Last week, I had done all the moves of "La Serpe d'Or (assis)" in 91.1 and even linked the two first moves, both the crux moves. I was eager to go back for it, feeling fresh, but I immediately felt this morning when I was walking towards the boulder, that I didn't feel in the best shape and after a short warmup, didn't even bother trying it. Instead, I focused on "Falastin Hura", but it gave a much harder time than I expected. It took me a long time, and when I couldn't top it out the intended way, I made an escape to the exit of red 24. The whole line as such could be about 7A+.
Fontainebleau - 91.1 - Falastin Hura (droite) 7A+
The 91.1 started to get quite crowded by then and I decided ot leav to J.A. Martin, without setting any expectation. Looking for a quiet spot, I turned up at the boulder of "Ca Couine à Droite", where I did a variation, starting in "Ca Couine à Gauche" and exiting in "Ca Couine à Droite". I named it "Ca Couine de Gauche à Droite" and did it on my first attempt.
Fontainebleau - J.A. Martin - Ca Couine de Gauche à Droite 7A(6C+)
Finally, I also did "Ca Couine à Gauche" on my first attempt as well. It was an off day, but at least I had been in the forest and did some (easier) climbing.
Fontainebleau - J.A. Martin - Ca Couine à Gauche 7A(6C+)
It was raining a bit this morning and everything looked wet outside. I left home with the intention of doing a walk in and around the Rocher de la Salamandre Est area, but it had stopped raining by the time I parked the car, and the sky even had cleared up, making place for quite some sun. I decided to take my climbing gear after all, thinking I might give the bottom part of "La Revanche Hurlante" a try, thinking it would be most likely dry. And it was. I ended up figuring out a possible method for the hard bottom part, but there is one move that just felt way too hard, no matter how much I tried. When then also "Hash de Guerre" wasn't working out, I thought that I must have an off day, and I indeed didn't feel in very good shape. I did end up topping out "Diesel" quite quickly, which was kind of surprising, because I found this much too difficult back in 2016. Anyway, I was happy with the unexpected turn of events and having been able to climb despite my earlier expectations.
Fontainebleau - Rocher de la Salamandre Est - Diesel 7B
The weather has been beautiful the past couple of days and it will stay that way until tomorrow. With rain forecasted to start on Friday and on through the weekend, I decided to take a day off work today so I could at least profit from a very sunny day. Last weekend, when I was in Apremont Belvédère, I wanted to walk over to Apremont Mare aux Biches to try "Désertec", but for some reason, I didn't get to it. I had wanted to try "Désertec" a few times, but either the starting hold was wet, or the very bad sloper near the top was humid and didn't have enough friction to even consider trying it in that condition. After a few sunny days, I had planned to go there today, and funny enough, Bart (Van Raaij) happened to have opened a variation on the boulder of "Un Ch'ti Délire", which I did a little over a year ago. "Ch'timi" shares the same start and end, but instead of going left through the roof, continue on the prow and go left with the top slopers. I figured it was ideal to be able to try both. The boulders were still cold when I arrived quite early in the morning, but the sun was already warming up the air a lot. It felt quite warm and I enjoyed the feeling of the warming sun. The slopers of "Désertec" was dry and felt good, just as the starting hold. I could finally try this short problem. I had watched a video of Manuel (Marquès) yesterday and still remembered what he did for the top. I managed to that topout separately on my first try and then did the whole problem on basically my first attempt. That could count as a warmup.
Fontainebleau - Apremont Mare aux Biches - Désertec 7B+
The spot of the boulder with "Ch'timi", which I was going to try next, was nicely in the sun and is usually a quiet spot, but the quietness got interrupted by a class of shouting kids. Their teacher decided that the small valley was a perfect for a break with the kids and they kept on shouting while playing hide and seek at not even 100m from where I was. So long for the quietness. I tried to not be bothered by it and tried the few moves around the small birch tree separately so I would know how to move around the tree. Surprisingly, it went immediately and after setting up the camera, I sent "Ch'timi" on my first attempt from the start. Barely twenty minutes after arriving in the area, I had already done both of the problems that I wanted to try.
