Episode 20: Two months of Bleau (slabs excluded)

These past months I have been to Font' very often and my sessions have been quite prolific.

In September and after an intense month of sports climbing in Spain (the story of that trip is coming up soon), both my knees and some of my fingers were in bad condition so I slowed down for a couple of weeks. In addition, weather conditions were not ideal.

On September 23 and accompanied by friends, I went back to Rocher Canon for Rocking-Chair (7A). I had tried it on another occasion and had fallen towards the end. This time, I sent it twice in a row (the second time to film it). I really enjoyed this problem. After sending it and while spotting my friends, I worked on the longer version of  Lévitation (7A+), Vagabond des Limbes (7B). I sent the second part without significant effort so linking should be possible.

Note: a big, big thanks to Marion Oberli for filming me!

We finished the day in Styrax assis (7B). I had almost sent it on my second attempt in spring but it had rained a few minutes after my flash attempt and the final slopers were wet. This time, the slopers were very greasy and things didn't look good. Even the sitstart was giving me trouble. The hard part of this problem is its height: you can't afford falling from the top thus going for it without being 100% sure is rather frightening. After getting the sitstart, I went for it and topped it around 7 p.m. and with little sunlight (the video below has been edited). Three minutes after the sent, we couldn't even see the first holds.

A week later, I went to Apremont Envers to finally do the first ascent of my 7B/+ project (the sitstart version of a 7A) as well as to send Welcome to Tijuana (7C) and its 7B version (Clandestino). As far as my project is concerned, I had tried the move back in May and June. I had been able to reach the hold many times but was too afraid to crimp the aggressive two-finger hole. This time and after 15 tries, I decided to look for a different beta. I scanned the rock for other holds but could not find anything! My desperation finally made me realise that there was a tiny, slopy crimp that is actually a foot hold. I thus decomposed the hard move of the previous beta into two distinct moves. By the time I had sent the first moves, I was too tired to link. I've since been back to that project at least four times and that slopy crimp is always wet :-) I think it will be my birthday present (January 10).

I tried Tijuana again but could not figure out the last move. In June, I had found a great beta but later deleted the video and could no longer remember the correct sequence. What an idiot... Plus, the slopers were humid. I will have to wait for Christmas, when the humidity goes down.
Since I was not alone, I repeated two 7A's and then tried a recent project, Striés Guidés gauche (7A). There is only one hard move: going from a huge undercling to a jug far away with the left hand. It fell after a few tries.

A week later, I went back to Envers to link my project but once again, it was wet. I have been very unlucky with this boulder. I got grumpy and pessimistic but after climbing the first part of the red circuit, I headed for Apremont. To my surprise, I stumbled upon some friends and we started working on Onde de Choc (7B). I almost sent it but for the last move, I used a beta meant for taller climbers. I thought I could get it like that but it was an obvious mistake.

After that, I tried Tailler en Pièce (6C+/7A) three meters to the right of Onde. It took me about 5 tries. You dyno to a mediocre sloper and then get your left foot very, very high. It's all about abs. Nice little problem.

At the end of October, I had 10 days off. Thanks to quasi-perfect weather conditions, I made the most of it and climbed for ten straight days. To get motivated, I set for myself a nice little challenge: to climb fifty 7As. I knew it was possible. When I climb alone, problems fall very quickly; when in company, you wait for the others to finih, you chat a lot so the rhythm is slower. But it is a matter of perspective. I prefer having a great time and sending fewer boulders; climbing is a social event, after all. My idea was to only visit new areas and send at least five 7A's a day and then locate new projects around 7C-8A.

Day 1: the Cassepot area. It is a wild sector with sparse boulders everywhere and easy to get lost in. After wandering for two precious hours in Cassepot Roches Roses, I moved to Cassepot Roches Oranges. The topo of the area is much clearer and I found my way easily.

First problem: Le Logis Ciel (7A). An intriguing problem with original moves. It took me 20 minutes. I had to warm up on it so I took my time. As soon as I got the second move, I went to the top but made a mistake and topped 50 cms too far to the right. On my next try, I was able to stay within the (invisible) line.

