June 04, 2023 - A shady spot.

In the search for some shady climbing this morning, I decided to go to Boissy Le Goulot and passed by the Boissy aux Cailles graveyard first, suspecting that Jan (Gorrebeeck) had spent the night there and still was drinking his morning coffee. My suspicion was correct and Jan didn't need any convincing to join me to climb in Le Goulot.
After a short warmup, we turned to "La Morille", which I had tried already several times, but somehow never figured out the whole problem and unable to top it out. This morning though it all came quickly and I was finally able to top it out. Jan used had another method in mind and I even repeated it quickly doing what he had in mind, followed by Jan soon after.

Fontainebleau - Boissy Le Goulot - La Morille 7A

After a short break, we turned to "Ségovia", an ascending traverse that I had tried one session a month or two ago, but couldn't finish it off due to lack of energy, despite having done the problem in two overlapping parts.
We both did the topout first to make sure we didn't have to think about what to do when coming from the start, and unknowing what got it into me, I somehow was able to do the whole beauty barely ten minutes later. A really nice boulder with perfect texture and even with the heat of today very doable thanks for being in the shade all the time. It was a perfect shady spot. 
Even though Jan fell off the last crux a few times, he hadn't been able to finish it before I left, but as he mentioned that he still had another attempt in him after going to take a long break, I do hope that he was able to send it as well. It would be a deserved effort.

Fontainebleau - Boissy Le Goulot - Ségovia 7B+(7B)

June 03, 2023 - Evening stroll.

After a lousy late morning session where I had made a wrong choice going to the South facing sector of Montrouget, I still felt like climbing in the early evening and drove to Bois des Hauts de Milly to have some fun on the boulder of "La Boule à Frédo".
It started with an easy flash of "D'Œil et de Pif", which felt like easy 6C at most.

Fontainebleau - Bois des Hauts de Milly - D'Œil et de Pif 7A(6C+)

The right to left traverse "Les Farces de la Nature" needed two attempts, but with a long break in between them. The heat was on and I felt pumped after falling off near the end of my first attempt.

Fontainebleau - Bois des Hauts de Milly - Les Farces de la Nature 7A+(7B)

I then still tried the left to right traverse, but after falling off twice right after the last crux at the end, I was too pumped and didn't feel like taking another long break. It's something nice to come back for on an evening after work.

May 31, 2023 - Crowded in isolation.

Despite the heat, I was eager to go for a climb after work and try the recently published "La Boule à Frédo" in Bois des Hauts de Milly, a small isolated sector where I was certain to be on my own. That last statement couldn't be less true as there was a small crowd around the boulder and most of them were trying the problem that I came for. Not having an alternative in mind, I didn't let it come to me and asked if I could join them, which they luckily didn't mind. Some of them I had crossed paths with in the forest in the past, so we weren't complete strangers after all.
It became a fun short session with sharing ideas and supporting each other. It also helped being forced to take small rests in between attempts while the others were having their turn. As soon as I got a method figured out with help of the others, it didn't take long anymore to finish it off. Not having tried the topout before, the others' presence was more than welcome as it was thanks to them that I was able to finish after the crux. A nice problem, a friendly crowd and a short productive session.

Fontainebleau - Bois des Hauts de Milly - La Boule à Frédo 7C

May 29, 2023 - The real heroes.

When I left home this morning and drove to Apremont, I had no idea about the fire that struck the area yesterday and that people had to be evacuated away from the popular area (source). It came a bit as a surprise when I saw a few fire trucks at the buvette. As I was walking towards Apremont Portes du Désert and had to step aside for another fire truck passing by, I thought that there was a big exercise going on, because I couldn't see any smoke, but after passing a few other of them parked next to the path and big fire hoses going deep into the forest and up the hills, I suspected that there was something real going on. It was only when I arrived at the boulder of "Bulle de Distorsion" and could hear a lot of activity and even the sound of fire hoses spraying, that I realized the importance of it being real.
I could climb "Bulle de Distorsion" fairly quickly, but even though I could get from the sitstart into the stand, I couldn't keep enough friction, so I will have to go back for the sitstart one day, or maybe more.

Fontainebleau - Apremont Portes du Désert - Bulle de Distorsion 7B+

On my way back via the main area, I passed by "La Colonne Plinienne" and even though having done the standing start back in 2017, I had never bothered trying the sitstart. I needed some more time for it, but with the slopers being full in the sun, I had to pull harder than I remembered from 2017.

