With the change to Winter time, the time I have left for climbing after work is very limited.
One of the first boulders of the Gorge aux Châts area is the one with "Neige d'Automne", a boulder at only 2 minutes walking distance from the car.
It was ideal to profit from the last 20 minutes of light, the sun was going down fast.
For long, the description on bleau.info and in most topos, was completely wrong about "Neige d'Automne", so once I climbed it completely wrong too, thinking it felt very soft for the grade.
Everything has been cleared out now, and already a couple of short sessions were spent by me trying to repeat it correctly. It turned out to be a hard and very friction dependent problem.
On each session I never got further than getting my feet off the ground and trying to grab the better sidepull. I never even got to hold it.
I don't like saying it, but it was thanks to a big tickmark that was left behind by other climbers, that I suddenly noticed a possibility to change my method.
Almost immediately I was able to grab the sidepull and hold onto it. I didn't expect that so kind of improvised my way to the top and came out at about the last move.
It still took me a few tries, but finally I was able to tick this one off too.
Of course, I brushed off the tickmarks afterwards.
No, it didn't snow, but "Neige d'Automne" is French for "Autumn Snow".
Fontainebleau - Gorge aux Châts - Neige d'Automne 7A
There was a dense fog this morning, and everything looked humid when Steven (Demets) and I were on our way to Mont Simonet, hoping to find dry boulders there.
My mindset was "I'll see what we climb and maybe climb what we see". There was no pressure.
Our first stop was at the boulder of "Le Triathlète".
I had tried it on my last visit, but somehow had difficulties to reach and hold the vertical crimp far left.
Today it gave me no problems and after a handful of tries it was done and left me wondering how I was able to stick the high sloper left hand.
Fontainebleau - Mont Simonet - Le Triathlète 7A+
Minutes after, Steven tested and succeeded in testing his mantle skills by topping out the 6A "La Fissure Diago". He still has them, with shaky legs though.
We then moved to the "Duke Nukem" boulder down the hill where I still managed to flash the 6C+(6C) "Fais Gaffe où tu Mets tes Pieds".
I proposed Steven to walk on towards Mont Blanc about 500m down the path, which he gladly agreed to.
After showing him around, his attention was fixed on the 6C dyno "Arnaud Airlines".
It turned out to be more difficult as we expected, but we both sent it 20 minutes later.
We took our time to look at some more boulders and in the end decided to pass through Mont Simonet again on our way back to the car.
It was only when Steven asked me which problem on the boulder to the right of "Pitt Boule" was, that I noticed that the sitstart is a 7A(7A+) called "L'Homo ça Pince".
I wondered why I never tried this on any of my previous visits, because it did look really nice.
Some other climbers were trying it, so we decided to go for "La Colonne". A very nice looking 6C(6C+) that I was able to do on my second attempt and of which Steven did the standing start, but didn't have the power anymore for the sit.
The many tries and climbs he did over the last 2 days were taking its toll after 3 years of no climbing.
In the meantime, the couple that was trying "L'Homo ça Pince", was taking a break and was wandering around.
They had left their pads so Steven encouraged me to take my chance and put on my shoes and give it a go.
Before I was able to try, the couple returned but had no problem with me using their pads.
I asked for some beta, which I was given, and flashed the problem without using any of the beta given. I did it my instinctive way and it turned out fine.
Fontainebleau - Mont Simonet - L'Homo ça Pince 7A(7A+)
It was fun to climb with Steven again after so long.
It looked like he enjoyed it to be back in the forest and doing what he has done good for so long, bouldering on the soft sandstone of Fontainebleau.
I'm pretty sure that it will not take another 3 years again before he comes back.
At home, I noticed that a new area called "Oncy sur Ecole Nord" was published today.
It turned out to be the 'secret' area that my wife, Sandra, had discovered early 2014, located in a small part of the forest across the fields behind my house.
Me and some friends had brushed quite some boulders there and I did the first ascent of "Noah's Ark", named after my youngest son Noah, and graded it 7A+.
Weeks later, Stéphane Denys wrote me that it was actually a rediscovery and a reopening of the problem and the area.
It turned out that the area had already been brushed by mostly David Evrard and Philippe Dumez years before.
They had even made a small topo of it, but as the area is located on private grounds and is hunting grounds in due season, it was never published on bleau.info.
