Slopers

When we left Sweden it was blizzarding.  It seems that we couldn't have picked a better time to come to Fontainebleau and after a fairly hectic drive from CDG we settled into our gite with our good friends Chris, Luke and Oscar.  Now with one day of climbing under out belt and a favorable forecast we are looking forward sanding our tips down to nothing and getting jolly on wine.

Here are a couple pictures of the type of slopers that drew us to Font and lay waste to our skin.

Lina nearing the top

Luke trying to find the sweet spot

Peter approaching a notorious crux top-out 

Norlandsguld

Tomorrow we leave for Fontainebleau.  Psyched!  In the meantime here is one more post from Sweden.

Hammie and I accompanied Kim to one of her projects last week.  Norlandsguld is one of Gothenburg's best and while Kim didn't send she got ridiculously close.  I'm pretty sure it will go down next time and I hope I'm there to support and film.  Here's a picture of Kim and an old video of Lina sending.

Anyone Up for some Coconut Oil?

The cold temps have been optimal for climbing heinous sloper problems.  Here are a couple pictures of Peter dispatching a problem that has given him trouble in the past.

Peter on "Anyone Up for some Coconut Oil?"

Feeling the awesome friction

Countdown to Fontainebleau

In one weeks time I'll be in Fontainebleau sipping wine, eating cheese and falling off sandstone boulders.  It will be Hammie's first time in France and a sort of anniversary for Lina and I as it was six years ago in that magical forest that we first kissed.  We will be meeting up with good friends and while we hope for good weather we can always fall back on 1euro bottles of wine.

Here are a few pictures from March of 2005.

 Tina learns what Font is all about

 Kalle crimping on La Baleine

 James circuiting 

 The late Mike Tucker.  Dearly missed.  Wish we could have had another trip.

Colin on a real gem we brushed up, fa'ed, and christened Jon Check  

Kim in Sandsjöbacka

Having Kim as a neighbor is awesome.  It takes almost no effort to meet up for a fika and on climbing days pick ups and drop offs are none issues.  It is a little puzzling that we haven't actually been out climbing together as much as we should but we are hoping to change that.  

On that note, we headed down to Sandsjöbacka this Sunday for a little grappling.  Here are a few pictures of Kim crushing.

 

 Kim finding balance on a cool arete

 Grabbing the top

 Gunning for a sloper

 One of Kim's projects, Oskarsgalan

It's a long way to that jug

Time Lapse at Klätterlabbet

On Friday I went to Klätterlabbet to help in the long process of clearing the wall and building new problems for the comp on Saturday.  I wasn't there that long but I set up a time lapse that captured Björn's route-setting for two hour.  I built around the corner and can say I'm a little rusty and was not as proliffic as Björn in my 2 hours of setting.  
I should have left my camera there all day as a time lapse of the whole process would have been pretty cool.  Next time.  

Island Classics

Here are a few more problems on Öckerö.

 The very tricky Friskvård

 Anders sends Lilla Öckeröhoppet

Klas sends Lamborghini