Fontainebleau - Apremont Portes du Désert - La Colonne Plinienne (assis) 7B(7B+)

On my way back to the car, I passed some fire trucks again and this time I had the chance to talk to some of the fire fighters who confirmed that they were still fighting a big fire that started yesterday. Luckily they had it under control now. They visibly appreciated me saying how profound my respect for them and their work is. At first they were reluctant when I asked to take a picture, but when I said that it was to be able to show my ten year old son and to tell him who the real heroes of the forest are, they had a big smile on their faces when they posed for the picture. I blurred out their faces for their privacy.

Some of the real heroes! (Faces intentionally blurred out for privacy)

May 27, 2023 - Equinox.

I had written down several boulders that I wanted to try at Rocher du Mauvais Passage, but I started off with the wrong ones and had trouble finding enough motivation to try hard enough. Somehow, I was only thinking about "Equinox (direct)", also on my list. Because it's such a nice boulder, I decided to pack up and move over to the boulder that kept going through my mind. I had already done "Equinox" and the extended version, so I knew that I could do the first part and focused on the direct exit first. As soon as I had the hang of it, it didn't long before doing the whole thing from the start. Really like this boulder!

Fontainebleau - Rocher du Mauvais Passage - Equinox (direct) 7B(7B+)

On my way back to the car, I stopped at the small sector with "Le Pan ne Suffit Pas" and was able to send it first go when I took a break from trying the much harder "Le Pan Mini (assis)".

Fontainebleau - Rocher du Mauvais Passage - Le Pan ne Suffit Pas 7A+

May 21, 2023 - Post key hold break.

I asked Anthony to drive me to Franchard Raymond so I could try "Etalonnage Physique" again. It's a quite hard and reachy problem that became even harder after a key hold broke back in 2018. What was once a pretty good four finger crimp had since become a bad shallow two finger crimp. I had tried "Etalonnage Physique" several times, before and after the hold broke, but even before the hold had broken, I had never managed to do the reachy last part of the problem, let alone after the hold broke. Located on the on the North side of the hill, just below the ridge, it's a slow drying boulder, but after a couple of days with beautiful weather, I thought I would take the chance.
The boulder was perfectly dry, but as the last registered repetitions were from 2018, before the hold broke, I had to start with brushing the upper part of the problem again. Nature tends to take over again faster on the North side.

I could the first part again immediately, but the upper and reachy part took a long time and many attempts before I had figured out what to do and how to position myself to be able to get to the final jug on the top. Funny enough, almost as if it was destined to happen, only after I had explained Anthony what my intention was and what I was trying to achieve, I suddenly managed to do the upper part. Knowing that the first part wasn't an issue, and knowing how to move at the end, I couldn't completely suppress some upcoming 'sending stress'. I did manage to keep my head with it and surprisingly topped out on my first attempt after putting up the camera. It might not look very hard on the video, but that one doesn't include the multiple sessions and many attempts before. Glad to finally tick off this beauty.

Fontainebleau - Franchard Raymond - Etalonnage Physique 7B+

May 19, 2023 - The Sharingan.

Unlike yesterday, I wanted to go for something harder today and gave me quite the treat with "Le Charingan" in Canche aux Merciers. It was a bit of a risk going to Canche aux Merciers on a long weekend like this, but I was early and just before the big crowd. Not a luxury, because when I left back home almost two hours later, the place was packed and cars were parked until far on the road.
I had noticed "Le Charingan" only last week and the compression style prow with bad slopers attracted me. My skin was worse than I expected from yesterday, but knowing that I won't have time for climbing tomorrow, I didn't care and decided to give it all I had left. I just didn't realize how extremely bad the slopers actually are and how difficult the topout is when you are not tall. The boulder completely wrecked my skin. Nevertheless, a very nice problem that suited my style and gave me a lot of work after all. Me swearing is not about failing on some attempts, but mostly because I was getting frustrated with the ever going growing crowds and I started to get desperate to leave. I was relieved that I could after topping out.

Fontainebleau - Canche aux Merciers - Le Charingan 7C

I was curious what "Le Charingan" actually means and apparently the term comes from the Manga series Naruto and describes the ability that allows a ninja to copy, by mere sight, their opponents’ techniques while gaining incredible reflexes and perceptive abilities. (Source)