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Saturday 27 October 2018

Fontainebleau Diary 2018 - Part 4

It's October - nearly November - and I am still writing this up 2 months on.  Truth be told I can't really remember the details any more so will have to cross reference photos, log books and other people's blogs to see what we got up to :)

Day 6 saw us go to Cul de Chien, where we last went in 2016.  It's a beautiful place, full of wide sandy clearings and interesting boulders with good landings.  Rumour has it the clearings were created by the German Army looking for supplies dropped in the forest by the Allies for the French Resistance (if you read Part 3 you'll know more about this).

We had chosen Cul de Chien today as it dries quickly - the weather was looking a bit threatening - and no sooner had we arrived than we bumped in to Patrick out on another of his runs.  He assured us it wasn;t going to rain, and then he was off again.  Before I had really had a chance to warm up however it rained, and I must admit I found this rather frustrating as I was ready to get stuck in and didn't want to sit around waiting for the rain to pass.

According to my log book I climbed a bunch of oranges, and then some 4 / 4+ problems from the Blue and Red circyuits, but I think I had a good day all in all. Later in the day Kelly was trying Verglas Fréquent in a full on session mode.   I tried it a few times and then decided to go and look for something else, and around the back of the same boulder was the 6a Pince sans Rire which looked tempting.  I thought I got it after several attempts, but looking back at how I did it I think that I used holds which can't be in at that grade, and didn't follow the line of the problem properly.  However, as I write this I realise that bleau.info has picked up my video of me climbing the problem so maybe I can count it :D

Day 7 then was our last day. We wanted to get up and out early to maximise the climbing and give us time to pack after and headed to Rocher Guichot which has the advantage of being right next to the car park.  Turn up, walk in, climb a few things, bump into Patrick..  We'd suspect him of stalking us, but he was as surprised as we were! I apparently climbed 3 things here before the rain came in, and while we were sheltering under an overhang I found a cave to explore behind it and camped out in there.

Once the rain stopped we explored a little further, and discovered an area which makes you walk in circles; after Jim mocked me for reappearing after saying I was heading back he managed to do exactly the same thing!  Sadly the rain returned even heavier, so we decided to go back to the gite and pack.  While the sun dried up the rain I headed over to the Aire where Lolly and Jim were staying to look at her van which wouldn't start that morning, I didn't manage to solve it but the French breakdown guy had it running in 5 minutes - a good dose of brake cleaner into the intake manifold!

It soon dried out again, and we decided to head to 91.1 - another revisit, this time only from last year, also on our last day.  Andy and I had a good day touring the area and trying various things, enjoying the last day of the holiday, while Jim was sessioning Le Flipper.  At the end of the day I found a really fun problem called Pégase which was very satisfying to climb as working out the sequence was an exercise in technique.  It was som much fun I think I made everyone have a go at it, and I was really pleased for Liz when she got it.  What an end to the holiday!



With that it was back to the gite to finish up the food and wine before the long long drive back to Sheffield - I was delighted when we got to Calais to hear them say "boarding in 10 minutes" as we had managed to catch the earlier ferry, and pretty much as soon as I was on board the ramp when up and the doors started closing - don't think that could have been much closer.

One more thing of note though - driving back up the M1 and I was really hitting tired and hungry, when I get a message from Andy suggesting we stop at a pub he'd found near Newport Pagnell (The Chester Arms in Chicheley).  I pull up in the car park, and who do I see but Patrick!  No, that didn't happen.  But it was a very nice pub and the accommodated us in a mezzanine.  After our meal we got chatting about how far we had driven and how far we had to go, and the waiter said "So are you guys on tour then?" and after being momentarily stumped I realised that yes, we probably do look like a band!

Monday 24 September 2018

Fontainebleau Diary 2018 - Part 3: A Tale of 25 Bosses

So, day 3. A rest day.

"Rest".

