After almost a year of non-stop working in his home country, Germany, Olaf finally arrived back in the forest on last Sunday evening. Due to work we hadn't had the chance to meet up during the week, but Saturday we finally re-united. On top of that, Lars and Simy were also there, so it was all more about enjoying climbing with good company and less focused on trying hard. Nevertheless, yesterday, in Rocher du Corne-Biche, I made some good attempts trying "Papa Gaga", after four years and a half not having touched it. The high pinch felt not too good condition-wise, but I did manage to get back to the point, preparing for the last dynamic move to the right. I was happy with that 'retro progress'. This is definitely high up on my list again!
This morning we met up in Apremont Ouest where Olaf wanted to try something on the "Piece of Mind" boulder. While he climbed the right version, I made very quick work of "Piece of Mind (sans convention)", the only variant that I hadn't done yet on that beautiful boulder. Olaf needed a few attempts more, but also he managed to do both the right version and the "sans convention" version.
Fontainebleau - Apremont Ouest - Piece of Mind (sans convention) 7A+(7B)
With over 600 registered repetitions, "Powerslave" is apparently one of the most popular 7A's of the forest, but somehow, I had never even noticed it. It was Olaf whol told me about it, and as Lars was eager to try too, I decided to give it a go. Having flashed it ease, I can understand its popularity now. It's very soft for the grade, and giving it a personal grade of 6C+ still seems a bit generous. With his neck injury, it became quite a battle for Lars, but he did manage to top it out as well.
After a whole week in Germany for a work project, I was exhausted, but felt motivated and physically strong enough to go climbing yesterday morning. Without a real goal, I went to Mont Simonet where I was able to make a quick ascent of "Duke & Kitty", which didn't feel very hard for the grade, but has some quite nice moves. The rest of the time, I spent my session trying the nearby "Coïncident", which features only two moves, but very hard ones, for me. Starting with a bad high undercling it immediately puts the body under full tension, making getting the second off the ground the first hard move. From there, the second hard move is letting go of the right hand and making a big dynamic move to a good but sharp hold high up. Last time I tried this, I did make it to the sharp hold, but pulled a big flapper on it, catching the swing, forcing me to stop. This time I couldn't remember how I had positioned my body good enough for the dynamic move and didn't even make it to the sharp hold. Definitely not a priority project, but it hasn't seen the last of me yet.
Fontainebleau - Mont Simonet - Duke & Kitty 7B
This morning, I went to Rocher du Mont Morillon with the intention to spend some time on the beautiful "Karma Gai". I had tried it two or three times, spread over the years, but only briefly as I could barely move in it. I was never even able to hold the high shallow sidepull left hand, let alone fixate it enough to reposition the feet. Therefor, I didn't have any expectations at all when I was walking towards the boulder. Arriving at the boulder, my first thought was that I would probably leave the boulder again empty handed, without any progress and probably thinking that I would not come back for it. This boulder was truly one of my black sheep. After a short warmup, I still wasn't able to fixate the sidepull, but it somehow felt less desperate. Giving it another chance, I worked on the other moves, but it didn't go quite well at first. My body still had to wake up. Not wanting to go somewhere else, I decided to push on, taking short breaks now and then, until I ended up having done all the separate moves, even the one with the sidepull. The game was on and I decided to give it some real send attempts. The first one was promising. I was surprised that I made it up to the right hand sloper, but just barely, and I fell off on the next move, to the sloper left hand. It was only then that I really believed that I could do it and decided to make it a priority project if I wouldn't finish it today. The next few attempts went a bit downhill at first, slipping off the left sidepull a few times. After a few bad attempts, I did make it again to the right hand sloper, but it was so sketchy that I knew beforehand that I would fall off the next move again, which I did. After another longer break, it suddenly all flowed and already after only two moves, it felt like it good be the send go, which it ended up being, even though just barely at the end. I was very excited and pleased with having taken down "Karma Gai", one of my black sheep. Definitely worth the full five stars!
