I got a call out of the blue, completely unexpected from an acquaintance, whom I had not been in touch with for years since I moved to France, to go bouldering at Fontainebleau on short notice for the weekend.
To give you an idea of how sudden it was, I got the call around 10:00pm the day before departure, started chatting around 7:40am the next morning, took the 10:44pm TGV, and were in Fontainebleau just after noon, around 3:00pm. I had never done such light footwork on a climbing trip before đ
Since it had been a while since we had met, we had a good conversation and had a fun bouldering tour.
On the first day, we went climbing in the popular ĂlĂ©phant area đ, which gives the illusion of being on a sandy beach on the coast. Personally, this was my second time climbing in ĂlĂ©phant đ since my first visit to Fontainebleau (2015). That means it has been 7 years since I climbed ĂlĂ©phant đČ
It was a little after noon, I think. After climbing some easy problems, we moved around the area a bit and happened to run into some climbing friends I sometimes meet in the Alsace-Vosges Mountains in my home-climbing area in France. I had no idea they were in Fontainebleau, or rather, that they bouldered. It really is a small world đ
On the second day, I got in touch with a climbing friends I met yesterday and we went to climb in the CUVIER (Bas), which is very popular due to the variety of challenges and ease of approach.
It had been four and a half years since I climbed in the CUVIER (Bas). I expected it to be very crowded on a Sunday, but it was much less stressful than I had imagined.
On this day, I was invited to join a group of climbers who were climbing Marie Rose (6a), the most famous route in the CUVIER (Bas), and with their advice, I kept trying and finally managed to climb Marie Rose (6a) đ€Ł
After I finished climbing Marie Rose (6a), I was able to get a video of me climbing it from a climber who was attempting this challenge with me.
I had no idea it was being filmed đ I was grateful because I rarely film myself climbing due to equipment problems, even though I like taking pictures and making videos. Thank you for the valuable video.
As I watched the video, I thought to myself, "He's climbing while mumbling đ€Łâ
That was the end of my fun bouldering at Fontainebleau.
We had a really nice reunion after a long time, and I also happened to meet some climbing friends from Alsace, and the weather was beautiful for both days, making this a memorable tour. Thank you very much for the invitation.
I was happy to climb Marie Rose (6a), the most famous climb in the Cuvier (Bas) area of Fontainebleau, but personally, Les Frites (5c), which I climbed before, was more memorable. That's what climbing is all about, isn't it? đ€đ€Ł
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