L’aerodynamite from Jamie Emerson on Vimeo.

The first footage from our trip to Font. is up on MVM. A classic problem called Les Beaux Quartiers 8A, at Rocher de Bouligny. There was quite a bit of rain on our trip and this was one of the things that always seemed to stay dry. Check out www.momentumvm.com.

Cul de Chien

The Island 8C, Cuqiubus Rumont

Our final few days in Fontainebleau were a bit marred by the weather. Often times the things we climbed on were determined by what was dry. It was a bit frustrating to have such little choice, but there is not much to be done when holds are soaking wet.
Angela, Ryan and I all climbed a very nice traverse that seemed to stay dry called Atomic Playboy. In Fontainebleau, traverses are given “traverse grades”, which is slightly different from a regular bouldering grade. Atomic Playboy is given an 8A+ traverse grade in the guidebook, which roughly translates to an 8A boulder problem. It was a very nice send for Angie and she did it in two days. Interestingly enough, Dai Koyamada put up a problem called Angama which he graded 8C. The line is somewhat of a traverse, but is given a traverse grade in the guide book, suggesting that it maybe easier.

French bouldering legend Jacky Godoffe, who we had the fortune of meeting at the French Bouldering Nationals, on Atomic Playboy

More rain followed the next few days but we were struck with a bit of luck on the last day of our time in Europe. It was a perfect spring day in northern France, and while it was a bit warm to send anything hard, it was a great day to play on the rocks in the sun. I climbed an amazing problem called La Baleine 7A, which maybe the best problem I have ever done at the grade. It is a bit tall with a commiting deadpoint at the top to a nice crimp. A very outstanding prolem. Olson and I also climbed a very nice arête at Rocher Greau which is given 7C+/8A in the guidebook. It is probably 20ft tall with a flat landing and a perfect problem to end the trip.

The farmhouse where we stayed in Herbauvilliers

If you are traveling to Fontainebleau, I recommend staying in the wonderful gite owned by Neil Hart, www.maisonbleau.com. Neil is a Brit. living in France. He seemed very knowledgable about the bouldering in Font and he sold us the best guidebook available, called 7+8, written by Bart van Raaj. The emphasis of the old guidebooks is on the circuits, and I would imagine most foreign travelers would be interested in those problems 7A and harder, which is what the book covers. I would also recommend a visit to www.bleau.info, a great resource for finding information on problems. All in all I am really happy we took the time to visit Font. The weather seemed very unpredictable, which is hard to deal with when you are trying to climb specific hard problems. While I did enjoy my time in the forest, one thing was pretty clear to Pinto, myself, and Ange…

In front of L’elephant

Elephunk 8B

Elephunk 8B

I had heard alot about how difficult the climbing was in Fontainebleau and how I was probably going to get shutdown. There are also alot of notions about how things are graded differently on the Font. scale and how that compares to Hueco. It seems to me that things are surprisingly consistent. The past three days I have climbed a problem 8A or harder, and all of these problems would be graded the same, I feel, if they were in Switzerland, Hueco, or Colorado for that matter. It does seem like there are fewer problems here that are overgraded, and maybe there are more in Hueco or Switzerland.

A fun moderate

In Colorado the emphasis is on crimping and power, and we all see the results when Paul and Daniel climb in steep and powerful areas like Hueco. It will be interesting to see how they fair in Fontainebleau and more specifically on things like The Island, with huge open handed moves and very intense compression climbing. Suspension of Disbelief in Eldorado Canyon is very much a Fontainebleau style problem.

I would also like to mention that we have tried a 7C slab called Les Nombrilistes. It is very obscure but very tall and very beautiful. We mentioned it to Dave the other day and of course he knew the problem.

In fact he had climbed it, in a couple of sessions. I am ever impressed with his commitment to not simply go after the problems he knows he can do easily, but to seemingly have a never ending desire to improve, to climb the most amazing lines and to put up hard problems in all styles. He continues to make significant contributions where ever he goes, from Arkansas to France.

As we get more and more time to explore the forest we have seen many amazing problems. My favorite sectors are away from the road tucked into the woods with a handful of nice problems on great rock. We have been limited by the weather which is a bit frustrating, and somehow our grand European adventure is down to 6 days. After several rest days the forecast looks good for tomorrow and I am psyched to get back on the rock. Here are some pictures of from the “magic forest”

Ange on a nice 7A

Olson sends Salle Gosse a great 7C at Rocher aux Sabot

Olson and I have had a couple great sending days. Last week it was an amazing overhang Fata Morgana low 8A+ or 8B, at Coquibus Long Vaux. A very majestic problem. Today, Chad and Dave joined us for a nice session and Ryan, Chad and I all did the very beautiful Les Beaux Quartiers 8A at Rocher de Bouligny.

Les Beaux Quartiers 8A

Fata Morgana low 8A+/8B

It wasn’t easy leaving Switzerland. We had perfect granite, awesome weather, and a lot of motivation. Fontainebleau is one place that could lure me away. “It is by far the best area in the world” “It blows Hueco Tanks away” “If you think Switzerland is amazing, wait until you go to Font.” The expectations were very high as we walked into Bas Cuvier, the most famous area in the forest. Perhaps a bit too high. I saw no less than 5 used condoms on the ground, and a lot of trash littered about. Several “classics” had horrendously chipped holds and many of the problems I had heard about were contrivances or variations. Some of the sandy smears had been covered with messy glue. All this while a steady drizzle dampened everything.

And now that I have gotten that out, I can say that the climbing here is amazing. There are 1789 problems 7a or harder. That means that the number of problems in Font V6 or harder is 500 more than the TOTAL number of problems in Hueco. I still haven’t seen a Slashface or a Dreamtime, but there are a lot of very good problems. Some areas have perfect beach sand landings. Others are tucked away in a beautiful forest. Rest days are spent climbing the Blue circuits in our tennis shoes. As is often the case with sandstone, the rock forms amazing shapes.

It has rained every day but one since we got here, so the pace has slowed a bit. That hasn’t stopped us from climbing on some very nice problems.

Fata Morgana bas 8B

Rolson on Eclipse 7C

“The Little Wizard” finds a good method on Neverland 8A

As well, Dave Graham has made the second ascent of Kheops Assis in a few tries over two days, which he downrated from 8C to 8B+. Dave is also close on an amazing project that will be very hard when completed.