Fontainebleau - Rocher du Mont Morillon - Karma Gai 7B+
I didn't have a real hard set goal to do this morning. I just wanted to try a few problems in a small isolated sector of Franchard Raymond, the small sector with "Tectonique des Plaques". Of course it would be nice to top something, but my main goal was to enjoy the forest and try some problems as a form of training. It had rained a bit last night and the conditions were far from good, just like the skin on my hands. After trying a few problems, I took a little break and decided to dedicate the remaining time on "Le Soulèvement Tectonique". Knowing that I definitely wasn't going to flash it, I first tried from the start to determine where the crux is. It was quickly obvious and I focused mainly on that section, trying different methods until I found one that worked for me. I turned on the camera and sent it immediately, even though I had slippery fingers at the end and came very close to slipping off while committing to the last move to the jug. It was with a bit of luck that I stayed on and topped out.
Fontainebleau - Franchard Raymond - Le Soulèvement Tectonique 7B(7A+)
As I was travelling for work from Monday to Thursday, I felt quite exhausted in my head, but my body felt ready to go. As there was a new seemingly interesting problem opened and published last week, it was an easy choice to go to Mont Blanc Est and check out the new "Défense en Ivoire". Besides the new problem, I had also put "La Gogotte" and "L'Autre Droite" on my list. "Défense en Ivoire" indeed looked interesting in real life as well and still has this nice fresh cleaned sandstone friction to it. I took my time warming up trying the separate moves and find a method for the topout. It's the kind of problem that isn't over until it's over and I didn't want to get unexpected surprises at the topout. I was the only person in the area at that time and enjoyed the process of working it out. After I had the second and first worked out, I turned on the camera for some real attempts. On my first one, I got too excited and fell off at the top. As I wrote, this one isn't over until it's over. My second attempt was more focused and controlled, and therefor also successful. One out of three.
Fontainebleau - Mont Blanc Est - Défense en Ivoire 7B+
Even though I had already done the slightly harder "La Gogotte (gauche)" back in 2019, for some reason I had never tried the original easier version of "La Gogotte". This one went very quickly, just as I expected. Two out of three.
Fontainebleau - Mont Blanc Est - La Gogotte 7A(7A+)
"L'Autre Droite" I had already tried once before, but I could barely make any moves. Bad slopers and tiny slopey crimps for going left made it feel impossible and I had quickly given up on it, without keeping it as a project, but today I wanted to give a real chance and dedicate some time on it. The skin on my fingertips had already suffered a bit and had become sweaty. Absolutely not ideal for those bad slopers and tiny crimps, especially on a problem that has no registered repetitions yet, so it felt quite dirty as well at first. As I promised myself, I did stick with and ended up finding a method for the short traverse to the left. I hadn't done the topout yet, but did try the mantle and it did feel like I could make it with the right motivation, in this being having come from the start. After a short break, letting my skin and the slopers dry out a bit, I turned on the camera and only needed two attempts to finish it. Three out of three. I was happy with the productive session.
Fontainebleau - Mont Blanc Est - L'Autre Droite 7B
After having been ill it felt like I had been living in the body of another person. As if I walking next to myself, looking at me doing things on auto pilot, like I wasn't present on Earth. Since a few days ago, that feeling finally went away and I am back on Earth, again being aware of my surroundings and enjoying daily things again. Yesterday I went to Rocher de la Reine Nord with a few things on my list to try, starting with "Allô la Terre, ça Baigne". I thought it would be a relatively simple warmup, but I spent much more time on it than expected. I had troubles at first feeling my body move and I couldn't find the correct body positions until after I took a short break. After that, it suddenly went quite well. I had high hopes for the other problems on my list, but I was already quite worn out, and a light drizzle wasn't making it any better, so I decided to call it a session.
Fontainebleau - Rocher de la Reine Nord - Allô la Terre, ça Baigne 7A
This morning, I didn't want to go too far, but as most of the areas around my house are closed due to the aftermath of the wildfires, my choices were limited. I chose to go to Châteauveau to try "Le Sacre du Printemps (gauche rallongé)", the last problem on this beautiful boulder that I hadn't done yet. So I thought. I had terrible skin though and sweaty fingertips, but my motivation was high. I had already taken peace with probably only ending up with a training session, but after I got more and more confidence in the moves with sweaty fingertips, I took a short break and unexpectedly sent it immediately after. Turns out that I haven't done "Le Sacre du Printemps (droite du fond)" yet neither, but I decided to leave it for another visit.
