but I was only there to try "Nono" this morning. Being an excellent spot to hide from the sun on hot days, I decided to keep a few of the other lines for those hot days, if they ever come this year.
"Nono" has quite an easy first part up to a not so easy shallow undercling from which you have to make a move to the left to get the lip of the roof. For me, this was the crux. Once I got past that point, I was able to top it out. Fun problem.

Fontainebleau - Apremont Brûlis - Nono 7B

Monday, July 15th

The skin, and more in particular the flappers from last week that have cracked, on my fingers need a break, but still eager to climb, I chose something less hard. I went to the nearby Châteauveau area where Fred opened a new small roof called "Deep , Dark and Dangerous". Fred is a big guy though, and at least a whole head taller than I am, so it didn't come as a big surprise that the move to the lip of the roof was extremely reachy. Normally not always a problem for me with my long arms, but with the feet being deep under the roof, the move was extremely reachy with my short legs. While trying the move separately, I even briefly though that it was just too far for me and almost gave up. I did end up finding a way making minor adjustments in foot placement that still required tip-toeing. Trying to match with the other hand still required a lot of core tension, but not to the point that it was hopeless. 
It took me longer than expected, but I did end up finishing the problem. This felt like at least 7A+ for me.

Fontainebleau - Châteauveau - Deep, Dark and Dangerous 7A

Not very far from there, at the other side of the hill, I also tried "Les Années Passent". Another boulder where longer legs legs definitely would be an advantage. Again tip-toeing, I did manage to top it out. This is a really fun problem!
The skin on my fingers suffered more than I had wanted, but at least the problems that I did were doable with tape, which greatly limited the extra damage.

Fontainebleau - Châteauveau - Les Années Passent 7A(7A+)

Thursday, July 19th

Last Monday I went back to Apremont Désert to try "La Théorie tout Court (assis)", but unfortunately that same key hold was still extremely damp. It's not the kind of hold that is susceptible to breaking, even when wet, but as you use it for a long time and have to the crux move from it, it didn't feel possible to top it out. I was able to do the crux move separately though, but there was just no way to do it again when coming from the start.
Finally the heat came and I didn't go climbing on Tuesday and Wednesday (yesterday). My skin needed some time to recover anyway and I had quite a lot of garden work to do. I just hoped that the warm weather would have enough time to dry the hold by today.
This morning I left early before the heat. With temperatures well above 30°C on the hottest moments of the day, there was no way that I would climb too late. Arriving at the boulder, I was delighted to notice that the hold was completely dry now and on top of that, being early, I didn't have the sun directly in my eyes when doing the crux move. A bunch of small flies probably took me for a giant lollypop, and feasted on my salty tasting skin when I started sweating, but I didn't let them distract me too much and a handful of tries later, with necessary rests in between, I finally topped out "La Théorie tout Court (assis)". Despite being an eliminate problem, I really enjoyed this one.

Fontainebleau - Apremont Désert - La Théorie tout Court (assis) 7B+

Monday, July 22nd

I had tried "Djembé" in Côtes de Courances a few times already and I remember that last time, which must have been maybe two years ago, I had as good as written it off because I just couldn't do the move from the slopey crimp to the high three finger slopey pocket. Regardless, I decided to go back for another session this morning.
I didn't have any expectations at all, but somehow, after a while, I was able to do that move, as if I had found the trick to it. As a cherry on the cake, I was able to do all the moves and even do the problem from one move in. The process had unfortunately destroyed the skin on the still not completely healed flappers on my left hand, so I didn't manage to the problem from the actual start. Nevertheless, I was happy with the progress and the problem got back on my priority list. Just need some time for my skin to heal properly and I might stand a chance.
Eager to at least do a complete problem, I moved over to the "Ras de Pâquerettes" not far from there. Even though I had already done it back in 2016, it also has a conventional start with both hands in the pocket under the roof which is half a grade harder. I wasn't able to do it back then, but I figured that maybe now it might go down.
It took a little while to be able to find the boulder again in the dense forest of Coquibus, but not to the point that I got close to desperate. At the boulder, I watched my own video from 2016, making sure that I would use the same beta and took my time to work out the moves. When I felt ready, I turned on the camera and sent it right away. Very cool problem and nicely isolated in a beautiful part of Coquibus.

