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| orange for orange |
So today was our last day in la foret, and despite all the niggly injuries, we all wanted to use up all our remaining reserves in one final day of bouldering.
We went to a place called Rocher Guichot (where you can drive a little way into the forest and park right next to the boulders), in order to maximise our available climbing time.
There's an Orange circuit there with exactly 30 problems, so we set out on a mission to climb them all in one day. They're of a grade where we mostly get up them on our first go, and rarely find any impossible for us.
In the photo above, Anna is setting off up the final climb of the circuit, of the day, and of our holiday here in Font...
Despite being fairly short (the climb, not Anna! (although Anna too...)), it was the hardest problem of the circuit at 4B - the steep, slippery slab Anna is stepping onto has almost nothing to use for hands or feet, except the odd little depression in the rock, a vague bump, or a tiny flake a mm or two deep that you can just about get a little purchase on if you push your fingertips painfully onto them.
We were very pleased then, to finish our brilliant trip here with a last great day in the forest, climbing the boulders amongst the trees, alongside the various flora and fauna that abound.
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| extrovert |
For instance, this little chap was bimbling his way up a very steep rock face, all resplendent in his big yellow climbing pants, and his posh red tail.
That said, despite his obviously advanced climbing skills, his route-finding left a little to be desired...
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| he's got the look...but not the brains |
He's clearly going the wrong way...and what's he doing on an Orange circuit anyway? He's clearly capable of significantly higher grades than we play about on.
Anyway, there it is...a great holiday in the magical and majestic Foret de Fontainebleau draws to a close...tired, weary limbs and minds...sore fingers, knees, shoulders, arms, legs and elbows...cuts, bruises, scrapes, scratches, grazes, bites, lumps and bumps everywhere...
It's been brilliant!
We've unlocked a whole bunch of Achievements - Jezz did his 40@40@Font...Anna and I completed a fantastic circuit we started last year...we all climbed our first Font 6A graded boulder problems...we completed an Orange circuit in a day.
We climbed around 100 or so boulder problems each, and we video'd most of them - so you've got that to look forward to! ;-)
Haha, only joking, I won't inflict them all on you...just a few, maybe...when I've had time to process and edit them...I promise to cut out as much of the dull climbing stuff as I can bring myself to!
We've had great fun, supporting and encouraging each other up climbs that were hard for us, and we've all found huge personal satisfaction in our endeavours.
And of course I've got a big tick for my list of challenges for the year - Go to Font!
Big thanks to Jezz for his (contrived) sexy man pose, Anna for her (natural) sexy woman pose, and both for all the top spotting and good laughs, and putting up with my random foibles...we've all survived intact, and I think it's safe to say...we'll be back!
But tomorrow we'll be up early for the long drive back to Blighty...
Pour maintenant, c'est au revoir de France, vous voyez en Angleterre demain...
Au 'voir!
B-)
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