You may recall that last year Kelly ran Le Circuit des 25 Bosses by himself in the pouring rain, nearly resulting in us sending out a search party.  Well Liz had mentioned the possibility of us doing it this year, but starting at the adjacent car park rather than running all the way there and back from our Gite (and we were staying much closer this year than last!)  15km is a distance I am comfortable with, and at the top end of Liz's distance plan for this year.

 I know I can do 15km in around 90 minutes, but considering the terrain I doubled that and set expectations to about 3 hours, and we decided to set off between 9 and 10 in the morning so we got most of the running out of the way before the heat of midday, and so we had the afternoon to do other things.  Andy and Kelly decided to join us on the run, which was reassuring as Kelly had run the course before and both of them had watches where they could upload the route for that extra bit of navigation just in case it came to it - the circuit is marked with regular red indicators on rocks and trees, but it helps to be prepared.

The morning broke and it was time for the pre-run rituals - coffee and a banana, pack my trail pack with nutrition, water, and a few extra layers just in case, and we head to the car park at Croix Saint Jerome. We set off in high spirits, and before too long we are running up and down rocky undulations and climbing the first proper hill, giving us a taste of what was to come.  Breaking above the treeline for the first time treated us to an amazing view, although it was very hazy with lots of moisture hanging in the humid air so we weren't afforded the spectacular views which I'm told are possible on a clearer day.  Before too long we found ourselves at Le monument de la Résistance à Noisy sur Ecole - a very large Cross of Lorraine erected in 1946 to commemorate the efforts of the French Resistance during World War 2.  A searchlight was located on this spot to direct an allied drop of supplies for the resistance which was parachuted into a sandy clearing and hidden away in the Cave of Rochebelle.



After posing for a few photos we were on our way again, climbing subsequent hills and sometimes getting sight of the monument as a great indicator of how far we had come.  At one stage I was in the lead of the group and was picking my way down a rocky track when a French gentleman stops and speaks to us.  Now I'll be the first to admit my french is not great, so just about managed to communicate that we were English and after a bit of mental effort on both sides we managed a conversation - "Are you sticking to the trails?" he asked, and I answer "oui" thinking he was making sure we didn't stray off the path.  It turns out that he wanted to know if we were running the trail and when we said yes he started talking with enthusiasm about it at it transpired that he helps to maintain the circuit, was 70 years old, and runs in the forest every day and that running must be good for you because he was still here.

We talk for a while longer about climbing (he is/was also a climber) and the history of the area, before he turns around and says come with me, I'll show you more.  We set off and he is surprisingly nimble, keeping up with him is hard work at times - not due so much to his speed, but his sure-footedness on the terrain and his ability to read it, flowing effortlessly with nature (a lesson for all of us there I feel).  As we run, walk and wait we establish that he is a part of Les Amis de la Forêt de Fontainebleau and along with his retired friends maintains the red route markers as well as performing hard work to reduce the impact of people on the terrain, particularly erosion control.



Along the way each time we crested a hill he would point out the hills and climbing areas visible from that hill, as well as stories of the history and geology of the area, and how it is quite unique in having been created from a relatively small sand bar under the sea many many years ago, which turned into stone at a very cold temperature which created the hard sandstone so typical of the region, and the reason we were there.  This area feels very special, very unique, and very beautiful, and to have a local guide who was so knowledgeable give up his time to run with us was amazing.

As we continued he showed us the many and varied bivouac of the forest - some are dangerous due to cracks in the rock above and some are safe and you can go inside and see well crafted stone fireplaces, beds, shelves, and the like.  Those that are dangerous are labelled with good reason, as along the way we also saw where a roof has very clearly fallen. Some of these bivouac, such as that at Rocher du Potala, are very well known and easy to see and others are hidden where you would only find these if you knew where to look, so we were very privileged to have been shown them, and to have had some of the rock engravings pointed out to us - some being a lot older than others.


