Five Tips for a Climbing in Fontainebleau

As anyone that has been to Font can tell you, it's a magical place and the best bouldering in the world (I stand behind that statement). I think this was my 10^th trip to Font and while I'm far from fully versed on all-things-Font, I feel I've learned a thing or two over the years and thought I'd share a few tips for anyone planning a trip to the magical forest. So in no particular order here are my top 5 tips to optimize your trip to Font.

Bring an umbrella. The weather in Font can be notoriously bad and if your trip coincides with a rainy spell you'll want to utilize every weather window available. That means you'll be among the hoards of desperate climbers flocking to the rocks when the rain stops and subsequently running for cover when the showers return. A good umbrella and/or small tarp will be your new best friend as they will keep you dry during short showers or day ending rains. It can also be wise to use the tarp and fashion a little roof in anticipation of the rain and it can even be used to keep the top-out of your project from being saturate. It is worth noting that you can't count on hunkering under a roof as they can be overcrowded and substantial rains will have streams of water gradually encroaching on your cover until there is no more shelter.  It is no fun to pack wet gear into your car and even worse if you're camping with a crashpad doubling as your bed. Hopefully you'll have good weather but if you draw the short straw then do yourself a favor and get an umbrella.

It could be worse, at least they have an umbrella.

Learn how to poop in the woods. Don't you just love it when you are exploring around the boulders and encounter a minefield of human feces. Yeah, neither do I so please be considerate and learn how to poop in the woods. If you don't know let me break it down for you. Take a long walk far away from trafficked areas (not just behind the first boulder or tree) and find a suitable place to dig a sufficient sized hole. Ideally you wouldn't leave behind toilet paper by using what nature provides (moss, smooth sticks, rocks, etc) or packing it out but the bare minimum is to bury it with the poop. After you do your business someone should be able to walk by without even knowing what just transpired there. Seriously, why is this hard for so many people. The ground is not that hard and a stick can easily be used. I could go on ranting but I'll leave it by saying there is never an excuse for leaving your shit for someone to step in and your toilet paper to be blown to the wind. If you have to poop in the woods learn to do it properly and everyone will have a better time in Fontainebleau.

Don't go to Bas Cuvier on a weekend. It can be nice to bump into other climbers at the boulders but it can be a bit much when you have to take a number just to try a problem. Under normal conditions you can expect the popular areas ( Bas Cuvier, Sabot, Isatis, etc..) to be busy but during European holidays and weekends they can feel just like Disneyland as you'll spend most of your day waiting in lines to get on the more popular rides. Fortunately there are multitudes of less popular areas that are equally as good and offer the perfect place to spend your weekends. And if you simply must try one of the uber classics in the middle of Bas Cuvier go early in the morning and you'll have the place to yourself, or wait until the evening we things tend to die down.

Henrik trying an awesome problem that we stumbled upon while exploring the boulders around Rocher d'Avon one Saturday.  No crowds to deal with, just sweet sweet sandstone. 

Forget your tick-list. Font is the one place I've been that genuinely has loads of amazing problems across the entire grade spectrum and I pity those that are slaves to their predesignated tick-lists. With so many stunning problems the idea of spending several days trying to do a single one just seems crazy to me. Yes, you should seek out those classics that will challenge you but I've seen folks so hellbent on sending a V-blahblah project that their whole trip is spent climbing on a handful of problems. What makes Font special is the ability to run around and do so many great problems one after the other and if it's your first trip to Font you'd be cheating yourself by even going to the same area over and over. So dump the tick-list and try to visit as many of the more than 100 areas as you can. And if you really want to appreciate Font I highly recommend doing some curcuits. You'll do tons of great problems, see the whole area and become a better climber. 

Henrik and Lina learning the subtleties of climbing in Font.  Both these problems are on red circuits, awesome, and unlikely to stroke the ego of number-chasers.  

Drink wine and eat cheese. While you might be in Font to climb on rocks don't forget that you are in France and should take advantage of being a tourist. A day trip (or two?) to Paris is probably in order and there is no better way to start your day than picking up some fresh bread from your local boulangerie. Personally, my wine and cheese consumption goes through the roof but there are lots of ways to embrace your inner Frenchman/woman. Just don't take it too far because despite what your mom says you can't quite pull off the pencil mustache and beret. 

Now get out there and start planning you next trip.....  

