May 31, 2024 - A price to pay.

It's been almost two weeks since I injured my left ankle while falling off "Menhir" in Rocher de la Salamandre. I have had sprained ankles countless times in my youth, when I was a devoted skateboarder, but I hadn't had such a swollen ankle like I had on the day after my fall off "Menhir", so I decided to go the hospital to have it checked out. No fracture at first sight on the X rays, but the doctor did advise me to take a scanner, as my ankle did look extremely swollen. Meanwhile, I moved around with a boot to immobilize my foot and crutches to avoid putting it under pressure. When the scanner a few days later revealed that nothing was indeed broken or ruptured, I gained confidence and set the crutches aside. Following the advice of one of my sisters to use Arnica, my ankle improved rapidly and I was even able to climb last weekend. I couldn't go too far yet and I didn't dare yet to fall from too high, so I found a project in a low one meter high roof close to where I could park. I was even able to use a left heelhook, albeit careful. I came close and even fell off the last move twice, but no send yet. Some footage of my attempts and progress can be found on my Instagram. Ironically though, that same weekend after my climbing session, I hurt my ankle again while doing handstands with my son in the garden. It hurt bad and it was like after I had done two steps forward in ankle improvement, I made a big step back again. Walking down stairs is painful again and with nearly every step I take, I can feel and hear a sort of crackling sound in my ankle.

I had a day off work today, but the key holds of the project were wet due the many rain we had this week, so trying it was not possible. Given the boulder's location and orientation, I thought it would be a good Summer problem, but with this terrible weather, there's still no Summer in sight. I decided to go try Jason (Kester)'s new problem "Jus de Pierre" in Franchard Meyer instead.
I knew that the boulder required a pretty long walk, which I feared for my ankle, but it felt like walking was pretty okay. A little past halfway though, I had to admit to myself that I had been either too ambitious, too confident or both. My ankle was hurting pretty bad and walking became more difficult. Nevertheless, as I was already past halfway, I continued on and luckily found the boulder quickly, and it was completely dry. 
The boulder looked nice, but I soon discovered that it was pretty morpho. Despite that, I was able to do "Jus de Pierre" fast. Trying to get off the boulder while avoiding to land on my bad foot was almost as hard as the problem I just did.

Fontainebleau - Franchard Meyer - Jus de Pierre 7A

I still had plenty of time to try the sitstart, which proved to be even more morpho and required a very far left toehook that hurt my ankle and I knew that I was going to the price for that. The moves on this problem are so nice though, that I considered it worth the price paying for and I continued trying, getting closer and closer to a send with each attempt. Then, everything clicked and I was able to top out "Jus de Pierre (assis)", a true beauty.

Fontainebleau - Franchard Meyer - Jus de Pierre (assis) 7B

Walking the long way back went slow and was painful, but it was worth it.
I arrived at the car just in time before a very heavy rain shower made everything wet again.

May 19, 2024 - Painful cherry on the cake.

I met with Victor (Burger) this morning on the parking of Rocher de la Salamandre with the intention to try "Menhir", a very nice but quite high boulder that had been high on our lists for some time, but it's not a boulder that we wanted to try alone. Olaf (Deppe) unfortunately couldn't join, but combined, we had six crashpads, which should be enough.
Our first steps in "Menhir" went pretty good, but we soon discovered that the crux high up, as good as the last move. Thanks to the crashpads, the landing we constructed was pretty good and we were gaining confidence fast. Giving each other tips, we perfected our beta and a send was looking near. We took a ten minute break after which I confidently set off another attempt, knowing that the send was within reach. Unfortunately, right at the crux, my right foot slipped very unexpectedly when my body wasn't leaning enough to the right and I fell left of where we usually fell other time, with my left foot next to the pad, resulting in a painful sprained ankle. It felt bad but I could sort of stand on it, mostly because of the adrenalin still rushing through my veins. Nevertheless, I knew that the session was over for me, which really sucked, especially being so close to the send.
I put on my shoes so I could spot Victor with more stability when he started his next attempt. I watched his movements and body position at the crux and knew that it was good. He sent it beautifully and despite I was feeling extremely annoyed having been forced to stop, I was truly happy for him and was glad that at least he was able to put the cherry on the cake.