Second problem: Plein Ciel assis (7A), 3-4 meters to the left of Le Logis Ciel. This was really, really tricky. The exit is at 4 meters from the ground with a tough move and I only had a small pad and no spotter. My crashpad would suffice for the exit but I needed it for the sitstart. I first sent the second half of the problem twice in order to avoid any surprises and get confident enough to repeat it without a pad. The sitstart was a pain in the butt (literally). I could not reach the first hold so I used the pad. That only helped by little: I could now reach one hold with two fingers so I folded the pad. The good parts of the holds were still far away but I could at least lift myself from the ground and dyno to a better hold. But by folding the pad, I was taking a risk: falling on any of the first 4-5 moves meant crashing against a flat rock. Which is what happened. During my first attempt of linking, I made a dumb mistake and dynoed and I crashed with my lower back and my left thumb against the rock. After cussing for a minute or two, I got back into position and sent it. The pain and the bruise stayed around for quite a while. I haven't finished the montage of the send so here's me falling on my ass.

After trying a beautiful but wet 7B, I moved to Vol à la Tire (7A) but it started raining. I was hoping it would stop and stayed around under a roof but within 5 minutes, everything was soaked. The next day the rain came back so I hit the gym.

Day 3: The temptation of sending old projects made me abandon my original plan of visiting new sectors and led me to Cuvier Rempart. I had visited the sector once before but everything was too damn difficult. Really not my style of climbing so I hadn't been back for a year or so. After a loooong warm-up, we went up the hill and found Les Médisances (7A+). This boulder offers two problems, the other being the reachy Controverse (7A).  The sitstart for Les Médisances was one of the best and most technical ones I have done: right foot very far, a flag with your left foot, right arm lock and go!

About 15 meters to the left, there was C'est tes Deux Pieds (7A). I honestly don't even know if I enjoyed this boulder because it was very high (7-8 meters) and I had to disconnect my brain. After two silly falls on the fourth move, I got the move right and then the adventure started. I was 3 meters from the ground and had to grab an almost invisible crimp while getting a barn door. After that... surprise! The next 3 meters were covered with lichen. There was no way I could jump because a rock was waiting for me on the ground. I just turned off my brain and went for it. The toughest part was switching feet. I could not see the hold my right foot was on so matching was risky. Albeit the risk, I like this kind of boulders; they teach me how to stay calm under pressure.

After that, I tried a scary, scary 6B a few meters away. The entire six-meter boulder was covered with moss. I just had to test my nerves and flash it.

Day 4: Cuvier. After sending La Chicorée (see previous post on slabs), I tried La Joker (7A), a classic problem. I sent it on my second attempt. Instead of getting a right hand shoulder and then crossing with the left hand, I preferred getting the right hand shoulder, matching with left hand on a small vertical crack then getting the next hold with the right hand. I highly recommend this boulder.

Seeing many people in front of La Marie-Rose (6A) made me want to send it again. I sent it three times, each time with a different beta. This is how my idea of preparing a video of 20+1 betas for La Marie-Rose was born. I will have to go back and come up with new betas. I have come up with another three or four choreographies.

Day 5: Cuvier again. After a very long warm up, I started moving around to find my first project for the day. I was lucky enough to stumble upon a cool German guy who was working on La Conque à Doigt (7A) and joined him. After a few attempts using my previous beta, I knew I had to change something. I went for the sloper with my right hand, got my right foot to the right and trusted that my hand would not slip. When I finally sent the move, it just felt right.

We spent the rest of that cool session on La Rhume Folle (7A, 5 meters high and very reachy) and Banlieue Nord direct (7A). I had already sent the latter in 2013 but I had to repeat it since I was planning on working on the longer version (7B+).

