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Neil Travers Alternative Font 05/07/2007
Neil's one of those keen guys (as you'll probably decipher from his report below) and he's also pretty handy. So when he recommends a bunch of problems at some of the more obscure or less fashionable Fontainbleau venues then it's probably worth taking note...Neil on Les Enfants Dabord at Bois Rond.... "Sometimes you need a bit of luck! It had been pissing it down for 4 weeks in Font and the long term forecast was awful, but as we landed at Orly airport the rain stopped and didn’t really start again for 4 days. Its nice being lucky. So the rain may have stopped but there was still a lot of water round, in fact there was so much we very nearly didn’t get to our first destination, Gros Sablons. As we approached the car park we drove through a puddle that came over the bonnet of the hire car and left us wondering if we’d come to Font to go climbing or swimming. Gros Sablons is pretty quick drying but there isn’t a huge amount to do here. However, having said that we did do 2 fantastic problems, ‘L’Oeil de Cyclone’ and ‘Cheri j’ai Retreci’ are two of the best 7a’s I’ve done in the forest plus there’s one of the easiest 7a ticks ever, ‘La Rampe’, assuming of course you can mantle! Day 2 and we were off to Dame Jouanne, classic ticking again we hoped. First on the list was ‘Monumendalle’, it only gets 7a+ but it’s one of the most technical walls I have ever climbed and an awesome problem to boot, but it was the next problem we’d really come to do. ‘Le Plafond’, 7b+, climbs a 20 ft roof with all sorts of jiggery pokery and with everyone you speak to doing it slightly differently. I was psyched as hell for an onsight of this and was feeling really strong. So off I went and flashed to the last roof move and fell off, and then proceeded to fall off a further 10 times! Guess you can’t be lucky all the time. Well we bagged it off and moved on to ‘Chair et Cuir’ 7a+, classic balancey slab, ‘Anti-G’ 7a+, very easy tick and ‘Hibernatus’ 7c, again very easy, but it’s always nice to tick a 7c. Day 3 and we were back at Dame Jouanne, Mike wanted to finish off ‘La Plafond’ but I wasn’t so confident after failing 11 times the day before, Mike, however, dispatched it in double quick time and so we moved on to Maunoury. What a beautiful place, on top of a small hill with views back to the church in Larchant, you couldn’t get a better setting. The climbing of course is excellent as always, ‘Les Tetines’ 7a+ is an absolute classic, whilst ‘Soupcon’ 7a+ and ‘Jet Set’ 7b+ provide a lot of fun. Day 4 and we were off to a new venue again, Bois Rond is easy to get to and sports some excellent problems. Check out ‘Toubib or not Toubib’ 7a, it looks pretty inconsequential in the guide book photo but is a fab problem. At the very end of the day I got on ‘Jo Dalton’ 7a+, I very nearly flashed it and then started to fade. I was trying it with a local who turned to me and said ‘It’s very difficult for the end of the day no?’, I laughed and replied ‘End of the day? End of day 4 don’t you mean!’. Font, what a place, 4 days of climbing, 20 problems of 7a and above, 3 new venues, and is there a downside to all of this? Yes, you have to come back!" Thanks Neil, and even though it's now midsummer and too hot, I'm sweaty handed with anticipation of some of those problems... Neil loves his Corona VCRs - grab yourself a pair - see them here...
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