Fontainebleau - Châteauveau - Le Sacre du Printemps (gauche rallongé) 7B+
I'm still not a 100% after being sick, but I'm starting to raise in percentage slowly. In the mornings I usually feel fine, but it doesn't take a lot to start winding down again, mainly because of being too active and not allowing my body to properly have a rest. I realize that being busy all the time slows down the healing process, but I'm not someone who can sit still and do nothing. There's just too much to do and so little free time. My heel is getting much better and even though I still have to walk slow, I at least managed to walk all the way to Apremont Bizons without feeling pain. When I sat down in "La Couille Lisse", the first move seemed impossible at first, but after some tweaks in body position and foot placement, I started getting closer and closer to sticking it. It wasn't a very quick process, but when I felt really close and turned on the camera, I suddenly stuck the move and topped out. This one is all about that first move and in my humble opinion rather felt like 7B at most.
Fontainebleau - Apremont Bizons - La Couille Lisse 7B+
I had tried "Malfrat" only once, and that was more than fourteen years ago, because I hadn't moved to Noisy-sur-Ecole yet. I can't remember why I wasn't able to do it back then, but now it went quite okay. I could have done it sooner if I wouldn't have dabbed the crashpad on a few attempts, but I liked the process, changing small things to avoid the dab. It was only on my way back that my heel started bothering me again, so I turned down the pace. I'll get there slowly, but steadily.
Besides a few mild colds, I hadn't been sick for at least ten good years, but on Wednesday evening, I suddenly felt feverish. After an almost sleepless night, I got up on Thursday morning with a high fever. Working full-time from home, I didn't skip work, but continued as usual, suffering from the fever. It wore me down completely. It started getting better on Friday, but I felt extremely weak. This morning, no more fever, but still very weak. Despite feeling exhausted, I did go for a climb anyway. Still suffering from my left heel injury and not looking forward to a long walk, I chose "Finger Food" in Apremont Buvette, opened by Nataleigh and Jan (de Smit). Being in not so good shape due to beforementioned circumstances, I didn't set myself any expectations. My main goal was to be in the forest and have some fresh air. I therefor wasn't disappointed about the thought that I would not be able to do "Finger Food" when I touched the small crimps. However, the fact that it only has three hard moves, motivated me to push on. Surprisingly, it didn't take much time before I was able to stick the first move, and the second followed soon after. Knowing that the dynamic move to the lip of the overhang wasn't going to give any trouble, I turned on the camera and was able to finish "Finger Food" soon after. I'm not a so called board climber and don't even really know what it exactly entails, but for for some reason I was thinking that this felt like a perfect short board climb, or maybe it was because I didn't expect to be able to do it that I found this short with only three moves, just beautiful. I liked it that much that I wanted to repeat it over and over, but I refrained myself from doing so, realizing I needed to preserve some energy for the much gardenwork I had waiting for me.
Fontainebleau - Apremont Buvette - Finger Food 7B
Just want to add that today, Jan (de Smit) was able to do "Elephunk" (8B!!). Being in his early 50's, this is extremely impressive! Congrats and big up to Jan!!
It was a last minute decision this evening to go and try the new "Le Dernier Problème (droite direct)" in Buthiers Piscine. Just like a few days ago, I felt the sudden urge to go for a climb, especially knowing that I won't have a lot of chances to go climbing this weekend, as I will be spending it with my sisters in the Belgian Ardennes, where we rented a big gite. Back in 2017 I had done "Le Dernier Problème (droite)" on my second attempt, just failing once on the big right hand move to the right. This time however, even though I immediately did that move, I fell off a few times when releasing the feet or left hand. Nevertheless, quite a quick ascent after all, but just as fun. And no, this will definitely not be the last problem that I'm climbing.