Day 6: the day started with L'Épaule, a beautiful 7A/+ slab. The key hold was wet therefore after an hour, I accepted the inevitable and moved to Apremont Envers. And yes, you guessed it right: my project was wet once again, even though it had not rained for days. After going through the whole "Why Mother Nature, why? What have I done to deserve this?!?!?!?! I am treating you with the utmost respect, why don't you let me have a little bit of fun?" emotional roller coaster, I decided to try the sitstart version of Le Soupir du Menuisier (6A), about a hundred meters away. I was heading down the hill when I heard a loud thump-thump noise. It was coming closer and closer. I got wary and excited at the same time because I knew what it was: a wild boar! It was running towards me, then heard me walk and hid behind some bushes. It was now standing between me and my project. I was so eager to send that line... but wild boars are 80-100 kilograms of pure muscle! They are fearful creatures but messing with them is simply stupid. But nothing was stopping me. I got my climbing stuff and camera and headed towards my project. I was not letting that boar trump my spirit. It heard me coming and ran away.

Anyway, I had discovered that boulder while sending the red circuit a few weeks earlier and the sitstart looked cool. There was a LOT of chalk on the first holds so I knew it was not going to be a first ascent but who cares? The first move is physical: you start with two nasty crimps and a lousy left foot hold, you do a pull up and dyno to an unpleasant but good crimp. It took me less than an hour. I loved this problem. It am hoping it will soon appear on bleau.info.

I headed for Exit (7B). Back in June, I sent the traverse part without pushing too hard but the top out simply seemed impossible. I could not understand the move. As I was approaching the boulder, I recognised a familiar figure: Tony Fouchereau, a very prolific first ascender with more than 800 FA's under his belt. After breaking the ice, we started chatting. He was working on the same traverse but in the opposite direction (left-to-right). We both worked on our projects for about two hours, got very close to sending them but failed. For some reason, I sent the exit on my first try without breaking a sweat but could not get the end of the traverse. I was trying to get an undercling with my left hand and then cross to a crimp with my right hand. I had done this move so easily in June! I found a new beta with a move that, by itself, should be around 7B. It took me more than ten tries just for this move. And every time, it was haphazard. Very technical but even more physical.

Day 7: Although it wasn't about to rain, I hit the gym to get my moral up. I had a great work out session, saw some friends and recharged my batteries. Sometimes, failure can get in your head and you need good company and a change of scenery to power through it.

Day 8: back to Apremont Envers. I needed to finish Exit. I was happy to find Tony and his friends working on their projects and got extra motivated. Exit fell within the first attempts. The battery of the camera went off seconds before the send so I tried to send it again. I was confident (too confident, to be honest) I could do it again. I cruised through the traverse, got the last crux and thought it was over. That's when I got distracted and fell on a silly move; a precious lesson for the future.

After the linking, Tony suggested a new project, La Fin d'Exit assis (6C+/7A). He could not send it himself because he is too tall for the top-out. I flashed it since I knew the moves.

Tony did not mind that I work on his project. I did not want to get the first ascent, it was his project. We kept going at it for more than an hour and both fell on the last move twice in a row. It got frustrating. The funny part was the huge difference in our betas. He was doing the traverse in 4-5 moves, it took me 10. After the guys left, I took a 20-minute break, concentrated all my energy into my project and put everything in my first try. I fell on the last move again! Second attempt... badaboum!!! In the video, the moves seem very easy but it is certainly not the case. We both agreed that 7B/+ was the appropriate grade.

Day 9: Apremont. After sending Lamentations and Le Mur des Lamentations, we moved to the Onde de Choc sector. First project: Tango Triste assis (6C+/7A). I love sitstarts so my sending this in 3-4 tries was not a surprise. You start with two hands in an undercling and pull yourself up. It takes a lot of power but it is mostly technical. You need to turn your body in a certain way in order to get the most out of that undercling.

Fosse Ailleurs (7A+) fell very quickly. I tried one beta that seemed very hard and then knew what was to be done. It took me three tries I think. The crux is one of my specialties (shoulder + arm locking) so it was a piece of cake. The beginning, however, was a bit tricky. The first holds were too far, which added an extra two moves.

Day 10: Isatis! The forecast was not very optimistic but we gave it a try. I started my day with Les Inverses (Traversée de Composition des Forces) (7A). This problem was a delight. Underclings, underclings and then a beautiful top out. My beta for the traverse part was very hard. I would get it right every time but it would wear me out for the second part. A new beta was suggested to me, which made things easier. After 10 tries, I found a clean beta for the second part and linked minutes later.

