First time in Font!

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Having read some background information on such an infamous area I felt both excited and anxious as to whether 1) I would enjoy it and, 2) I’d be able to finish any problems.

Paul, Verity and I caught the 6.30am ferry and by mid afternoon we were relaxing outside our tent in a picturesque French campsite soaking up the sunshine.

It was our longest day climbing and we only headed back once the sun started to set.

Then the time came to have my first taste of Fontainebleau. We took a short 10 minute drive to the nearest crag, called Trois Pignons. The array of boulders was set in a serene silver birch forest with sand you would normally associate with a Mediterranean beach. The amount of problems of varying difficulty was immense. Once we synchronised the guide book to the area it was time to put our stickies to the rock.

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The climbing is on sandstone, generally with friction problems, very tiny edges, and lots of overhanging moves. The boulders are organized in "circuits", with a consistent level of difficulty. There are several hundred circuits, from the easiest, to the most extremes, featuring a total of tens of thousands problems. On each circuit, you follow the markings arrows, which are of a specific colour.

My initial anxiety was soon dispelled after having romped up two or three problems, but I soon found a few more to work at. The beauty of Font and the problems available is that you have to step back and look at the problem, and think about a solution in regards to what sequences your hands and feet need to follow in order to bag it.

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I arose the next morning feeling a bit stiff (no not like that!) after yesterday afternoon’s bouldering. We had decided to go to an area called Franchard Isatis which is one of the great spots to visit in Fontainebleau. It is where superb blocks of sandstone up to 3 or 4 metres high stand proud giving you wonderful circuits. Whilst there Verity and I did a problem called Dalles D’Argent (Slabs of Money) – a classic crimp that’s been made even more problematic due to the high level of traffic polishing the holds.

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Another fantastic day in the French sunshine following the orange route was had by all. It was polished off by a relaxing dip in the campsite swimming pool basked in evening sun.

In the evening we relaxed outside the tents whilst cooking our dinner. Paul had a duel fuel double burner compared to our feeble excuse of a stove. Needless to say he had eaten his dinner and was doing the washing up before our water had even boiled!

We then chilled out with a French beer. After I had experienced the seductive continental climbing atmosphere over the past few days I was seduced to push my limits further and decided that Cul de Chien was the place to take my ambition.

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The Cul de Chien is at the centre of the Trois Pignons forest, a desert with boulders that gleam from intense popularity. It’s a sumptuous area with golden sand. Here the climbing was intense with numerous challenges; some that I bagged and some that just spat me off!

That evening I was talking about doing some high ball problems after the incredible day which left me on a huge high. I wanted to go to Dame Jouanne which is renowned for its high risk high ball action with slap happy top outs. I was eventually talked into going to Éléphant – not quite so high risk but still high ball, offering happy sandy landings.

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The area is one of the best known boulders to climbers all over the world, partly due to the enigmatic and melancholic mood of its lovely shape. The circuits here offer an array of intimidation, fear and demanding technical climbing. It is not a place where you can afford to make a mistake on many of the problems without dire consequences. The blue circuit is a tremendous challenge of both climbing skill and mental control – so we did the orange one. No, only joking!

By this time Jeremy and his friend Jonathan had joined us and the five of us cracked on with the blue circuit. The area lived up to our expectations and far more. It was our longest day climbing and we only headed back once the sun started to set. We drove into the picturesque town of Fontainebleau itself for dinner where we reminisced about the bouldering we’d done and how our climbing ability had improved over such a short period of time.

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On our day of departure we slipped in a short half day session in an area called Bas Cuvier. This is set slightly off the main road to Paris making it ideal for our last day. It is synonymous with super hard test piece climbs that bring most first time visitors back to earth immediately with a resounding thud onto the crash pad. The area has a high density of problems with good landings and has featured in just about every bouldering video ever made.

On this day I was starting to feel the pace of the trip. The area of Bas Cuvier is definitely a place I would like to revisit with a fresh pair of arms.