Fontainebleau - Rocher de la Salamandre - Menhir 7C (Victor Burger)

Walking back to the car was long and painful with adrenalin that had worn out. Thanks again to Victor for carrying one of my bigger crashpads.
Now I'm home with a painful and badly swollen ankle. Luckily we have some crutches here, so I can relieve some pressure while moving around. I just can't sit around and do nothing.

May, 15, 2024 - Rainbow means rain.

The weather forecast doesn't look good for the second half of the week, including the weekend, and it looked like today after diner would be the best moment to go for a quick climb. It had to be something nearby though, and I remembered that Ludo Delmotte opened a new nice 7B prow in Rocher Guichot. Ideal!
When I was stepped in the car, I noticed a rainbow in the distance which looked to be close to Le Vaudoué. There can be no rainbow without rain, so I feared the worst. I only live a couple kilometers from Le Vaudoué and even though it was completely dry at home, just before and in Le Vaudoué, the streets were wet. It wasn't raining at the moment though so I went to have a look anyway. To my pleasant surprise, the boulder I wanted to try was perfectly dry. Not a luxury, because I immediately noticed that very good friction is required for this one.
When I started trying, it quickly became obvious that this was going to be hard for the proposed grade of 7B. Luckily, the boulder allows for working out the moves separately, which didn't take very long. Linking them all together though proved to something else. Absolutely no room for error and barely time to breathe on each move.
Got away with the ascent just before the rain, not counting the few drops that fell down from the trees with every breeze while I was still trying.
I was very pleasantly surprised with how nice this problem is. Really worth the effort if you like this style. I loved it.

Fontainebleau - Rocher Guichot - Exuberance 7B(7B+)

May 11, 2024 - High(ball) on a dream.

Rendez-vous this morning at 10h at the Eléphant parking with Victor (Burger) and Olaf (Deppe). I had also asked my oldest son to join, because we could use all the crashpads we could carry for trying the high and beautifully stunning boulder of "Da Capo" in Eléphant Ouest. Being early wasn't a luxury neither with the heat that was forecasted for today. 
I was nervous and had been already since yesterday evening as I had been wanting to try this highball for years, but never got to it. It definitely wasn't one that I would start trying alone. Now we were four of us, with a total of eight crashpads. Still, I was nervous because I had the feeling that it had to be done today as the occasion to go back for it wouldn't be an easy one. On top of that, when watching some videos available online, it appeared that the crux of the problem was near the top of the boulder, at considerable height.
There was a good vibe surrounding us, and it soon made me feel more relaxed, but didn't take away a sense of pressure when I made my first attempt, where I already fell off at the first part, not even having taken the right arete yet. On my second attempt, I went for the right arete, but just missed it and it made me a bit more nervous again. Luckily, on my third attempt, I was able to get the right arete, where you reach a point where you can breathe and think about what to do next. With barely any footholds, the possibilities were either very limited or endless depending on how you look at it. We discussed possibilities and tried something slightly different each time, even though it were sometimes but minor details. Luckily, by that time, I could reach the right arete in the first part every time.
It was maybe my fifth or sixth attempt where I followed what my body wanted to do, turning out to be David Evrard's method, and suddenly I was at the crux feeling a possibility. I could hear the others cheering me up and motivating me and slowly I was getting higher and closer to the top, which is a jug hold. The kind that you never let go once you have it. Finally, I could see the jug being withing reach, and motivated by the others cheers, I went for it, grabbed it and shouted out my relief. Having the jug that I wouldn't let go anymore, I released my right hand and gladly took the swing to the left with no more fear of falling, I knew I was there and that I made it. I was still alive and couldn't feel more like it.

Releasing the right hand and taking the small swing.

Fontainebleau - Eléphant Ouest - Da Capo 7C(7B+)

Barely ten minutes later, Victor had his own moment and shout out of relief, when he as well topped this beauty.
Six days of climbing in a row had taken a toll on Olaf, but he tried anyway, getting extremely close to getting the right arete. Even though his attempts were good, I felt sorry that I couldn't pass him on some of my adrenalin, giving him the required energy. I wouldn't mind being there just for him when he wants to try it again and needs a spot and some extra crashpads.