Fontainebleau - Buthiers Piscine - Le Dernier Problème (droite direct) 7A+(7B)
This evening just before dinner, I suddenly felt a big urge to go for a climb after dinner. With my injured heel I had to keep it low though, so I figured that the new "La P'tite Arche (retour)" could be something as the boulder is about as high as I am tall. Upon arrival at the boulder and after briefly inspecting the holds, I honestly thought that it would be a quick deal and possibly even flash it, but the opposite couldn't be more true. It became a 40 minute battle with one attempt after the other, and here and there maybe about a minute rest in between. After half an hour of non-stop attempts and falling at the same move over and over, I almost gave up and already made peace with it being a for another day, but then I had an idea and decided to try something different, using a high toehook and a very far but quite good hold deep under the roof. The first couple of attempts I could barely reach and grab the far hold, making the swing after releasing the toehook, impossible to hold, but I stayed with, stretching myself out more and more until I got it where I wanted and stuck the swing. The topout after was only a formality. Despite the many failures trying this problem, I really enjoyed the process, the attempts and finally doing it after thinking out of the box.
Fontainebleau - Buthiers Piscine - La P'tite Arche (retour) 7B
My left heel has been hurting a lot after I fell from high up in "La Distinction" earlier this week and I have been limping since then. I will have to avoid trying higher and harder problems for some time as I can't fall on it again. Friday evening after work, I went to Buthiers Canard to try "L'Âme Indienne" but as it was too humid, I had to quickly come up with something else and figured that "Ours Boudeur" could be something. Just one move, a big dyno. The boulder not being high, I only took my thin gap-stopper pad, but I regretted that soon. On one of my attempts, I landed with my left heel on a root hidden under the pad, making my heel feel even worse. I limped back to the car to get a thicker pad to avoid even worse. A few attempts later I suddenly stuck the dyno and topped out.
Fontainebleau - Buthiers Canard - Ours Boudeur 7A
Yesterday, Saturday, was quite rainy and humid, so I didn't even go looking for something dry, but instead used the time to continue working on my barn project. This morning, figuring it would be quite calm, I decided to pay a visit to Franchard Isatis. I wanted to try "Burn to Shine (gauche)", but my heel was hurting too much so I quickly gave up on that one. On my way back to the car, I stopped at "Entre Toit et Moi" and decided to give it a try. I had already done the second part of the boulder, "Entre Toit", back in 2017, so I can't really call it a flash, but I was able to do it on my first attempt, after which I repeated the second part for the video, as I couldn't place the camera to capture the whole boulder.
Fontainebleau - Franchard Isatis - Entre Toit et Moi 7A+
Last week I had visitors from Thursday evening until Sunday morning, and even though I always like it when friends visit, it also wears me out completely due to the change in daily rhythm and routine. I did go for a short climb on Sunday afternoon after they left, but I was so exhausted and couldn't finish anything. When I came back home and told my oldest son how tired I was after being out of my own rhythm for a few days, he jokingly remarked that I probably don't see a lot of spiders, upon which I laughed and confirmed. We both knew why. The thing is that he happened to mention a day or two earlier, that he once read or saw or heard , that spiders apparently keep a schedule of your doings in their heads to make sure that they hide already before you actually enter the room. People without a strict routine therefor have more chances of busting a spider, than people who do. I indeed don't see many spiders. Anyway, so far the biology lesson.
On Monday evening I felt better and went to Buthiers Canard after dinner to try "La Distinction". It had been on my radar for quite a while, but I was either waiting for someone else to be able to spot, or just too scared. I decided I was done waiting and just try the problem without any rush, slowly building up confidence. Eeven though I didn't finish it that evening, I was happy with finally having tried it and had gained quite some confidence. Not wanting to let the muscle memory and confidence fade away, I went back this evening, determined. I wasn't in a rush or anything, just confident that I had a good chance of topping it out. The confidence was still there and pretty quickly I was able to reach my previous highpoint and went beyond, this time making it to the high sloper and thought it was as good as over. Not having done my homework for the topout, I struggled to get up and couldn't see the vague crack that should be there, but was covered with pine needles. I slapped, but missed and fell down from quite high, landing with both feet on my brushes that I had put on the small boulder behind the crashpad. This could have ended quite bad, but luckily it didn't. The attempt that followed, I didn't make the same mistake and arrived prepared at the same point where I had fallen. This time, I slapped in the right spot, kept my calm and topped out. Really such a nice problem!