So the lack of climbers knowing about the area, gave nature it's course and covered the boulders again with a thick layer of vegetation throughout the years.
Until today.
That's why I'm now including the video of my ascent of the problem that for me will always be known as "Noah's Ark" in the secret area, but from now on commonly will be referred to as "Empressement" in Oncy sur Ecole Nord.
The video dates from April 18th, 2014.
It's the most beautiful problem of the area, a very high slopey arete that takes some guts to top it out all the way.
It is a must do and no longer a secret.
Fontainebleau - Oncy sur Ecole Nord - Empressement 7A(7A+)
Steven (Demets) is back in the forest!
After a very long time of no climbing Steven finally decided to come to the forest to enjoy the Autumn colours and some good old bouldering on Bleau's soft sandstone.
Just like me, he prefers the calmer areas, so I decided to show him around in Rocher de la Salamandre Est.
We started with "Diesel (gauche)" that I finally was able to finish after again changing my method.
Steven's length was a bit of a disadvantage for this one, and probably also the fact that he didn't climb for a couple of years.
Fontainebleau - Rocher de la Salamandre Est - Diesel (gauche) 7A
We moved the pads to the other side of the boulder so Steven could try "Armani" which was opened as 7B, was adjusted to 7A+ and which I flashed on my last visit.
He started off promising, but lacked the last bit of power needed to make the hardest move.
I repeated it again on my first try. Even 7A+ is too high graded for this problem according to me.
Next up was something easier, "Da Vinci Code", a nice 6B+ next to "Tomahawk".
Romain, someone I sometimes run into in the forest, was trying "Tomahawk" and despite knowing that I was never able to barely get my ass off the ground, I decided to briefly join him.
To my surprise, I was able to lift myself up and make the first move to the pinch.
Then I even found another method by using a toehook far right to go for next hold.
I knew it was possible, pressed record and sent "Tomahawk" straight away.
Beautiful moves, but oh so hard first one!
Fontainebleau - Rocher de la Salamandre Est - Tomahawk 7A(7A+)
Immediately after "Tomahawk", I flashed "Da Vinci Code" and watched Steven top it out too. Nice effort!
Before moving to the "Biosarde" boulder, we stopped at the very nice 6C(7A), "Belle Pince" which I was able to repeat much easier than my first time.
Steven gave it some good tries but had to give in.
I offered Steven to stay over at my house so he could sleep in a real bed in a real room, which he probably needed, because he went to bed early.
It was nice to climb with Steven again after such a long time and I hope he will continue to come back to the forest.
He lost some power compared to a couple of years ago, but he still has it in him!
We had a lot of rain at the start of the week, and from Wednesday until today, I was traveling for work, so not much climbing.
I did go for a short climb right after I was back home in the late afternoon.
It was a long drive home and I felt tired, so the choice to go to Gorge au Châts seemed obvious. Barely five minutes driving and only a couple of minutes walking.
After finding the slopers of "Neige d'Automne" in very bad conditions (as good as wet), I walked towards the main area up the hill to check out the state of "La Caravane".
On my last couple of visits in the area, I had tried it a few times but was never able to stick the first slopey crimp far right.
The boulder looked moist and the crimp felt slippery, but I still sat down and gave it a few tries.
It all felt possible, but I didn't trust the humid condition of the holds and slopers above.
I was close to giving up, but then Peter (Collins) showed up. It's always nice to see Pete!
When he told me that he did "La Caravane" a couple of hours ago, I felt assured that the holds and slopers will not be in the worst condition.
Pete gave me some beta and a couple of tries later I made it to the top.
It never looked like the most appealing problem to me, but once I climbed it, it did feel totally worth the effort.
I left home quite early and the sun was shining, once past Le Vaudoué however, the sky turned grey and it was misty.
It didn't really matter, because I was going to the Mont Blanc area just behind the classical area of Eléphant. It's a small, almost hidden, sector with only a handful of boulders, but mostly in the open and quick drying.
The name comes from a big dune-like hill nearby. Being covered with white sand makes it look like a 'Mont Blanc'.
Definitely worth the detour when you're in the area.
About a year before the sector was published, Neil (Hart) had already showed it to me, so I knew my what to look for.
The boulders were all dry but not in the best conditions, as one would expect after a foggy night.
It was cold so I wanted to start immediately.
I wanted to start with "L'Envolée Tibétaine" to warm up my cold hands and fingers.
A jumpstart to a big crimp, take a tiny crimp right hand, heelhook, take the sidepull and mantle up.
It all connected and the send went on my flash attempt. I did see a video of it earlier this morning.
Fontainebleau - Mont Blanc - L'Envolée Tibétaine 7A+
The crimps and the sidepull were sharp though and the pain in my cold fingertips still lingered on for a few minutes.
You also really have to trust the left foot when getting up after the mantle. Scary topout somehow.
As soon as my hands were getting warmer again, the pain faded and I started trying the sitstart.
The sitstart doesn't add that much difficulty to it, but it does add some very nice moves.
It's much nicer than the jumpstart and actually also more logical.
I really enjoyed climbing this!
Fontainebleau - Mont Blanc - L'Envolée Tibétaine (assis) 7A+(7B)
The central boulder of the sector, is the one with "Le Homard / Bouddha Assis". An obvious prow of which the sitstart is 7B.
I had tried the standstart back in the day with Neil, but couldn't do it. Now I didn't get any further, so I quickly gave up on this one because I wanted to try the 7A+ on the other side of the boulder anyway.
I had looked at it with Neil, but there was nothing published and we couldn't really figure out where to start and where to end. It's also facing North, so probably it was wet.
Here also I had seen a video of it now, but as it's really morpho to go sideways and then up, I had to come up with my own method to be able to reach the right arete.
Second crux is holding on long enough to the very high slopey pocket and reaching for the better sidepull on the right.
In the end the topout requires some commitment.
Scary topout, but everything that comes before it makes it all worth it. I gave this 5 stars on bleau.info.
Felt more like a 7B for me though, probably due to the morpho part to it.
Fontainebleau - Mont Blanc - La Gaie Pierre 7A+
There are still a few problems that I want to try there, but I decided to home and work a bit in the garden and in the house.
On my way back to the car, I had to pass by the Eléphant area and I quickly stopped at "Sein de Glace".
Last week I briefly tried it with Pieter, but it was time to leave and we were all tired.
Only a couple of I tries now before it was done, but I had to be focussed until I had the jug high up.
It ain't over until it's over.
Fontainebleau - Eléphant - Sein de Glace 7A
Something else I quickly wanted to look at, was the recently opened dyno "Goodbye Mary Loup".
It's a high scary backward all-points-off dyno towards the big pocket in the roof of 31 black.
I doubted, but decided to try quickly anyway.
It took me a couple of tries before I dared to really jump and let go of my body, but as soon as I was able to reach the jug, I turned on the camera.
I jumped hard, grabbed the pocket, took a big expected swing, but then I realised that something was not good and had to let go.
The big swing had almost ripped my whole arm off!!
No, but it did take a big chunk of my skin though. I could have taped it, but I was on my way back to car anyway, so I went home.
It was 10 am when I started the long walk towards Rocher Fin. The forest was still covered by a thick fog, I was maybe too early, but I had to go to Paris to pick up my son Anthony in the Gare du Nord late afternoon.
Rocher Fin is not my favourite area. Not only because it's such a long walk, but I also don't like walking around in all that sand in the mean area.
With a thick fog like this, however, Rocher Fin probably was going to be my best chance to find some dry sandstone.
I didn't really have a plan, but I set my priority on trying "Matière et Mémoire", a small roof with a big morpho move. The grade 7B(7A) actually depends on your height.
On my lasts visits I had a look at it, but thought it would be too morpho, but a couple of days ago, I saw on a video that you can use the starting pocket as a footlock.
I wanted to try this beta and see where I would end up.
After a long walk, I was happily surprised that indeed most boulders were dry, despite the fog that still hung low between the trees.
The conditions were not to say good, but it was possible to climb.
I walked straight to "Matière et Mémoire", checked the status of the holds, opened the crashpad, pressed record and sent it on my second attempt.
It's a beautiful move, locking the foot so tight that you can actually let go of both hands, making it just possible to do the morpho move.
Great, fun little problem. Maybe underestimated.
Fontainebleau - Rocher Fin - Matière et Mémoire 7B(7A)
That was done much faster than I expected, and I still had plenty of time left, but no real plan anymore.
Than "Bull Dog" came to my mind.
I had tried this problem on each visit, but as I only come here when the other areas are most likely wet, I had never been able to try it in good conditions, so was never able to finish it.
The slopers on the left arete felt slippery, but I was able to pull it off quite fast. Maybe on my third try for this session.
It's a hard, physical problem and especially the last move involves some hard pulling on the biceps.
I only made it with my fingertips, but was able to hold on just long enough to be able to match my second hand.
Fontainebleau - Rocher Fin - Bull Dog 7A+
I got close to doing the sistart too, but each time lacked the last bit of power to stick the last move again.
I didn't want it to shut me down now already, so I moved over to "Les Serbes".
Pieter told me about it last weekend, and as I was in the area, I might as well give it a try.
Once opened as a 7B, now down to 7A+(7B) but it honestly felt like a (soft) 7A.
Fontainebleau - Rocher Fin - Les Serbes 7A+(7B)
More and more climbers started to arrive in the area, so I looked for some solitude in the North part of the sector where you can find for instance "Siège Ejectable".
Getting my butt off the ground and doing the first move were the hardest ... so they say.
It went down on second attempt.
Soft for the grade and not really worth the detour.
Fontainebleau - Rocher Fin - Siège Ejectable 7A
Another sector of Rocher Fin where it's usually calm, is the one with "L'Auvent Tripotant".
It's more located in the forest and thus doesn't dry as quick, so always found it too wet to climb.
I was astonished and pleased to find it dry enough to go for it this time.
The raccourci is a very nice problem with some very nice moves.
I flashed it, but I wouldn't mind to climb it again.
Fontainebleau - Rocher Fin - L'Auvent Tripotant (raccourci) 7A
The original version, "L'Auvent Tripotant", starts more to the right, traverses to the left and exits the same.
It took me a couple of tries to work out the movements at the start, because not all the holds were dry there.
Once I found my method, it went down like a charm. Some quite physical moves.
Fontainebleau - Rocher Fin - L'Auvent Tripotant 7B
Last, and certainly not least, to wrap up I walked towards the end of the blue circuit.
The last numbers of the blue circuit can be found down the slope in the forest, completely isolated from the main area.
The sitstart of blue number 50 is a 7B called "Parallèle / Fifty", and it is a beauty.
The top was moist and mossy, but after checking where the holds are, I gave it a go anyway.
This too was done on my second attempt.
Fontainebleau - Rocher Fin - Parallèle / Fifty 7B
All in all, despite the fog in the morning and the humid air, I was able to climb some really nice problems, and all of them went down fast.
Were they soft, was I just feeling strong ? It certainly weren't the conditions.
I had another day off today, but unfortunately it was dominated by rain showers.
Quite early this morning I was able to do a few tries in "Compresse Nez (droite)" in Apremont Envers until it started raining lightly.
I wanted to wait it out, but soon the sky became a darker grey and the rain gradually harder so I decided to go back home.
In my village, at barely 20km from there it apparently had rained much less and after doing some cleaning in the house, I went do Diplodocus hoping to find some dry sandstone.
In Diplodocus there are only 3 problems in the seventh grade, out of which a 7C, "Vir Desiderium".
Unfortunately, short light showers had kept everything a bit humid, and there where it looked dry, it was in no good conditions.
The far sloper of "Vir Desiderium" was wet, so I decided to repeat the dyno of "Dynosaure" for the fun of it.
The dyno is not as easy as the grade would want you to believe, but as I did this a couple of times already, it went fast.
Fontainebleau - Diplodocus - Dynosaure 6C
One of the other seventh grade problems, "Parade aux Hydes", also ends in the blue problem, just like "Dynosaure" does, but it sitstarts left under the yellow problem, traverses low to the right and exits in the bleu problem.
I couldn't do it the way Manuel (Marquès) does it in his video on bleau.info, but I did it with a dyno as for "Dynosaure".
Two different methods for actually the same line, but also two different grades according to me.
My method is 7A max and Manuel's method feels like hard 7A+.
I notified Jean-Pierre from bleau.info about this and for the time being I named my method "La Parade du Dynosaure" and graded it 7A, maybe even soft for the grade.
If you would consider the two different methods as a convention, then you can add another seventh grade problem to Diplodocus. The fourth.
Fontainebleau - Diplodocus - La Parade du Dynosaure 7A