Looking down from the top of "Da Capo".

May 09, 2024 - G marks the spot.

Considering that I had some stuff to do around the house and in the garden, and also as it promised to be a crowded weekend due to the public holiday and the good weather, I was already quite early in Apremont Envers. I wanted to keep the session short and went straight to boulder of "Le Point G". Besides the really hard lines, starting at 8A, I only had two of the less harder ones to do. "Le Point G (assis)" and "Le Point G (gauche)".

After warming up doing the topout of "Le Point G", I focused on the moves under the roof and as soon as I knew what to do, I sat down and immediately sent "Le Point G (assis)", probably making it harder on myself than necessary.

Fontainebleau - Apremont Envers - Le Point G (assis) 7B+(7B)

Then, a kind of similar scenario happened for "Le Point G (gauche)". I did the topout separately and as it shares the same first few moves as the previous one, I was able to send it right away. Both of them were done faster than expected.
Arriving back at the car, I was amazed with how crowded the Allée des Vaches, the road from Barbizon to the buvette, had become on such a short time. It was probably as crowded as the busy Easter weekend.

Fontainebleau - Apremont Envers - Le Point G (gauche) 7B

May 08, 2024 - Victory for Victor.

I was contacted by Victor (Burger) a few days ago and he wrote me that he bought a house in Nemours and proposed to go out for a climb together when he's around. I remember climbing with him a long time ago along with others trying "Atrésie" in Cuvier Rempart and I happily accepted his proposal. We agreed to go to Les Mammouths, which almost literally in his back yard, to try "Tranquille Emil", a high prow opened by Maxime (Baroud). Somewhat knowing Maxime's strengths and capabilities, it promised to be hard.
It looked really hard indeed, but after we analyzed it, we were able to come up with a possible beta. At least, the beta was possible for Victor, who was able to top out "Tranquille Emil" in a very controlled fashion. I knew already that he is much stronger than I am and he proved it there on the spot. I, on the other hand, couldn't get through it and kind of lacked enough motivation to keep trying for too long, so I proposed to move to another boulder. 
We agreed on going to "Osiris", a very nice problem on the backside of the boulder of "Ubik", and which was on my to-do list for quite a while. Luckily I still remembered the beta I was using last time and which got me up to the very far crimp high up. Somehow, it only took me a handful of attempts this time to top out this beauty. Victor followed with his second victory of the day not long after.

Fontainebleau - Les Mammouths - Osiris 7B

May 07, 2024 - Crimp activated.

A few weeks ago I was listening to the Sticky Tips podcast interviewing Rob Denayer about projecting "Alphane", the famous 9A boulder, and in the interview, Rob used an expression that perfectly describes the moment a small crimp becomes useful and when you can really start pulling on it. He used the expression 'activating a crimp', and I just found that the perfect description.
This afternoon, Olaf (Deppe) wanted to try "La Mouche" in Cuisinière Crête Sud, and even though I had done it already eight years ago, in August 2016, I gladly joined him with the intention to repeat it and try a slightly harder game on it named "Olé".
My warmup consisted of doing the first move wrong, trying the hardest move two or three times and then immediately after, sending "La Mouche" with relative ease. Even after eight years, you sometimes can benefit from muscle memory. 
I then worked in "Olé", did all the moves of it, but couldn't get the very crimp activated anymore. As I'm meeting up with Victor (Burger) tomorrow to try something harder, I wanted to preserve some skin and decided to repeat "La Mouche" once again just to have another video of it. I repeated it again on my first try. It felt like I could do this nearly every time. As long as the crimp gets activated.

Fontainebleau - Cuisinière Crête Sud - La Mouche 7B+(7B)

May 06, 2024 - Go back and repeat.