Fontainebleau - Côtes de Courances - Ras les Pâquerettes (départ conventionel) 7B

Wednesday, July 24th

Yesterday evening I planned to go to Videlles l'Abattoir this morning to go check out a few of the boulders that I have on my list in a specific part of the wide spread area. My main goal was "Antre Potes", knowing that the dense forest there would offer some shade.
I had never went beyond the boulder of "Cadeau pour un Pote", so I didn't know what to expect, but I soon realized that the dense vegetation and especially the high ferns, made it difficult to see farther than twenty meters at times. Finding myself on top a complicated chaos of boulders, I could only hope that I would find the boulder. I knew that I was close, but with the chaos and dense vegetation, I could easily find myself at on top of the boulder that I was searching for, without even realizing it.
Strolling around a bit and wading through high ferns, I suddenly found myself in from of the boulder of "Crescendo". Way too hard to even try it being directly in the sun at that moment, I at least had found an orientation point and it didn't much longer to finally find "Antre Potes", well hidden and difficult to reach because of high ferns. I spent some time making way of some high ferns and creating a spot where I could lay the crashpads. The landing looked quite sketchy without a spotter though, so I dedicated some time looking at the topout and a potential method to reach the top.
There was no description at all of how the problem started on bleau.info, only a picture of a climber almost halfway up the boulder. I first started with what seemed like the most logical way and felt lucky to top it out on my first attempt. It didn't feel like the supposed 7B, but rather soft 7A+ at most.

Fontainebleau - Videlles l'Abattoir - Antre Potes (sans convention) 7A(7A+)

Realizing that it had felt too easy for 7B, I looked for a lower start and found an undercling under the roof. It seemed to be possible to start under the roof with both hands on the undercling and the feet all the way in the back of the roof. This added two good moves to get into the start that I did previously. I practiced those moves for a short while and did "Antre Potes" a handful of attempts later. This at least felt like a real 7B. On top of that, the additional moves made it a very nice problem and I felt that spending the time looking for it and clearing the ferns had turned out to have been all worth it.

Fontainebleau - Videlles l'Abattoir - Antre Potes 7B

Thursday, July 25th

This morning I left home with the intention to try "Le Gain du Moment" in Apremont Est, but while walking towards the boulder, I suddenly had to think of the beautiful overhang of "Albarrableau" in Apremont Vallon de la Solitude. As I was already near the boulder of "Le Gain du Moment", I decided to give it a try anyway, just like I intended. The boulder starts with small and bad crimpy underclings though, and the move from them is extremely hard and seems to make up for nearly the whole difficulty that the problem is graded for, as I could do all other moves quite easily. I usually like those so called one-move wonders, but I didn't want to hurt my fingers and couldn't really commit to it. On top of that, "Albarrableau" kept lingering in my mind. I decided to leave and walk a few hundred meters farther to it.
I can't say that it would my first session on it, because I did spend two or three very short sessions on it, however, never in good conditions and with damp holds in the overhang. Besides trying some moves and especially trying to visualize how to climb it, I had never gotten to the point where I could give it some real attempts. Now at least the overhang was perfectly dry and I started working out the moves separately. I had seen two videos in the past, one from Marc (Lehner) and another from Manuel (Marquès), each using a slightly different method. Both methods didn't really suit me, especially with the sun on the slopers of the arete, so I figured out yet another method, using toehooks, something that suits me very well. By the time I had found a working method though, the heat was starting to bother me and I had a hard time not slipping off some of the slopers. I knew that I could do it though, persisted, and ended up working my way through.
I really liked this problem and the moves, so much that I even gave it five stars.

Fontainebleau - Apremont Vallon de la Solitude - Albarrableau 7B+

Sunday, July 28th

It rained non stop all day yesterday, but the sky was clear and blue this morning. It didn't look completely dry yet though, so after some work around the house, I left to the quick drying Cul de Chien, well realizing that it could be crowded there on a Sunday. It didn't really matter to me, because I had planned to try the relatively new "Overcast Dyno" and maybe its sitstart too. It's on the boulder of red n°1 and this boulder happens to be quite isolated at some distance of the main area. Another reason why I decided to try that one, was also to preserve some skin and not interrupt the healing process of an annoying split too much.
The description on bleau.info says to start with an undercling and that's about it. I'm not sure if it's eliminate in one way or another, but I did this on my second attempt, using a small vertical sloper left hand and a tiny crimp right hand. Keeping the balance, I placed my feet high enough, jumped to the top and got it quite easily. Fun, but didn't feel harder than soft 7A in my opinion.