Fontainebleau: Bouldering Fun for Everyone

We've just returned from a short trip to Fontainebleau and while the weather was pretty bad during our stay we still managed to get out a bit and have a good time.  Man I love Font and I can't wait to go back.  The place is generally given the distinction as the best bouldering in the world and I wholeheartedly agree.  The setting is awesome and it is hard to beat for quantity, quality and accessibility but what really sets Font apart is its appeal to the entire spectrum of climbers.  Not only is Font great for beginners and crushers but the awesome sandstone features make the ideal playground for kids.  Truly great bouldering for everyone.  

Just a typical day in the forest.  Font is hard to beat if you got kids in tow as the approaches are casual and most areas are extremely kid friendly.  And of course the bouldering offers something for mom, dad, big sister and even the little man.

Lina climbs a sweet slab in Canche aux Merciers while Björke tick-marks some footholds.  

Martin working L'Étoile Filante at Dame Jouanne.  Just another problem problem that would be considered amazing in most places but in Font it is only "pretty good".  It's certainly worth checking out after you've done the dozen or so better problems in the area.....  

Rêve de Pierre was a sweet looking problem in Rocher Canon that Henrik and I checked out during a short break in the rain.  While this problem was fun there is a skull crushing block at the top that should be avoided at all costs.  It isn't too hard to avoid but it makes top a bit harder.  I really feel that someone should pry off that thing before it kills someone.  

Lina about to fire one of the problems on Éléphant's fantastic black circuit.  Unfortunately Éléphant is a bit rundown as the rock is softer than most other areas around Font and heavy traffic has pretty much destroyed some problems.  

I'm a big fan of doing circuits while in Font and if you find yourself in Roche aux Sabots the red circuit is awesome.  But if you want to complete the circuit you'll have to get past L'Angle à Jean-Luc (red 25), which is notorious for leaving folks one problem short.

La Lune was an old project for Lina and while she did get the "jug" this trip it still remains a project.  Guess we'll have to go back....

If you like dynos they you'll love Font as there are plenty of them.  Here Henrik fires Le Danseur at Rocher d'Avon. 

Many of the climbs in Font are so good I can't help but want to repeat them.  I had done La Memel a number of years ago but it was just as good a second time.  Here is Henrik gunning for it.

Many people like Font for the good landings and the low to moderate height of problems but there are no shortage of highballs if you like things spicy.  Tom trying to find the balance on the beautiful L'Ultime Secret at Isatis.   

And of course there are the sloper, oh so many slopers.  Elsa learning the subtleties of a particularly sweet sloper in Isatis.  

A Near Wobbler in Font

When I was in Font during March I kind of forced Chris to get back on L'Hélicoptère because I thought it would be fun to film.  I figured I'd do something with that footage and here is what I ended up with.  Thanks to Chris for being a good sport.  Next time Chris, next time. 

Two Weeks in Font: The Movie

Here is the finished Fontainebleau video.  As with most of the longer videos I learned a lot while making it.  Hopefully future projects will benefit from what I've learned and my videos will continue to improve.

I may throw together another short video of extra footage from the trip but we'll see if that ever happens.  There is always the Teaser if you want to see a little more and happened to miss it.

Enjoy.

The Font Trip: A Teaser

I'm an currently on Åland, the Finnish islands off Sweden's east coast, taking a holiday with the family and checking out the bouldering.  There will certainly be some posts about Åland in the near future but for now here is a teaser from the Font trip we took in March.  The full video should be done in a week or two.  

A Few more from Font

Here are a few more pictures from Fontainebleau.

Luke on the beautiful L'Étrave in J. A. Martin

Le Yaniro in 95.2 was one of the coolest problems I did.  The only time I've used a figure-4 for more than a party trick, and I removed my left shoe (like Luke in the picture) to help un-pretzel myself.   

Lars on Rocher Canon's best problem (in my opinion), La Théorie du Chaos.

Due to exploding elbows and some decree of restraint Luke and Chris actually rested but still found themselves out at the boulders supporting their obsessive friend (that would be me).  They humored me by going back to things after we had packed and got a taste of what Lina has to live with.  Thanks heaps.

Dosage in Buthiers was one that it paid off to drag my friends back too.  Last minute sends are always sweet.

Font Photo Dump: Classics

While there are thousands of climbs in Fontainebleau some gain a bit more notoriety due to quality, history or something else.  These are the "classics" that draw crowds and become the sought after ticks.  Here are a few pictures of some of Fonts well known problems.