We all were psyched to get on with our projects when it suddenly started to rain :-( We waited for a while just in case but to no avail. Everything was wet except... the first part of Iceberg raccourci assis (7B+/C). I had sent the standing version 16-17 months earlier and had almost sent the first part within a few tries. This time, I was able to link the first part within 20 minutes maybe. I will have to wait for the right conditions to finish this problem.

A week later, I visited Gorge aux Châts. Being accompanied by friends, I didn't have the chance to try out as many projects as I wanted.

La Grève des Nains assis (7A) is difficult to grade. After a fluid sitstart, you get a morpho move: an undercling with both hands, then cross with the right hand to a crimp. I might be able to dyno to the crimp. I sent the boulder by using a ledge on the right (only the jug on the ledge is forbidden). Even with this ledge, it still seemed like a 7A and definitely harder than the two problems hereafter. I will have to send it again because my beta didn't feel right, especially the second part.

It takes more strength than technique to send Sa Pelle au Logis (7A). Nice boulder but too easy for me. I played around by introducing eliminants on the right (the entire arête); that version would be around 7A+. I sent the classic version very easily.

Variaspal (7A) is a variant of Sa Pelle au Logis. It felt more like a 6B.

November went away too fast. Rain and humidity settled so I didn't visit Font' as much as I wanted. I was lucky enough, though, to spend the last weekend of the month in the forest. We even slept there.

Saturday was all about 95.2. The main projects of the day were Indestructible (7A+) and Rudeboy (7A). Indestructible is a really cool prow that I had been wanting to try for a long time but never had the chance. It took me about an hour to get all the moves. The hard move, however, was random at best: right hand on the arête, left hand on an unpleasant crimp, left heel hook on a slopy ledge and a right toe hook on the arête. That left heel hook gave me a hard time. As soon as I got it right, I tried to link. As you can see in the video, I did the hard part but then gave up because after the crux, my foot slipped and slightly touched the crashpad. Damn ethics!

Rudeboy was a nightmare. I spent more than 90 minutes and 50-60 tries and it did not budge. I finally found the right beta up until the top out yet that last move was indecipherable, I was too exhausted (physically and, above all, mentally) to give it any more tries.
While spotting our friend, I sent Duel dans la Lune (6C), the left variant of Rudeboy. Apart from the swing, the rest of the moves were rather easy.

The next morning, I woke up around 10 a.m. and did not feel like climbing. Too bloody cold. After a sugar-packed breakfast, I followed the guys to Cul de Chien. My moral was at its lowest. We had been promised a sunny day and at noon, the sun was yet to appear. I started working on the red circuit and felt very weak in the beginning; after three or four boulders, though, I got motivated and was ready to try the main dish of the day: Le Toit du Cul de Chien (7A), a major Font' classic. I struggled getting my left heel hook on the ledge because I was using the wrong hold for the right foot. After observing another guy that joined us, I tried another foot hold and it worked immediately. I gave it a real try and fell on the dyno. The next attempt worked.

On our way back to the car and amidst complete darkness, Jaume suggested we try Extraction Terrestre (7A+), a nice little "prow". After studying the holds, I thought Jaume's beta was too reachy for me and came up with a new one. Curious enough, I gave the crux a go: it worked like a charm and I topped it. On my second try, I linked the whole problem (the first part is ridiculously easy). Given the complete darkness, I was not able to film but next time I walk by, I will.
While exploring the forest, I stumbled upon these formations (I think they are mushrooms) which I found fascinating.

The rest of December seems very gloomy and I will only be visiting Font' in my dreams. That's the great things about objects of obsession: you carry them with you all the time :-) My goal to reach 150 boulders in the 7th degree by December 31 (I am at 140+) is within my reach. I only need two rainless days... Come on, I am not asking for that much! Let this be my Christmas gift. I won't ask for anything more, I promise. Santa, can you hear me?