Eventually it was time for him to leave us - he had received a phone call a while back which appeared to go something along the lines of "Hello, I found some English people to run with.  I'll be home soon" and we snuck a short break in.  My watch had been beeping every kilometre as we travelled along, and every time he had said "time for tea?" - at first I thought he was under the impression it was an alarm, but as we continued I realised this was his sense of humour playing on English stereotypes and right now a cup of tea would have been, well, spiffing! I'd already shared out my emergency fun size packs of haribo, and eaten two energy bars, and I was flagging.

Before too long my water ran out too, and I realised just how badly I had underestimated the challenge of this run.  It had definitely moved from the territory of Type 1 Fun and into Type 2 Fun, and was in danger of becoming Type 3 Fun. I was determined to finish it though, and even to run where I could.  I led a section for a bit again, and it really is a challenge following the tags to navigate your way through the forest; as soon as you catch sight of a marker you have to interpret it to understand the direction you should take and have your eyes up for the next one.  It really is a breadcrumb trail and when trying to move at speed you have to be constantly scanning and thinking and your route takes you over, around and sometimes through rocks and trees - if you go very far at all without seeing one you NEED to backtrack if you don't want to end up very lost!

The last few hills were particularly hard work, and with a mouthful of Kelly's water I had a caffeine mocha gel which gave me a brief burst of go - but the uphills were all definitely walking now as were most of the downhills due to technical terrain and some of the flats as it was just hard work.  Such was my state by this point I was getting a little bit emotional, and I am grateful to Liz's hugs and motivation for keeping me going.  At one point we had to mantle over a rock on the top of a hill, far more akin to bouldering than running, and it took me a while to psyche myself up to do it then I needed a lie down.


Eventually though we were on the sandy main path back to the car park and from somewhere my legs moved me faster, getting me to the gate in time to take a photo of the rest of the group finishing.  Utterly exhausted but so so glad to have finished we made our way back to the gite where a much needed drink of water was consumed, with the second glass going straight over my head.  What had been somewhat optimistically forecast as a 3 hour run had taken us 6 hours, albeit with diversions and a guided tour of the secrets of the forest thrown in for good measure.



Would I do it again? Absolutely!  Will I prepare better, take more food and more water next time? Definitely!  Will I think I can do it in 3 hours> No way!

That was a great rest day, even if not really a traditional definition of rest.  It was nothing that some beer, bread and cheese, a hot shower, and wine and a barbecue couldn't shift.  Coming up next: a return to climbing for the last two days.


Monday 17 September 2018

Fontainebleau Diary 2018 - Part 2

Day 3 of the climbing holiday, and we decided to go to Rocher du Potala - Liz, Ceri and I went here last year and really enjoyed it, I got a few blues on that trip and was keen to try and get some harder stuff this year.  I also decided to try out my new action camera, a WaspCAM ROX 9942 which I managed to pick up cheap earlier in the year (half the price of that Amazon listing) to video a few climbs.  I started out warming up on some Yellows and Oranges with Liz, Ceri, Sheila and Lolly which gave me a great opportunity to test the camera.


After one yellow and two oranges it was time to get moving on the blue circuit and get a bit of good climbing under my belt. Unfortunately although the circuit had been updated in 2017 the topos on bleau.info are not using the new numbering, and only Andy's 2018 edition of Fun Bloc had this circuit in so mapping problems got a bit tricky and there are still two I haven't managed to marry up.  After cribbing some beta off Andy and Kelly who had already done a few of these while I was warming up I got a number of problems under my belt, and after trying a traverse a few times with Andy and Kelly I decided I needed to go and climb something to keep my head in the game.

I wandered a short distance away and found a nice little bit of rock in Astérix and decided to set my camera up and give it a go. It was an interesting problem with a combination of slopey holds to palm down on and crimpy holds on a balancey concave slab. If felt very much like some of the shoulder heavy inside corner problems sometimes set at The Climbing Works which are great fun when you crack them.  The practice must have paid off as I flashed it on sight, though I wasn't sure I was going to as at the point where Andy and Kelly wandered over I was precariously balanced and quite contorted - one of those moments where you have to be careful how you breath lest you topple over backwards off the rock!  Once I'd got the foot up it was all over and I topped out before supporting Andy while he worked out how to approach it - a theme of the holiday was how differently all of us climb and where our strengths and weaknesses are.  With a niggly should this wasn't an ideal problem for Andy, but he got it done.