Fontainebleau - Apremont Mare aux Biches - Ch'timi 7B+(7C)
I still wanted to climb some more, and I made a quick decision to stop by the Drei Zinnen area on my way home, with the intention to try the relatively new "Digitalement Fastidieux". On this one however, I didn't feel the friction on the key sloper, so I stopped trying after not even five minutes and moved to boulder of "Jubile". I had done the standing start back in 2018, but didn't manage to do the sitstart. Somehow, I had never gone back to try the sitstart again. After a few fruitless attempts, I could understand why. The moves didn't fit me very well. Determined to not give up, I stuck with it and sent it some time later.
The boulder of "P'Tit Quinquin" is one of only two boulders in the micro area of Apremont Belvédère, right next to Apremont Mare aux Biches.In the middle of a small chaos of boulders along one of the blue paths, it's not the easiest to find, and it was during a scouting session that I briefly tried it many years ago. Back then I wasn't able to do any of the moves. I had completely forgotten about it since, but not very long ago, I saw a video on Instagram of Laurent Darlot doing this rarely repeated problem. and it gave me a sense of urge to go and try it again. I had set it as my goal for today. After arriving at the boulder, still being almost exactly where I remembered it to be, I started trying the single moves one by one and immediately understood why they all felt impossible a few years ago. Realizing that I am stronger or maybe wiser then back at the day, I stayed with it and practiced. The problem consists of three very hard moves into a quite sketchy and delicate topout, one where it is still possible to make a mistake and fall off. After some time, I had managed to do every single move, including the topout, but linking them seemed to be another crux. The first three moves allow as good as no room for error at all. They all had to be precise. I took a short break and afterwards started to give it some real attempts. There were a lot of fails at first, but with each attempt, I became more more and more consistent in the moves, and built up the so necessary muscle memory. And then all of a sudden, it flowed all together and I made my to the top, relieved that I had practiced the topout as well. A really cool problem, glad to add this to my done list.
I can cope with quite some stress, but the last weeks have been very demanding at work and I do feel the need sometimes to release some steam. I felt like I needed it today and went for a short climb after work now that the daylight starts to last longer again. I didn't mind the long walk to the Diplodocus area, it felt good to be in the forest in the evening again. A few weeks ago, I had been trying "Plaplatix" and by the time that I found a possible sequence, it had already shut me down. The countless attempts on very bad slopers had taken their toll. This time, after practicing the topout, where I always fell last time, it went pretty smooth and I only needed one attempt from the start to finish it. This one definitely felt harder than it looked at first sight.
Fontainebleau - Diplodocus - Plaplatix 7B+
After watching a video of "À Flore de Peau", a beautiful slab, I was able to do it on my second attempt. I was happy with the short session. It had completely disconnected me and it was exactly what I needed. I was even still on time for dinner at home.
My plan this morning was to go and try "Contrôle A" in Buthiers Piscine, so I had taken a third crashpad in the car, but I couldn't believe my eyes when I arrived in Buthiers. The whole place was packed with cars and campers. People running around with dogs everywhere. It turned out that there was some kind of a race for runners with dogs, and it seemed to be extremely popular. There was no way for me to find a free parking spot anywhere near where I had to be, so I unexpectedly had to change my plans and come up with an alternative. For some reason, thinking quickly and completely out of the blue, I chose to drive on to Larchant, thinking to instead go and try some of the quite new problems in La Fontaine Saint-Bernard. Arriving at the parking there, I had a feeling that Easter fell early today. The parking of the auberge at Dame Jouanne was very crowded, but luckily I did manage to find a free spot. It didn't seem like the big amount of cars and vans that arrived just after me would be able to, but they all drove on the parking, with many having to reverse back, creating a small chaos. Apparently, all those folks went to Dame Jouanne or Maunoury, because I was all alone in La Fontaine Saint-Bernard, and besides an occasional walker, I didn't see anyone else the whole time I was there. As a warmup, I chose "Tria Brachium", and with small crimps to start, it definitely warmed up my fingers. I was able to do the low, harder start on my second attempt. Hard start and an easy second part.
Fontainebleau - La Fontaine Saint-Bernard - Tria Brachium 7A+(6C+)
"Le Bicepsceptique" didn't look very attractive and maybe a bot easy, but it was right next to a sunny spot, so I decided to give it a shot anyway. This turned out to be much harder than I expected, but also much nicer than it looks. It took a short while, but I had fun with it and ended up finishing it, albeit with painful fingers.
Fontainebleau - La Fontaine Saint-Bernard - Le Bicepsceptique 7A+(7B)
Finally, "Le Platiste (assis)", 7A or 7B depending on how high you start with the right hand, seemed to have a broken hold for the left hand. I only did the high right hand start, but had to use a painful two finger crimp for the left hand due the other broken hold. Even though I did it on my second attempt, I did have the impression that it was hard enough for 7A+. Maybe I will come back one day for the low right hand start. My fingers felt too painful by then. I had a good time, nevertheless.
Fontainebleau - La Fontaine Saint-Bernard - Le Platiste (assis) 7A(7B)
About five months ago, I started doing the so-called Wim Hof Method, which in my personal case, consists of taking either an ice cold shower or an ice bath every day, and I haven't missed a single day since I started. I only take a warm shower on days that I took a five minute ice bath. I let my body warm up itself when coming out of the ice bath, and on those I days, I take a warm shower about half an hour after. On rainy days, or on days where I have less time, I take a five minute ice cold shower and don't even switch to warm before or after, just cold. Even though I'm absolutely not into meditating, I also do some breathing exercises and I'm enjoying those a lot. I have noticed that since I've been following this method, I am and feel more relaxed and approach negative situations in a different way. A more relaxed way, just dealing with them, without letting them get to me. It's something that I have also noticed during my climbing sessions. In case of any failures, I don't let negativity take over, but just go with it, go with the flow, without any pressure. In that way, even bad sessions end with a positive feeling somehow.
I also take a different approach in the way I work out boulder problems. I take more my time looking at a line, imagining the moves and wherever possible, work out moves separately. Again, also without a sense of pressure at all. That's also how approached the "Le Crunch Stat'" boulder today in Coquibus Auvergne. Given the high exposure factor and a bad landing, this one always scared me. Enough to not having tried any problem on it in the past. Now it looks different though, despite the boulder, exposure factor and landing not having changed. I changed.
I carried two crashpads to the boulder early this morning, the sun was out but a wind coming from the North made it feel very cold. After strategically placing the crashpads, I looked at the holds of "Le Crunch Stat'", imagined the moves and didn't have any sense of fear. Not even nervous. I was actually feeling very relaxed, followed the moves like I had imagined them and somewhat unexpectedly flashed "Le Crunch Stat'".
Fontainebleau - Coquibus Auvergne - Le Crunch Stat' 7A+
Now I felt ready for "Autonomie", the problem that I had set as my main goal for today. The first couple of moves almost felt impossible and very morpho, but I took my time to work them out and ended up after a while getting where I wanted to be. I turned on the camera, executed every move perfectly and topped it out.
I hadn't planned on trying it, but it seemed logical to also try the sitstart, "Autonomie (assis)". I felt quite confident that if I would get into the standing start, that I would top out this one too. The few moves from the sitstart into the standing start are beautiful, and even better than I had imagined, but also harder. They require quite some power and tension, but soon I had it all figured out. Due to freezing toes though, it had become difficult to feel the best foot placement, which made me fall off the problem a couple of times. But then suddenly, it all clicked, I kept it all together and also finished the sitstart. Thanks to those few additional beautiful moves of the sitstart, I feel that it deserves the five stars that I gave it on bleau.info.
My main goal for today, was "L'Aéro Pris à Pic (assis)" on an isolated boulder at the far end of Rocher Cailleau. I had tried this problem a few times, but it was long ago, and I thought to give it another try after that much time. The other times I tried it back then, I still remember that I could just barely do the first move and the second felt nearly impossible, despite the compression style being something that I like quite a lot. The sun had just broken through a light fog and had started warming the air to a very comfortable temperature by the time I arrived at the boulder. Just the way I like it. Before starting with trying the moves, I inspected the problem from close by and from a distance, imagining how it would do the moves. Just like the other times, I had to smile when realizing the shape of the boulder. It didn't steal the name that has been given to it, "Le Phalloïde". Once you see it, you can't 'un-see' that it looks like a giant penis, ready to go. I was ready to go as well and immediately noticed that I felt much more comfortable than a few years ago, trying the first move. The second move took a bit more time, but fairly quickly I got the hang of it. I practiced the upper part as well, to avoid any surprises. I turned on the camera, and immediately executed the moves almost perfectly and climbed on to the high top. A great climb!
Having done it much quicker than I expected, I still stopped at the "Vandale" boulder, and as there was nobody there to my surprise, I stopped and decided to try the what for me feels like the crux move of "Le Bon Sens". About a year and a half ago, I had injured the inside of my elbow trying it, and I hadn't come back for it since, as I was afraid to get injured again, or even more. It was the move that I hadn't been able to do yet when working out the separate moves. I slowly built it up and after some time, I had done the move, the only one that I hadn't been able to do yet. My skin was too bad by then to give it a go from the start, but it was okay. I hadn't planned on the trying the problem in the first place, and I was happy that I done the crux move. This problem has made it back on my list. Not very high, but it's back on it.
After a rainy morning, the sun finally did come out and there was a good breeze, so I hoped to be able to climb something. Recently, a new problem was opened on the boulder of "Migration Lente" in Roche aux Oiseaux, and knowing that it is on the top of the hill, helped me make my decision to go and try it out. "Bib le Migrant" only consists of three moves, including getting last foot off the ground, so I expected it to be really hard. It starts off with a bad slopey crimp from which you have to make quite a big deadpoint move to a good two to three finger crimp and then make another big move to the good top hold. I seemed to have very good skin today, because I immediately was able to hold my position when taking my second foot off the ground. The deadpoint move to the high crimp felt hard at first, but not t all impossible. Surprisingly, I got closer and closer at a fast rate and when I felt ready to turn on the camera, was able to send almost straight away. Nice, but felt quite soft for the proposed grade of 7C.
Fontainebleau - Roche aux Oiseaux - Bib le Migrant 7C
Two weeks ago in Marion des Roches, I checked out "Crépuscule (du sol)", but with the lower back injury then, it didn't even come up in me to try it. The problem looked very nice though, and it lingered in my head since then. I didn't go back last week, because I joined Victor (Burger) on both days of the weekend, climbing in bad conditions and only repeating a few easier problems in Mont Blanc. I did promise myself to go back Marion des Roches today to work in "Crépuscule (du sol)". With only -4°C in the early morning, it was freezing cold, but it was dry and it looked like the conditions might be very good. Despite the cold, I left early anyway, as usual. By the time I got there, it was still only 0°C, but the sun made it very bearable. I hadn't planned for it at all, but I decided to warm up trying the big dyno of "Big Mak" on the same boulder. I had tried it a few times about ten years ago, and figured it would be good to wake my body up. Already on my first attempt, I felt that I was close and decided to put on the camera, just in case. A few attempts later, I stuck the dyno and the swing, and topped out.
Fontainebleau - Marion des Roches - Big Mak 7B
I then took my time to work out the moves of "Crépuscule (du sol)" separately one by one. It didn't take long to realize that the hardest part was at the start. Getting off the ground and doing the first big and rather awkward move from the undercling to a sloper right hand. As soon as I had figured out the move, I turned on the camera and sent it immediately after. Very, very nice problem.
Fontainebleau - Marion des Roches - Crépuscule (du sol) 7B+
The energy that I still had left in me, I spent trying "L'Oeuf de Pâques (assis)", which felt really hard or just too morpho. It had sucked me dry, but I was pleased with the session when I walked back to the car, quite exhausted.
Earlier this week, something shot in my back and I have been suffering of severe back pain since then. My lower back has always been a big problem, but throughout the week, I even had difficulties just standing straight or walking. Even though the weather was forecasted to be beautiful, I didn't make myself any illusions for trying anything too hard. Instead, I left home yesterday morning with my main goal just finding a boulder. I had been searching for "L'Introuvable" in Cuvier Ouest a couple of times almost ten years ago, scouting through the dens vegetation at the far end of the area. Each time, I hadn't been able to find, doing much justice to the boulder's name. This time, I wasn't going to give up. Again, I found myself walking through dense vegetation, sometimes in circles, but suddenly, after an epiphany moment looking elsewhere than was indicated by the description on bleau.info, I found myself in front of the boulder. It was wet, as I had expected, but at least now I know where it is, so I will go back for it soon after a longer dry period. On my way back, I stopped at "Halte aux Feux" and decided to give it a few tries. It didn't require a lot of body tension, so it went fine with my bad back and made it to the top after a few attempts.
Fontainebleau - Cuvier Ouest - Halte aux Feux 7A+
This morning, I could my feel that my back felt less painful, but I still didn't want to risk trying anything hard, especially when it requires a lot of body tension, or far reachy moves. It was still -4°C when I left for Marion des Roches, where I wanted to try "Bi-Steak" and "Franck" at the far end of area. I had tried "Bi-Steak" ten years ago, but couldn't do much in it for some reason and hadn't gone back for it since. This time, I was able to work out the moves separately quickly, besides the second one, involving a bad right heelhook, but I decided to give it some attempts from the start anyway, and somehow managed to hang on and work my way to the end.
Fontainebleau - Marion des Roches - Bi-Steak 7A
The moves of "Franck" were worked out even quicker and on my second attempt from the start, I managed to top it also. I didn't find this much harder than "Bi-Steak".
Fontainebleau - Marion des Roches - Franck 7B
With my two main goals done already, I briefly tried "Big Mak", but the backwards dyno was hurting my back too much, so I stopped with it quickly. "Natacha", however, I was able to flash.
Yesterday when I was walking back to the car from "Abracadabaffe", in the rain, I didn't want to make myself any illusions and assumed that the earliest I would be able to go back to try the other lines, was going to be next week. It still rained a lot yesterday, but there was quite some wind during the night, and low and behold, it looked pretty dry outside this morning, with new rain forecasted in the afternoon. I took the chance and went back to the boulder of "Abracadabaffe". This time, even the holds of the sitstart were dry, and the conditions felt good. I warmed up practicing the moves of "Abracadaréta", and mainly the mantle for the topout. Once I got it figured out, I immediately sent it after turning on the camera.
Fontainebleau - Apremont Mare aux Biches - Abracadaréta 7A+
After that, my focus went to the sitstart of "Abracadabaffe", only to find out that it is really hard, much harder than it looks, especially with the feet so far in the back. I couldn't even lift my butt from off the ground. I almost concluded it would be too hard, but with no other problems around in the immediate surroundings, I made the decision to stay and just see if somehow I would be able to make slight progress. At that moment, lifting my butt off the ground already was a goal on itself. After a short while, I magically reached that goal, but doing a next move seemed like the next impossibility. Again, I stuck with it and again started making slow, but steady progress. When I finally stuck the next move, I decided it was time for some real attempts. Only a handful of attempts later, I made my way to the top and almost couldn't believe it. Great problem!
Fontainebleau - Apremont Mare aux Biches - Abracadabaffe (assis) 7C
As I knew that I could do the first part, it seemed logical to also try "Abracadaréta (assis)". I knew that if I would be able to do the first few moves again, that I would be able to send the whole thing. Which is what happened quite soon after. The slight foot stroke near the end didn't help me in any way, form or fashion, so I'm taking it. I'm sure the 'dab police' will have a blast again, but I don't care. To me it felt and will always feel like a magical session.
Fontainebleau - Apremont Mare aux Biches - Abracadaréta (assis) 7B+(7B)
The forecast for the weekend looked terrible. A lot of rain to be expected, but warmer temperatures. When I looked out my window this morning, the sky looked threatening with a thick grey deck of clouds. No blue sky in sight. It wasn't raining yet though and everything outside still looked pretty dry. I took the risk and drove to Apremont, worried on my way by some rain drops falling here and there. By the time I got to Barbizon, it wasn't raining anymore and I was hoping for it last like this long enough to at least give me the chance to try some moves of "Abracadabaffe", a new boulder opened by Guillaume (Joubert). I went to have a look at the boulder on a rainy day a few weeks ago, and I remembered that it had an exposed factor to it. Expecting rain at any moment, I didn't bother to take a second crashpad, but was pleasantly surprised by two things when I arrived at the boulder. Firstly, it was dry, except for the first two holds of the sitstart, and secondly, it wasn't as exposed as I remembered and figured that what I had with me would be good enough to protect for any potential fall. Without warming up, I immediately started trying the standing start. Careful and withholding myself the first few attempts, giving myself confidence about always landing perfectly where I had placed the crashpad when falling off. The conditions were surprisingly good and when I had the moves somewhat in me, I turned on the camera. I sent it on my second attempt after. Just in time, because not even a minute later, it started raining. I don't even think that it would have been possible to do another attempt if that one wouldn't have been the successful one.
Fontainebleau - Apremont Mare aux Biches - Abracadabaffe 7B+
There was a very dense fog on Friday, and it lasted the whole day. At no point in time of the day, it was possible to see more than 100m far, if at all. At least it was so from my house. That fog apparently fell down during the night, so yesterday, Saturday, everything was soaking wet and with the grey sky and a lack of wind, it didn't make sense to try to look for some dry boulders. This morning looked quite different and with high hopes, I left for Apremont Butte aux Dames, eager to try the quite new "Omotenashi". Obviously, the boulder low down the hill looked humid, but the ones higher up the hill and quite in the open were perfectly dry and the conditions even felt very good. Looking back at it now, I think the conditions on "Omotenashi" could hardly be any better. After checking it the moves, it was quite clear that the hardest part is in the first couple of moves. I warmed up doing the topout and felt confident about doing the topout again if I would get there from the start. The description of the problem mentions that it starts with the right hand on the small undercling, and the left hand just above on an oblique crimp. Just imagining that start looked like it was going to be a very awkward position for doing the far move to the sloper on the left. Keeping it more logical, I first worked out the moves with a more logical and more obvious unonventional start, being with the left hand on the undercling and the right on the crimp. As soon as I got that start worked out, I immediately sent it when turning on the camera.
With respect to the first ascensionist, I then started working on the original conventional start. It took me a bit longer get the awkward movement in my body, but slowly and steadily, I got the hang of it and started sticking the move. A couple of failures later, I managed to also do the conventional way of "Omotenashi".
Fontainebleau - Apremont Butte aux Dames - Omotenashi 7B+(7C)
To finish the session, I moved up towards the problem of blue n°36, of which a sitstart was opened recently as well. Just by looking at it, I immediately seemed to know what to do, but executing it all, wasn't so immediate. All in all, I needed a handful of attempts to add "Point d'Exclamation (assis)" to the done list. Quite nice moves, definitely worth the effort.
Fontainebleau - Apremont Butte aux Dames - Point d'Exclamation (assis) 7A+(7A)
As I agreed with Olaf yesterday, we met quite early this morning at Rocher de Bouligny Est. I was pleased and psyched to visit a sector that was new to me. Something that had been a very long time ago. It was still quite early and freezing cold, but unfortunately, grey cloud covered the sky and we even felt some rain drops on our faces while walking towards the boulders. With most of the boulders on the North face of the hill, it turned out that it wasn't the best choice to go there, but I was in good company and I enjoyed the time. The boulder that spoke to me the most when browsing bleau.info, was the one with "Left Side Story", "Right Side Story" and "Front Side Story". A visually stunning boulder, and one that would keep us busy for some time. As we already expected by the time we got to the boulder, the boulder surely wasn't in the best conditions, but at least it was dry. I have to admit that I underestimated the difficulty of the problems, or I might as well say that I maybe overestimated the conditions. It was hard to find good friction on the slopers and the session started with a lot of slipping off "Right Side Story" for the both of us. It did get slightly better the more we tried, but it was really cold and we had to take a lot of short breaks to warm up our toes again. Nevertheless, we both made slow, but steady progress changing beta a lot of times during the process. Very strange and unstable body positions on this line that looked easier from the ground than when actually trying it. After some time though, I finally managed to top out from the standing start, knowing that I had to do it again, because the problem starts with a sitstart. Knowing what to do now, I thought that the two easy additional moves from the sitstart wouldn't make a lot of difference and another topout would be a quick deal. I was wrong. The two additional moves from the sitstart are indeed easy, actually the easiest moves of the whole problem, but sensation of the friction on the slopers was remarkable. It took me at least another half an hour to finally make my way to the top again, this time from the sitstart. I had almost given up on it for the day, so I was really glad to get away with in the end. Olaf made slightly slower, but still steady progress and came at one move from the end before he needed another longer break and the time came for me to have to leave.
Fontainebleau - Rocher de Bouligny Est - Right Side Story 7A+
Those who read my previous post, know that I had started working on the ultra classic "Fourmis Rouges" during my Christmas vacation, but even after three sessions still hadn't gotten away with it. Then I had to go to Belgium for a few days to visit family and friends, after which I had to start working again last Monday. It had given me more than a week to rest and the weather forecast for today looked promising. This morning, I met Olaf (Deppe) at "Fourmis Rouges", and the conditions looked very good. I tried to not make myself any illusions and just see how it would go, and had already decided that if it didn't go down today, I would give it a long break. I am not very keen on long projecting and mentally it was starting to weigh on me. Especially as the boulder is in an area that isn't my favorite due to its popularity and more than often being quite crowded. Also, I was starting to miss exploring other parts of the forest and trying different problems. I started climbing today without pressure and needed a few attempts to get the muscle memory really going again. With Olaf being there and also giving it attempts, it allowed me to take it easy and take short breaks in between, enjoying the company. It was very cold, barely above 0°C, but it was quite sunny and dry. The conditions seemed to get better with every attempt. When I then finally got the high sloper again, but fell off after a second or so, I felt that the game was on again and turned on the camera. Unwillingly, the feeling of 'sending stress' tried to get a hold of me, but Olaf succeeded well in his way, to keep me relaxed. On my second attempt after turning on the camera, I suddenly made my way to the top. The sense of relief was amazing. Not especially because I had just done "Fourmis Rouges", even though it played a big part of it, but mostly because I could let go of it, knowing that I don't have to come back to Cuvier Rempart any time soon. I had seen enough of the area and its crowds during my vacation. Interestingly though, it was very crowded when the conditions were very bad during the vacation, today the conditions were great, but there was no-one around. And this on a Saturday.
Olaf had another few attempts in "Fourmis Rouges", making very good progress with minor details and reached a new highpoint. He decided to end his "Fourmis Rouges" session on that positive note, and proposed to go up to "Immodium". I had done the standing start of "Immodium" back in 2011, and the sitstart in 2017, but I gladly went with him, just to see if I'm still able to dyno after all these years. Surprisingly, I repeated it on my second attempt, and then again immediately after just to have another video. Olaf only started trying a few dynos since not very long, but despite that, I saw him making very good progress on a very short time, being only at a few centimeters from the good hold. My time was up though and I wished him luck for the rest of his session, knowing that I will hear how it went on, when we will meet again to go to the far end of "Rocher de Bouligny Est". I'm so glad to visit another area than Cuvier Rempart tomorrow. It's time to move on.
As I had a two week vacation, I decided to just publish one post for the whole period, just like my previous vacation. As it turned though, the vacation has been quite disappointing climbing and weather wise. I had set myself the goal to do "Fourmis Rouges", but the besides two good sessions, the other were overrules by bad and frustrating conditions. Lot of fog, drizzle, rain, and humidity.
Sunday, 22nd of December, 2024
Yesterday, everything was soaking wet due to rain and even more due to condensation. In the late afternoon up to this morning, there was even more rain, but also a hard wind. I decided to look for dry boulders on higher ground, and found a good one on the top of the hill of Rocher de la Cathédrale. Even though I tried it before, I had never been able to the first big move of "Le Gnou" or "Coup de Phil (assis)", but somehow, today it worked out pretty well and I was able to make a rather quick ascent of "Coup de Phil (assis)". "Le Gnou" on the other hand, didn't work out. Seems that the short traverse to the right seems to be the crux and I couldn't get passed it. Anyway, given the bad weather forecast for today, I was happy to have been able to climb at all.
Fontainebleau - Rocher de la Cathédrale - Coup de Phil (assis) 7A+
Monday, 23 of December, 2024
For some time, thinking years, I kind of secretly had this small dream of climbing one of the famous Big 5 in Cuvier Rempart. It always looked intimidating and scary at some point, but for some reason, I had been playing with the idea to try "Fourmis Rouges". Today, I asked my oldest son to join me to help me carry an extra crashpad and be there for a spot, so that thought finally became a reality. I didn't finish "Fourmis Rouges" today after almost two hours of trying, but I was able to build up a great amount of confidence, and especially motivation to come back for it soon. I made some quite good attempts, and even though it very much sounds like an excuse, the conditions didn't feel exactly right. I made good progress though and feel like I'm close to a send, so I'm eager to return as soon as I have grown back some skin and conditions are favorable. Below, a video of a handful of my best attempts today.
After another couple of really bad weather with no climbing possible, it was finally sunny yesterday, but unfortunately, the crack of "Fourmis Rouges" was still wet, making the problem impossible. Slightly disappointed, I did have some fun with Olaf (Deppe) and Markus (Neher). I was going to join them today at Mont Blanc, but when I saw how good the weather was, I couldn't resist and decided to go have a look "Fourmis Rouges". I was very pleasantly surprised that the crack was now dry and the conditions even felt really good. Instead of joining Olaf, Markus and their girlfriend/wife, I spent three another three hours trying "Fourmis Rouges". Still didn't send it,but was quite happy with the session as I had made good progress, making it two moves further several times. Three hours of trying had taken its toll though and I couldn't get to the top.
It was extremely cold with a lot of humidity in the air and even some light drizzle now and then. Had a good time though, with the good company of Olaf (Deppe), Markus (Neher) and wife Kathy, and Lars (Haasis) and wife Simi. Not very much possible due to the humidity, but "Hot Spring" just went, even though it didn't feel as hot as it would make one think in this weather.
Fontainebleau - 91.1 - Hot Spring (assis) 7A
Wednesday, January 1st, 2025
The forecasted wind for today was promising, but rising temperatures were concerning. When I left home in the morning, it all looked great, but the closer I got to Cuvier Rempart, the more foggy and I let go of most of the hope for topping "Fourmis Rouges" today. Olaf (Deppe) had other important priorities today, but Lars (Haasis) and Simi were there. It was fun trying "Fourmis Rouges", but the conditions on the boulder were not good enough and the session was worse than the last good one I had a week before, in the sun. I did, however, get a consolidation prize with a fairly quick ascent of "Ridicule", preceded by Lars doing this small but fun problem. Tomorrow I'm leaving to Belgium for some family visits until Sunday, so I guess today was the last session of the horrible (weather-wise) Christmas vacation.
