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+