Given that it is was wet this morning and more rain forecasted, I didn't expect to climb today, so started the day working in my barn that needs to be emptied for the concrete floor that will be built soon. It didn't rain anymore though and when the sky cleared out later in the afternoon and the surroundings were drying, I decided to take my chance anyway. I stayed close to home and went to the small area of La Grotte aux Fées. Lots of traverses there and many games on only a few boulders, but there are some straight ups and it was "Peter Pend" that attracted me the most. Arriving at the sector, I was amazed by the shapes of the boulders there which reminded me of a waves in an ocean. At first, I had some trouble getting past the first two moves traversing slightly to the left. When I finally found a method, I had more trouble in the roof as some of the small pockets were too humid to hold on to. I was forced to be creative and look for a method avoiding the pockets. Just like last week, I found a way going feet first. Doing the moves this way felt great and made me enjoy this line in that beautiful roof even more.
Fontainebleau - La Grotte aux Fées - Peter Pend 7B(7A+)
It rained as good as all day yesterday and there was no way for a chance of climbing, so I decided to scout the far end of Rocher de la Petite Reine instead. From all the boulders that I saw, there were a handful that I definitely wanted to try any time soon. No more rain this morning, but the sky was grey, and it was still mostly wet outside. It was a bit risky to already leave before 10 o'clock, like I did, but I wanted to go back to that far end of Rocher de la Petite Reine which is almost half an hour of walking. The closer I got to the area, the more hopeful I was. There was a mild breeze and most of the boulders that I passed on the way, didn't look very wet anymore at all.
"Tezcalipoca" was the boulder that I was most keen on trying, so I walked straight to that one, and was delighted to find it dry and even in pretty good conditions. The friction felt good and after doing some separate moves as a warmup, I sent it on my second attempt from the start. Slopers, compression and toehooks, this beauty really fit my style.
Fontainebleau - Rocher de la Petite Reine - Tezcalipoca 7A+
I thought that "La Mère aux Démocrates" would have been easier, but after fruitlessly trying to reach the high sloper right hand, I almost gave up. That right hand move to the far sloper felt way too morpho and I didn't even get close. Jokingly, I told myself to maybe try and go feet first, but the joke turned into real business when I tried it and felt that it might even be possible. A little while later, I had done all the moves, except for the topout, which turned out to be another crux. I decided to give it some real attempts anyway. It still took some time, but when I finally made to the hard topout, I didn't want to let go anymore and buried a tiny sharp crimp deep into the skin of my fingertips and surprisingly topped out. This one felt really hard and felt like at least a hard 7B, maybe even 7B+.
Fontainebleau - Rocher de la Petite Reine - La Mère aux Démocrates 7A+
"La Mère aux Socialistes" on the other hand, felt much less hard and I only needed two attempts. Maybe high end 7A+.
Fontainebleau - Rocher de la Petite Reine - La Mère aux Socialistes 7B
Yesterday I went to Restant du Long Rocher Ouest and spent almost four hours trying the isolated and beautiful "La Ruche". I was able to do the standing start and get passed that the stand when coming from the sitstart, but despite taking long breaks in between three or four attempts, wasn't able to finish it off ... yet. My body felt sore this morning, so today had to be something less hard. Looking for solitude, I left early to Boissy Le Plaid and warmed with "Expansion", which felt on the harder edge of the grade.
Fontainebleau - Boissy Le Plaid - Expansion 7A
I wasn't sure about the start of "Double Vision", and I didn't have reception to be able to watch Fred's video, so in fear of doing something completely wrong, I moved over the logical looking "Roque". It's a bit morpho, but after carefully working out the moves, I finished it on my second attempt from the start. A really nice line, with very cool and delicate moves.
Fontainebleau - Boissy Le Plaid - Roque 7B
I finished my session with trying "La Faufilade" again and this time, I found a better method for the topout. I could now do the problem in two overlapping parts, but nevertheless, lacked the energy to finish it when coming from the start.
As it's my birthday today, I wanted to get a present for myself and went to the S'Cape climbing shop in Fontainebleau for a new pair of climbing shoes. I actually simply needed new climbing shoes for a while already, but today felt like a good occasion, using the excuse to buy something for myself. Being nearby, I decided to go for a climb in Roche d'Hercule afterwards. I was almost convinced that I had already done "Rince-Mi", but I must have been dreaming because it wasn't on my ticklist. Anyway, it was a good excuse to climb a bit in the beautiful and popular low roof. "Rince-Mi" only took two attempts and was a good warmup for trying the longer version next.
