Fontainebleau Trip 2015
Just a quick back dated post as I’m writing this in in January 2017! I promise to get better at keeping my blog more up to date đ
At the end of 2015 we went back to Fontainebleau. This time it wasn’t with the Bristol gang, instead with the people I climb with in Sheffield. Ed, Kelly, Liz, Martin and Andy.
We stopped in Maisonbleau again, where we made friends with a bunch of local kittens. Sadly, this appeared to be the last year of Maisonbleau as the owner disappeared off the radar; money problems by the sounds of it. Perhaps it will return as a Font gite. I hope so!
This was an interesting little holiday, as I was the “experienced” one, having been to Font quite a few times, whereas no one else had! This didn’t mean that much, although it was entertaining to see people gradually getting used to Font’s rock, with their grades increasing gradually over the holiday.
The areas we climbed in:
- Petit Bois
- ĂlĂ©phant
- Bas Cuvier
- La Canche aux Merciers
- Bois Ronds
- Buthiers Piscine
Climbs of note:
- Finally completed Le Surplomb du LĂ©preux at ĂlĂ©phant (6a). Bit of a total Walrus moment to finish it, but you aren’t taking it away from me!
- Failed to repeat La Dalle de Marbre at Buthiers Piscine, a truly terrifying 4+. All marble with shiny edges. I have NO idea how I managed to get up this in 2010. I blame Jim!
- Working L’Y at ĂlĂ©phant (6a, easy). Really lovely, but the climb off of the Elephant was nasty!
- Working Le Trou du Simon at Bas Cuvier (6a, easier for the tall!) I was over the moon at getting this one as it had been something I’ve tried every time I’d been to Bas Cuvier. Took a lot of goes and effort!
- Working La Voie de la Vire at Bas Cuvier (5, but scary!).
- Failing to get up La Marie Rose this time. đ Still, it’s great! đ
Overall, I was pretty happy with the climbing I managed. I added a few extra 6as to the list, repeated quite a few Id’ done before, and generally just felt on form. The rest of the team had fun also, so much fun in fact, that we booked in to go again in 2016! đ
Also, I was marathon training for the Venice Marathon while out here. This meant I needed to add a bunch of runs into the holiday including this lovely long run around the villages near Maisonbleau: