February 20, 2026 - Five stars worth fighting for.

A lot of rain the past weeks, but last Saturday was a good day for climbing in the afternoon. I had talked myself into finally going for "Fight Block" in J.A. Martin, a boulder that I stood in front of and watched in awe many times, but the exposed side of it always scared me away and I hadn't tried a single move on it yet.
I hauled two crashpads to the boulder, and slowly started built up confidence trying the first couple of moves, which didn't go too bad to my pleasant surprise. I quickly realized that this was my new priority project. I worked out the moves separately, where I could, taking some good but quite safe falls, which boosted my confidence. After about two hours I was out of energy, but I had been able to do all the moves separately and even do the boulder in two overlapping parts, except for the final topout. I was quite sure though that if I would get there, I would be able to pull myself through and get on the boulder even though it's definitely still possible to fall there. I was very pleased with the progress I made that session and was determined to come back as soon as I could.
"Fight Block" lingered in my mind the whole work week and when I saw that today was going to be dry, I decided to go back for it today already, after work, taking advantage of the steadily longer growing daylight. This time, I was able to get to the left arete from my first go, but fell off afterwards. That's where the crux starts, for me at least. Being positive about the first part, I decided to focus on the crux alone. Even though I had been able to the crux moves a few times last session, it wasn't even half of the times that I tried that I could do them. I knew I had to make this more consistent and decided to work on the minor details, trying to find the small things that would help me there.
For me, it turned out to be the right heelhook placement. I slightly adjusted its placement and immediately made the moves in a much more controlled fashion. I knew that this was the key and decided to turn on the camera for the full line. 
I immediately reached a new highpoint, but fell off after, being surprised about how well I got there. After a short break, I started climbing, feeling confident. I cruised through the first part, arrived at the crux remembering the heelhook adjustment and stuck the crux moves perfectly. Somehow, I kept my focus for the full 100%, stayed calm and got around the arete with the feeling that I had everything under control. I have to admit that I was slightly nervous for the final topout, but it all went like I had imagined it and topped out.
Definitely a five star problem, in my humble personal opinion, absolutely worth fighting for!

Fontainebleau - J.A. Martin - Fight Block 7C

February 08, 2026 - Revisited.

We have had quite bit rain and bad conditions the last few weeks, but last weekend I was with my family in Napels (Italy) for a city trip and we had our first taste of Spring-like weather there.
Throughout this rainy week, the weather didn't look promising again for the weekend, but it turned out to be very different. Yesterday morning started grey and cloudy, but it didn't take long for the sun to break through and make for a beautiful sunny day. I still felt tired from the weekend before and somehow couldn't find enough motivation to try hard. Slightly disappointed, I made plans for today to stick with less hard climbs and revisit the small and not popular area of Bois'd'Hyver, focusing on some lower grade sevens.
It must be about ten years ago that I visited this small area and back then there were only a handful of problems in the seventh grade. Unfortunately, I didn't climb any of them. I would have loved to climb the beautiful "Lame Fatale", but the high roof is very exposed and I didn't even dare to even try it. Now, the area has been developed a bit more and there's a bit more choice and all new climbs for me to try.
I started at a new low roof where I made quick work of the two most logical lines. I flashed "Boulder in Roof" with a bit of ease at first, and then a small struggle for the last move, but made it.

Fontainebleau - Bois d'Hyver - Boulder in Roof 7A

A hold seems to have broken off of "You, You my Roof", but after briefly searching for and working out an alternative sequence, I made it on my first attempt from the start.
The remaining lines on this small roof are all traverses and didn't attract me, so I moved on.

Fontainebleau - Bois d'Hyver - You, You my Roof 7A+

Some boulders on my way either didn't attract me or weren't dry enough and suddenly I found myself standing underneath "Lame Fatale". It's by far the nicest boulder of the whole area, but scary. I gave it one brief attempt, but chickened out again. I would definitely prefer an extra crashpad and a spotter here.
Not far from there, I did "Swan Dive (départ statique)" on my second attempt after falling off due to a stupid footslip on my first.

Fontainebleau - Bois d'Hyver - Swan Dive (départ statique) 7A

The sitstart of "Swan Dive" would have been probable to do it on my first attempt, but the big hold was filled with pine needles and was too sandy and dirty to be able to hold on to it. It took me a few attempts more after cleaning the hold in between.

Fontainebleau - Bois d'Hyver - Swan Dive (assis) 7A(7A+)