I have been working on a wood build the past few days while it was raining, and as I wanted to finish it today, I hadn't immediately planned on climbing today, but when I bumped into Olaf (Deppe) this morning in the supermarket, I was delighted to meet up with him for some climbing in the afternoon. I didn't have anything in mind besides meeting up with Olaf and play around on some boulders in J.A. Martin.
As agreed, I met Olaf in the afternoon and it felt good to be out in the forest, especially with the sun being out as well. We warmed up in a red problem and then moved to the small boulder of "La Théorie des Plats", as suggested by Olaf. I had already done this short traverse right after it was opened eight years ago, but gladly repeated it quickly, immediately followed by the 'back' version, "La Théorie des Plats (retour)". Olaf made a quick deal of them as well.

Fontainebleau - J.A. Martin - La Théorie des Plats (retour) 7A

I had to pick up my youngest son from school, but with the time that remained, we moved to the boulder of "Déformation Professionelle". A small overhang that I repeated without too much effort, along with the direct version "Déformation Professionelle (direct)".
Nothing really special today, besides spending a nice time with Olaf. Always a good time climbing with him.

May 03, 2024 - Not quite on fire.

The weather was beautiful this morning and being Friday, I decided to go to Rocher Canon. The last time I climbed there was back in 2020 with Pieter. I can't hide that it's not my favorite area, even though there is so much to climb. I guess one of the main reasons is that it tends to be a very busy area being so close to Melun and the Bois-le-Roi train station.
I arrived at the area without any specific goal besides trying to stay alone as much as possible. It was still early and I immediately walked towards the back of the area to end up at the boulder of "Chasseur de Prises". I had done "Chasseur de Prises" back in 2015, and I remember that it took me quite some time and a lot of effort. Now I only needed a handful of attempts to repeat it while warming up and I decided to try the sitstart. I wasn't mentally prepared to try something that hard though and I couldn't quite get myself enough on fire to really pull hard. It didn't take long before my attention went to "L'Envers du Décor" just left of "Chasseur de Prises".
I liked doing this one, but I have to admit that I didn't want to fall off in the second half, so I pulled harder than needed, wasting energy in the process.

Fontainebleau - Rocher Canon - L'Envers du Décor 7A+

Just strolling around and briefly trying different things here and there, I got away with a quick ascent of "36.15 (gauche)".

Fontainebleau - Rocher Canon - 36.15 (gauche) 7A(7A+)

Still trying other things wherever I felt like, I ended up at "Jour de Pluie" and realized that I had only done the shortcut version in 2017, but had never done the full line. It is a nice spot there, so I decided to spend the remaining time of my climbing session on this one.
I apparently forgot how hard the topout was, because I fell twice there and I was getting tired. After a very short break and inspecting the toput, I ended up fighting my way to the top.

Fontainebleau - Rocher Canon - Jour de Pluie 7B

May 01, 2024 - Need for meat.

The first of May, also known as Labour Day, is a public holiday in many countries, and France is one of them. Add to that the public holidays of the eighth and ninth of May, respectively Victory Day and Ascension Day, and you have a good occasion for ten days of vacation while only sacrificing five vacation days at work. It's exactly what I have done.
I went back to Cuvier Bellevue today, and warmed up by repeating "Kettle Bell". I wanted to try the sitstart too, but it didn't take long before I realized I had bad skin and it was nearly impossible to use the extremely bad starting sloper way low on the right. To prevent my skin from getting even worse, I left it for another time and walked on to the boulder of "Carnivorak" near the end of the area, and got away with a fairly quick ascent of "Poulivorak".

Fontainebleau - Cuvier Bellevue - Poulivorak 7B+(7B)

It's a nice spot out there at that boulder, but unfortunately not very good for camera placement. So after I worked out the moves of "Carnivorak" and did the problem a first time, I repeated it again, this time with the camera filming from another angle. The second time was quite quite desperate at the topout though.

Fontainebleau - Cuvier Bellevue - Carnivorak 7B+

To finish off the relatively short session, I ended with "Carnivorak (direct)", which I did on my first attempt. Not a luxury with my skin only getting worse and the temperature rising. 
Now I need more meat on my fingertips.

Fontainebleau - Cuvier Bellevue - Carnivorak (direct) 7A(7A+)