Fontainebleau - Cul de Chien - Overcast Dyno 7A+(7A)

The sitstart followed immediately after, on my first attempt. I don't feel this being harder than 7A+ at most. Nevertheless, it was a nice moment in that isolated spot, hearing the crowd in the distance.

Fontainebleau - Cul de Chien - Overcast Dyno (assis) 7B+(7A+)

Friday, August 2nd

It has been extremely hot and humid the last few days, but despite that, I had been climbing. Even though I had chosen boulders in the shade, like "Into the Wild" in Boissy le Goulot and "Ashtanga (droite)" in Roche aux Sabots Sud, it wasn't possible to climb longer than barely two hours. Not only because of the heat, but also because two of the three splits that I got at the start of my vacation three weeks ago, keep opening up again. Right in the spot where my middle and ring fingers bend, it doesn't take much for them to open up again. Also, the boulders that I chose weren't really split friendly.
Yesterday late afternoon and evening there was a heavy thunderstorm with a huge amount of rain that finally cooled down the temperature temporarily and could still be felt this morning. Wisely choosing a boulder that would minimize the chance of opening up the splits again, I chose something crimpy and went to the boulder of "La Mouche" in Cuisinière Crête Sud. It was still humid in most parts of the forest, but the boulder that I wanted to climb on was dry and even felt quite cool compared to the past few days.
I warmed up with a flash of "Gégé Doigts d'Acier", which I actually already did back in May of this year when I was trying the game of "Olé". Immediately after, I repeated "La Mouche" once again. It seems that I can do this problem without failing maybe nine times out of ten.

Fontainebleau - Cuisinière Crête Sud - Gégé Doigts d'Acier 7A

"Olé" is a very illogical line, but I was there to have fun and hopefully finish what I started trying back in May. It's more like a game, adding another unnecessary crux to "La Mouche", a move that is actually more difficult than all other moves of "La Mouche", and one that I couldn't do every time, especially not when coming from the start. I added a close-up of that specific move to the video.
There seems to also be a version where after doing that crux, you first take the second crimp left hand, as when starting for "Gégé Doigts d'Acier", but that doesn't add any difficulty at all and makes it even more illogical. I had fun with this one.

Fontainebleau - Cuisinière Crête Sud - Olé 7C

Saturday, August 3rd

About ten years ago, I tried "Bombe X" in Rocher d'Avon Ouest, and I remember that I couldn't more than the first move. It was only this morning that I finally decided to go back.
I immediately noticed that I could move much better in it, but still needed almost an hour to find a working method. "Bombe X" is harder than it looks. 
When I finally topped out, I had a reflex to take the arete right hand, and topping out this way felt like 7A+ at most. When I got off the boulder, I decided to give it another go, but without the arete right hand. Instead, I used a small undercling. This made the last two moves substantially harder and felt more like 7B. Nevertheless, a fun boulder!
The video shows both ascents, first with the arete right hand, then without.

Fontainebleau - Rocher d'Avon Ouest - Bombe X 7B

Sunday, August 4th

The last day of my vacation. Even though being a permanent home office worker for about four years now, tomorrow I will be back at work, back to the usual routine and time to grow some skin back and heal those splits.
My first thought was to go try "Pleine Prouesse" again in 91.1, but when I stumbled upon "Mine de Rien (assis)" and watched Bart's (Van Raaij) method, I chose to try that one first instead. I had only walked by and had a brief look at "Mine de Rien (assis)" several years ago, but figuring it wasn't my favorite style, I didn't bother trying it. After watching Bart's method, I changed my mind and thought it looked quite nice. On top of that, I knew that the problem would be perfectly in the shade.
My first attempt made me think that it was going to be impossible for me to do Bart's method, but as the other methods that I had seen were even worse, I took my time and worked out move by move using Bart's method. I slowly made progress, and even though I used Bart's shoulder move method, I had to change the next move to avoid going left hand to a high slopey crimp as the chance was too high to open up the splits in my fingers again. I decided going right hand instead, but needed some time to figure out and get used to the move. I did after a short time and after repeating it a few times and having figured out how to proceed from there, I began attempting from the start. After a couple of fails, I did end up topping out after a handful of attempts. A great way to end my vacation with this beauty.

Fontainebleau - 91.1 - Mine de Rien (assis) 7C(7B+)

I did still go to "Pleine Prouesse" and was finally able to do the morpho crux move several times. Only need to be able to do the very last low percentage move and it's in the pocket. 
No cherry on the cake, but I'm happy with a strawberry.