I took the time to work out the first part of "Rince-Mi (rallongé)". There are many pockets in this roof, some bad, some better, so it's easy to make mistakes and start off doing a wrong sequence to arrive comfortably at the end. As soon as I had figured out the method and had the moves dialed, I kept messing up at the very end, making me feel more pumped after each attempt. It was a grey sky, but it was very warm, and it felt like there was a lot of pressure in the air, making me sweat a lot, which didn't quite help with the recovery process between attempts. After a longer rest and slightly changing method at the end, I finally made my way to the top. They didn't have to ask me to do that again.
I have taken the day off today and tomorrow and I had planned to go to the otherwise weekend-crowded Apremont Est area to try "Onde de Choc (accroupi)", the crouching of start of "Onde de Choc". Having done the regular standing start already six years ago, I couldn't remember the details of the beta, so I started practicing the first few moves of the standing start first. As I had no reception, I couldn't even watch the video of my own beta, but it all came back pretty quickly. It didn't come as a shock when barely half an hour after arriving at the boulder, I already topped "Onde de Choc" from the crouching start. It only adds a small 'plus' to the grade, but it is there.
Fontainebleau - Apremont Est - Onde de Choc (accroupi) 7B+
After a week with a lot of rain, the conditions didn't look very good when I was walking with Pieter towards Franchard Sablons Carriers, but on the top of the hill, it was dry enough to climb and I warmed up with a flash repeat of the 6C+(7A) "Le Toit de l'Abri-Bivouac", a nice little roof that I flashed back in 2018 as well. Pieter did it soon after a couple of attempts more. Unfortunately, not much later, it started raining long and hard enough to make everything soaking wet. We kept busy doing moves in a few overhangs that had stayed dry, but knowing that nothing could be topped didn't quite boost the motivation; on the contrary.
Looking at the pictures of "La Roche qui Tremble" in Vallée Casse-Pot, it seemed like a quick drying boulder, and as it contains quite some problems, we decided to go there today. We warmed up with "Bisteak (direct)", which we both flashed with relative ease.
Immediately after, we both also flashed "Bisteak".
Fontainebleau - Vallée Casse-Pot - Bisteak 7A+
We couldn't work ourselves through "Le Dos du Requin (direct)", but I did get away with a quick ascent of "Le Dos du Requin (assis)".
Fontainebleau - Vallée Casse-Pot - Le Dos du Requin (assis) 6C+
Moving to the other side boulder, Pieter flashed "La Roche qui Tremble (droite)", immediately followed by me, also with a flash.
Fontainebleau - Vallée Casse-Pot - La Roche qui Tremble (droite) 7A+
After a short break, we had some discussion about how the line of "La Bouche du Requin" went, and we quickly agreed to stay low going to the left, to then finish on the prow. I checked out the first move and then finished it on my first attempt.
Fontainebleau - Vallée Casse-Pot - La Bouche du Requin 7A+
Pieter had some difficulties with "La Bouche du Requin" and while he was taking a break after a few attempts, I took the occasion to try the traverse "Utinam Remora" and got away with the flash there too.
I ended with showing Pieter the moves again and repeating "La Bouche du Requin", after which he climbed up to the prow, was lying on it with his belly, but still came out after having given it his last bits of energy. That was close, but no cigar.
I hadn't planned to go back again to Videlles 'lAbattoir today, but as I trimmed a lot in the garden yesterday afternoon, I had to take the bags with trimmings to the green waste disposal in Moigny-sur-Ecole. Videlles being next to it and desiring a solitary climb, I figured it was an obvious choice. I hadn't been to the boulder with "Roudor" yet, but decided to spend some time looking for it and hopefully do some attempts. The forest in Videlles is beautiful and peaceful and while enjoying the walk uphill, I noticed the boulder suddenly at about ten meters from the path. Expecting it closer to the top of the hill, it was a pleasant coincidence that I happened to look in the boulder's direction. Carefully inspecting the holds, I noticed that the starting hold for the left hand broke some time ago. I didn't know how it looked like before the break, but it definitely looked like a substantial piece had broken off and I was wondering that maybe that was the reason why all of the three registered repeaters rated it 7B+ instead of the originally proposed 7B. Looking at the other hard looking holds, I reasoned that the best approach would be to work out the moves separately, which turned out to be a good decision. It took some time before I was able to lift my butt off the ground, let alone doing the first move to a far small crimp. Even when I was finally able to it, it wasn't a move that I could every time, it had to be dead on and there was no margin for correction. For the other moves, it took a while before I even could find a possible working method, and I came to realize that every move from beginning to end was hard. Only after I was finally able to do the problem in two overlapping parts, I started making real attempts from the start.
It was a big fight and a hard battle and I came close to giving up when my skin started to burn and felt more painful after each attempt, but then suddenly, it all came together. I was glad that I had also practiced the topout of "Roudor", because it isn't over until it's completely over with this one. Taking a needed and deserved break after topping out, I thought about it and I have to agree with the previous repeaters for 100%. This is definitely harder than 7B, possibly even hard edge 7B+!