Fontainebleau - Buthiers Canard - La Distinction 7B
The forest closures keep being extended everywhere except for the Buthiers areas that never were closed in the first place. It again limits the choice of what to climb where substantially, but luckily even in Buthiers there are some quiet spots with some isolated boulders. This time, yesterday morning, my eye fell on "X sans Y", opened by Manuel (Marques) last year I think. The boulder is well isolated in the Buthiers Ouest area, but I found it pretty quickly. A bit surprised by the bad landing, I knew I had to take this one slowly to build up confidence and determine where the crux is and how I would fall out of it. Being set on the wrong foot by trying Manuel's method, I lost a lot of time trying what he did, which didn't seem to suit me well and I felt stuck. After almost an hour I had almost accepted the fact that I might have to come back for this one, I decided to try my own method by making a dynamic move right hand instead of the always so controlled fashion of Manuel. Immediately I felt that this was more my thing and turned on the camera. I only needed two more attempts to stick the crux and make my way to the top. I left the boulder pleased with the long session and didn't really consider the time as lost, but rather a training.
Fontainebleau - Buthiers Ouest - X sans Y 7B
This morning I went back to Buthiers Ouest to try "Jaspe", even more isolated than the other, but after almost an hour of looking for it, I was saved by David (Evrard) who was running in the area and came over to say hi. After so many years in the forest it was the first time that I actually met him in person. He was so kind to take me to the boulder of "Jaspe", where I discovered that I had stood at about two meters from the boulder two times while looking for it. I was already tired and sweating like crazy when I finally got to try it, but wasn't able to finish it. It does come high up on my list though.
The forests in the Essonne department are closed again from the 8th of August until the 10th at 7 o'clock in the morning. So closed for only the weekend. Forests closing and opening and then closing again causes a lot of confusion and almost starts to feel like bullying by the government instances. Last week I apparently did an unconventional exit of "Monster Hugo et Mister Fred" in La Grotte aux Fées, so just before the closure I went back to finish it correctly, by exiting just via the slopers just before the crack on the right. I tried out that exit as a warmup and it didn't feel harder than the exit with the crack on the right. As I still had the sequence of the line in my body, I was able to repeat it on my first attempt, this time exiting with the slopers just before the crack. Indeed felt like the same difficulty.
Fontainebleau - La Grotte aux Fées - Monster Hugo et Mister Fred (par convention) 7A+
Having finished so quicly, I still had quite some time left and moved over to the boulder with "Le Rêve d'Aphrodite". With a overhanging ascending arete to follow, it felt quite my anti-style at first. Especially just stepping into the boulder, trying to keep the body as much as possible under the overhang to avoid slipping of the bad slopers. It was a short learning curve though and I was able to finish it quicker than I expected.
Fontainebleau - La Grotte aux Fées - Le Rêve d'Aphrodite 7A(7A+)
"Le Rêve d'Aphrodite (assis)" uses the boulder on the left for the feet by convention, and even though it added a quite spicy move, this one also this went down relatively quick.
Fontainebleau - La Grotte aux Fées - Le Rêve d'Aphrodite (assis) 7A+
Finally with the time I had left, I decided to walk to the isolated mushroom shaped boulder about 400m to the South of the main sector. Quite hidden between the trees, but easy to find thanks to the small map on bleau.info, I was honestly a bit disappointed by the looks of it, as opposed to what I had seen on the pictures online. There are many lines on this boulder but only one 'straight-up' in the seventh grade, "EPSilon". It required some cleaning, but once done, I had quickly found a sequence. I had a few footslips on my first couple of attempts, but once it stayed in place, I was able to finish the problem.
Fontainebleau - La Grotte aux Fées - EPSilon 7A(7A+)
The closure of the Fontainebleau, Commanderie and of course Trois Pignons forests have been extended until the 7th of August for the time, and unfortunately the forest of Nemours and its surroundings are now closed as well until that date. Not surprisingly, the burnt sectors will remain closed for at least a year. On a positive note, it is still possible to climb in the Buthiers areas and luckily, the forests in the Essonne department are now open again to the public, with the exception of the part of Trois Pignons in Essonne, also known as the Coquibus. Having spent quite some time in Buthiers, I was glad to find out about the reopening of the forests in Essonne, as it also opens up a wide choice of mostly smaller climbing areas and closer to home than Nemours. My choice yesterday went to a few less popular areas around the village of Beauvais and I started my session in Beauvais Guinguette where I wasn't able to top out anything, but I ended my session in the very small area of Bois de la Valette in the nearby village of Champcueil, where I ran into Christophe (Laumone) and Catherine (Miquel) by funny coincidence. They were rounding up their session and after I flashed the beautiful boulder of "Dolmen", we walked back to our cars together.
Fontainebleau - Bois de la Valette - Dolmen 7A
This morning, very close to home, but also already in Essonne, I went to the roof of La Grotte aux Fées in Oncy-sur-Ecole. I had only been there once, and was able to top out "Peter Pend" in bad conditions. This time I was there to try "L'Effet Toit" and "Monster Hugo et Mister Fred". Two lines that are not long traverses or loops as there are so many of them in that roof. It was still quite early, and I was a bit surprised to meet two other climbers, Romain (who I already met once in Apremont) and Mickael. I watched both of them doing a long traverse, while I inspected the holds and moves of "L'Effet Toit". After they finished their long traverse, I was able to finish "L'Effet Toit" on my first attempt with relative ease.
Fontainebleau - La Grotte aux Fées - L'Effet Toit 7A(7A+)
Romain and Mickael were having difficulties with the toehook in "L'Effet Toit" while I was working out the moves of "Monster Hugo and Mister Fred". The latter involves a big crack in the roof and at first I didn't understand how to move through the roof. Thanks to a tip from Romain to squeeze my feet in the crack, I saw a possibility. After some tweaking and finding a working method, it went down quite fast and I was happy with the result and having used some crack techniques. In the afternoon, I went for a nice walk in a forest in Essonne with my kids. It feels great to be able to enter a real forest again.
Fontainebleau - La Grotte aux Fées - Monster Hugo et Mister Fred 7A+
At five minutes driving from my home is the aerodrome of Buno, one of the best planer plane clubs from France. When my oldest son Anthony was 13 years old, I offered him an initiation flight, many years later also my wife got one and I had always promised my youngest Noah, that he would get one too the year he turns 13, the required minimum age. Noah did turn 13 in january, so last week we drove to the aerodrome to reserve him a spot and today was the day. He had his flight. Despite having offered a flight to all my family members, I am the only one left to not have taken the flight, at least not with a planer plane. I had a different kind of flight this morning when trying the dyno of "Libellule" in Buthiers Tennis. I got inspired by seeing a video on Instagram of someone doing it and it motivated me. It's located on the backside of the same boulder of "La Fourmi Verte", but also the highest side of the boulder and I had never dared to try it. With Buthiers one of the few options to go climbing, I decided to go for it. Luckily Catherine (Miquel) happened to be there too, again trying the there and back traverse of "La Mygale" and she was so kind to offer me an extra crashpad and spotted me. Something that I especially benefited from mentally. It gave me enough confidence to push through and climb all the way to the top. A very nice line!
The forest fires are under control for almost a week now, but the ground contains a huge layer of turf and this is still smoldering up to half a meter deep in many places and can catch fire again at any moment. That's why close to 500 firefighters are still making rounds looking for those spots and drown them. This process will still take several weeks and the burnt areas will most likely remain closed to the public for a year. It's still unknown what will happen after that. It's a true disaster for the forest and the many animals that have died, but I'm starting to be fed up with still constantly seeing pictures and videos of the fire and the aftermath on social media. Nobody truly knows how much the inferno has hurt me, but I try not to stay focused on the negative aspect of things. Instead, I have done quite a few things to help out our small community here in the little village of Noisy-sur-Ecole. I'm not going to name them because I'm not looking for compliments, but friends here and there will know if they ask about it. I also haven't stopped climbing, because even though most of the forest is still closed to the public, and the unburnt areas will remain closed until Monday at least, but some areas around Nemours and the areas in Buthiers are free to enter. Those have never been closed. Climbing there has offered me a way out, away from the fires, and the oh so many depressing pictures and videos of the inferno on the internet. What happened happened and stopping with everything will not undo any of it. There's a time of mourning, but life still continues, despite the many calls to not go climbing out of solidarity or because of the risk of getting injured and requiring the need of rescue. Even though the latter might be true to some degree, where do we draw the line ? Should the inhabitants of the region stop riding their bikes, their cars, stop living their lives and stay in bed all day ? I choose to live. As Buthiers is open and close to home, I have spent a few short sessions trying "La Fourmi Verte (assis)", right next to the big parking. I had done the standing start almost to the day five years ago I honestly didn't think that I would have needed three short sessions to do the sitstart. It's mostly quite good holds, but the crux requires a lot of power and is at the very top. It was especially the resistance power that I was lacking. Every time I made a small mistake before the crux, I didn't have enough left in me anymore to do and control the crux move. The trick was to just repeat it over to dial in all the moves up to the crux to the point where climbing up to there would feel like only a formality. The sessions never lasted more than an hour, with long breaks in between attempts, trying to regain some power. On my third session, today, it finally all felt smooth and I was able to finish it on my second attempt.
Fontainebleau - Buthiers Tennis - La Fourmi Verte (assis) 7B+
As most are probably already aware by now, on Sunday afternoon, several fires started along the A6 highway, near the Bois Rond and Vallée Chaude areas. Fires that quickly turned into a raging inferno, devouring the way too dry forest like the Cookie Monster in a pastry shop. It didn't take to become the biggest forest fire in the region for as long as I know. The days following Sunday, was a constant coming and going of Canadairs, two new DASH watering planes and three helicopters helping to try and get the situation under control. I have several pictures of the smoke and flying Canadairs, but I will not publish any of them here because there are many others already available online and it breaks my heart every time when I see them. Over 1200 hectares of forest has been burnt to the ground by now, but currently the situation seems to be more or less under control. After they manage to get the fires out, it will take another two weeks of keeping the soils wet to prevent fires from restarting and then it will take many many years for the forest to recover. Despite all that, I do feel that life goes on and decided to go for a climb this morning in Buthiers Nord, one of the few areas where going into the forest was still allowed, according to the forest closures defined in the Arrêté Prefetorale published yesterday. I managed to climb "Man vs Machine", even though "Man vs Fire" might be more fitting as a name now. Not the easiest of the grade for sure.
Fontainebleau - Buthiers Nord - Man vs Machine 7B
I did post the video also on Instagram, and as I expected quite quickly received comments hinting at it not being respectful towards the situation and firefighters in the current situation. It is my opinion however, that I didn't do anything against the defined regulations published yesterday and that it doesn't help anyone staying at home and not going for a climb where I was allowed to go. I am not disrespectful at all, but I'm a passionate climber and I just followed my passion despite the situation, but informed myself about where I was allowed to go. I don't feel sorry about having gone for a climb just because some might have a different opinion about good sense than I do. I will not necessarily do what others want because they feel it is their good sense. I did have a phone call later with someone close to the ONF and was informed that the ONF, as a forest authority, had decided to close down the whole forest, including the areas that fall outside of the Arrêté Prefectorale. and they were going to the climbing areas still considered "open" to inform climbers about the extension of the closure. At the time of my climbing this morning, this was not yet public knowledge nor known to me. It was therefor decided that instead of removing my post, which nobody would have noticed, I edited the description to inform about the new closures. At least that can be of a help to inform people instead of blatantly deleting a post without further ado. To anyone reading this: it is not a good time to come to the forest, so please delay your visit as possible.
The Trois Pignons forest and all forests in the Essonne department are closed again due to fire risk during this heatwave. So I drove to Nemours to try "L'Air de Rien" in Les Mammouths. I had tried this once a few years ago with Pieter, but the dynamic move to the big sloper was giving me too much trouble with the bad conditions we had that day. I did manage to do it isolation, but it didn't feel easy at all. Therefor, I focused on that move first when I arrived. It again felt really hard, so I tried to find some minor details that would make the move consistent. After some small tweaks in foot placement, I finally felt solid on the move and turned on the camera to try from the start. Somehow, I cruised through it as if it was nothing. Not too early, because it was starting to get too hot again already. Really longing for some rain to rinse the boulders and please nature.
Fontainebleau - Les Mammouths - L'Air de Rien 7B(7A+)
Those that climbed on the ultra classic beautiful boulder of "La Baleine" in Petit Bois before me, most likely yesterday, as I was early this morning, ought to be ashamed of themselves. Big fat tick marks and a thick layer of chalk on the holds showed that they hadn't clean the boulder at all when they left. They should go back to their indoor gyms and stay there until they learn to have some respect for the boulders they climb on and for those that come after them. It's such a small effort for a big positive result. As one might have noticed by now, I went to Petit Bois morning to try the direct version of "La Baleine", the latter I did back in 2015, almost to the day already eleven years ago. Back then I had hesitated quite some time before I dared trying this beautiful and impressive problem just by myself. The boulder is still impressive and quite intimidating, but I had more confidence than eleven years ago. The far move to the lip looked too far at first, but I made it there already on my first attempt and jumped off to setup the camera. I knew I would be able to get there every time, and that it was just a matter of getting to the high but good sloper. Not being tall enough, I had no other option but to jump and go for it. I had brought two crashpads for the occasion, but still needed some attempts to gain more confidence and really commit myself to it. All in all, it didn't take very long before I was able to top out, standing satisfied on top of this beautiful boulder. I cleaned the boulder afterwards, of course, and I hope the ones that come after me will do too.
Fontainebleau - Petit Bois - La Baleine (direct) 7B(7A+)
The temperatures have been rising more and more throughout the week and the nights stayed hot. On top of that, the temperature in my home office just below the roof rose up to 34°C every day of the workweek. Even the water of our swimming pool reached up to 35°C, so that even didn't cool me down enough. My only cool moment was under a cold shower in the evening, but those didn't last for long. The heatwave is taking its toll and they even closed the Trois Pignons forest due to too high risk of fire. We are longing for this extreme heatwave to stop and cool down, especially during the night. Yesterday early morning, with the Trois Pignons (including Coquibus) still closed, I drove to Rocher Saint-Germain to try "Sérendipité (assis)", but this being in the sun in the morning, I passed on it and walked on to "Mazurka". This one being well in the shade, was very doable and the one hard move seemed to suit me well as I had it on my third attempt and topped out. Didn't feel hard enough for the grade, but I was happy with it. After briefly trying "Le Guerrier Gris", it quickly became way too hot and I went back home.
Fontainebleau - Rocher Saint-Germain Centre - Mazurka 7B+
Yesterday evening we finally had a short thunder storm and despite heavy wind and having big hope for some rain, it settled with only a handful of drops, not enough to make anything wet. It did cool down slightly and the night almost felt bearable. Being a cloudy morning this morning, the temperature didn't rise as quick as the previous days and I went back to "Fat Teddy's Drop" in Eléphant Nord. It was only a short session because it finally started raining lightly, enough to make the top of the boulder quite wet. The boulder felt warm, so I knew it would dry very quickly once the rain stopped, but I didn't know how long it would rain and I didn't want to wait it out, so I went back home to do some work around the house and in my barn. By early afternoon, the temperature again reached well above 30°C, but somehow I had a feeling that I should go back to "Fat Teddy's Drop". After a few moments of doubting, I decided to pack up again and go for it, despite the heat. The boulder was still warm, but the friction felt good and I knew that I could have chance. Already on my first attempt, I finally stuck the campus move briefly, but fell off due to firing off the big crimp right hand. A short rest later, I went for another attempt and immediately felt that it felt right. Everything flowed and I stuck the dyno to the slot. As I already done the second part, starting with the campus move, on my first session, I knew what to do and cruised through to the top. Going back had been totally worth it. Did the crouching start, as recommended on bleau.info, to avoid the big, very sandy, low holds.
Fontainebleau - Eléphant Nord - Fat Teddy's Drop 7C+(7C)