 Lars on El Poussah in Franchard Isatis

Lina on ego-crusher L'Angle à Jean-Luc (red 25) in Roche aux Sabot

 Emil on La Baleine in Petit Bois

 Luke on Sale Gosse in Roche aux Sabot

 Daniel working Big Boss in Cuvier Rempart

Luke wishing it was colder on Fourmis Rouges, Cuvier Rempart

Chris on Lady Big Claques, Buthiers

Égoïste, Apremont

Melissa on Science Friction in Apremont

The Font Wrap-up

I'm back in Sweden just in time for the perfect Spring temps but I thought I wound do a proper Fontainebleau wrap-up before the Sweden posts begin.

So it really is hard to grasp how much climbing there is around Fontainebleau.  If you were to visit just one area a day from the 7s and 8s guide it would take close to three months of climbing everyday before you'd see them all.  That's how much Font has to offer and it is far from tapped out for those willing to explore.  I like to keep that in mind when I go to Font, leaving project lists and  heightened expectations of crushing V-blahblahblah at home.

I feel there are too many great boulder problems in Font to spend days projecting just one when you would be missing out on so many equally amazing climbs.  I prefer to roll on Font time, which means I climb everyday possible, trying to see as much as I can and scrape up problems with difficulty corresponding to number of days on.  I find this schedule only works in a place with abundant 3 star problems of all difficulties and enough areas to make your head spin.

I pretty much count on Font's notoriously bad weather to force me to rest but this trip the weather was almost too good as it allowed me to climb 13 of 14 days.  Everyday we went to a new area and it was only on the last day that I even ventured to the extremely popular Bas Cuvier just because it seems odd not to go there at some point (it is far from my favorite area and the reason, I believe, some visiting climbers can come away with a less than ideal opinion of Font).  The amazing thing about this trip is that my tips didn't bleed (lots of tape was the key), my elbows didn't totally explode (just kind of) and I somehow managed to pull off some good sends nearly everyday.

It was nice to have spent a good amount of time in Font before (around two months) so I could be a little selective and save some skin but my gite mates (Luke, Chris and Oscar) were not so lucky.  For a little taste of how it is going for them check out Lukes blog, koanbouldering.com.

To sum-up, Font was great.  There was lot and lots of climbing but is it was the company that made the trip what it was.  My friends were huge, from booking the gite and making room in the car to following me aimlessly through the woods and baby sitting Hammie.  My friends are heroes.  Seriously,  thanks to everyone for hanging with Hammie and putting up with my need to climb all day everyday.  What would a neglegent father do without you guys.  Actually, I'm surprised Luke, Chris and Oscar didn't keep Hammie and kick me out of the gite, but I'm sure my willingness to change diapers had something to do with it.

Here are a few more pictures from the trip

 Hammie making tick-marks on her project.  I'm sure the Bleausards love this.

 Luke hopes that whispering sweet nothing will make the rock more forgiving 

 The super classic Égoïste in Apremont

 Justin fires Onde de Choc in Apremont

 Chis roof climbing on Retour aux Sources at 95.2

Oscar pulling on slopers

Textures

Here are a handful of reasons I love Font

Team Sweden

There has been so many friends in Font it is difficult to keep track. Nearly everyday I run into someone new that I know out at the crag and I estimate I have over 20 friends from North American and slightly fewer from Sweden.  One group of friends we climbed with quite a bit  are the four Swedes Lars, Jonas, Olle, and Peter.  

They have now returned to Sweden after two weeks of marauding through the forest laying siege to projects.  

Jones gets aggrivatingly close to doing La Rampe

Olle savagely crimping

Lars shows his French side on Deliverance 

Peter fires Jet Set

Nemesis

Nemesis is just one of many exceptional problems done this trip.  Located in Buthiers it helps to be taller on this one but even then it's no cake-walk.  It took us a bit to fine tune some beta but in the end we prevailed.

 Peter on Nemesis

 Lars trying to find beta for those with shorter stature 

Chris reaching the sweet hold on the face

Luke eyeballing the final jug

Down in the Dumps

I feel for Lars.  A few days ago while trying one of his projects he felt one of those infamous sensations shoot down his finger and forearm.  While Lars did the prudent thing and stopped climbing for the day it was safe to say he wouldn't be ready to crank in the morning.  Now a few days later Lars is feeling out the finger and climbing easy things but nothing is more frustrating then being surrounded by thousands or great rock climbs and unable to try most of them.  It is heartbreaking to see him stare dejectedly into space while stroking his finger.  I'm hoping for a miraculously recovery.  

Lars stabs the pocket on Sale Gosse that did the damage

I guess it's time to bring alcohol to the crag