We carried on climbing long into the evening here as I think we were all in the zone and feeling quite psyched - Liz had an orange traverse she was projecting, Kelly was working on Acid, and other people had their own favourite bit of rock to tickle.  Andy and I found a nice big lump of rock with interesting problems on, though sadly quite a few of these don't match up with the bleau.info topo so I don't know much about them. A particular highlight for me here was La Farissure - a 5+ wall climb with some nice cracks on it which again needed shoulders:


The as yet un-named Blue 16 was not quite so straightfoward. The start was fine, but I seemingly struggled to work out how to get over the rounded top so resorted to stroking and fondling the rock until I found a way to handle it


We joined Liz looking at her Orange traverse for a bit, had a look around some other bits, before finding another fun problem - also a traverse - to play on.  This was a really nice way to end the day.


If anyone can tell me the name of this problem I would love to know, as Liz was doing really well on it - completing all the technical moves and just lacking the strength left in her arms to mantle the top out - and wants to put it on her "to do" list.

Three days of climbing done. A "rest" day to follow.  I'll let those quote marks pique your interest as to just how restful it was...

Sunday 16 September 2018

Fontainebleau Diary 2018 - Part 1

I'm conscious of the fact I haven't updated this in quite some time; I started writing about running and climbing to give myself something to focus on and at the start of this year I made the decision to run for fun not for targets. Part of that fun was letting go of obsession with statistics, training plans and whatever else which led to a more relaxed view on documenting them too. I've run a few races this year and am keeping up with it, just not pushing speed, distance and training plans. Maybe there will be a retrospective of the year at some point.

 Anyway, this is a climbing update. September always marks the annual group trip to the iconic forest of Fontainebleau, the home of bouldering, to spend a week in the forest with bread, cheese and rocks. This year it was the earliest we have been for various logistical reasons, and on Friday 31st August we converged on The Norman Guesthouse in Dover for the 3rd year in a row, where Laz remembered us (if not our names) and we found a delightful micropub in The Lanes to refresh ourselves before heading for a curry at The Virsa. Saturday morning saw Laz treat us to breakfast before it was time for the ferry and we were on our way.


After a long and rather warm drive south through France we arrived at Gîte La Rochetine on the outskirts of Noisy-sur-École - ideally located for the Trois Pignon area.  Once settled in went for a 6km run in the forest to stretch our legs after the drive before settling down to a dinner of pasta and a glass of wine.

So, Sunday and time to climb. We decided to go for an area we had not tried before in La Ségognole where we met up with two of Kelly's climbing partners of old, Jim and Lolly, who had made the trip down from Bristol a few days before us and were staying in their vans. Historically the first day has been a day of getting carried away and climbing a whole load of problems at a relatively easy grade, but this year I decided I wanted to try a little bit harder and set my eyes on problems in the Red Circuits and/or Font 5 difficulty. I ended up getting 13 Yellow and 13 Orange problems - yellows being mostly Font 2 or 3 and Oranges Font 3 or 4 - but I was also really happy to pick off Calvaire from the Red circuit, a crimpy arete climb coming in at Font 5; what a great start to the day!  I also decided that this was the perfect place to do a bit of lunchtime yoga, with a Tree in the Forest


The second day of climbing saw us return to Canche aux Merciers, a location we last went in 2015 which was my first trip to Font. That year I climbed Yellows and Oranges, and one Blue (the Blue circuit at Canche is mostly 4s and 5s). This year I got 11 yellows and then knocked out 8 blues - definitely demonstrating my climbing progress in 3 years. 3 of these were rated 5-, but enough time has passed that I can't remember any specifics.  So that's two days down, and doing really well on my target of pushing myself to climb things which stretch me a bit.  Oh, and two days of lazing in the sun eating lunch too :D