UKC

Currently in font getting sandbagged on the majority of problems I've been trying, banter levels are high, and the "French start" comments are flowing, BUT is this allowed in France? After all they came up with it

In reply to mike_clayton:

I'd never heard the term "French start", even though I'm French and live in Font. It refers to a "jump" start right? I haven't been here long enough to give a definitive answer but my take is that you should start statically, unless it's obvious that you can't start without jumping to the first holdable holds. The only problem I can think of off the top of my head where I had to jump to the first decent hold is a blue problem near the car park at Petit Bois; the footholds are so non-existent that I can't see how one can start without jumping (I climb up to 6C so I should be able to get this). Other than that I've always considered jump starts as cheating (unless the problem is a dyno obviously). Any specific problems where you "French started"?

In reply to Adrien:
I myself went around the blue circuit at petit bois today, found a lot of the problems very interesting, and thought it was a bit of a shame that after problem 45 or so it all went a bit green. It's only our third day of the trip so we are still getting used to the styles of climbing so I think more static starts will come with time, do you find that some of the harder graded problems seem easier than the problems that are lower in the grade? I guess "French start" is usually a term used in a humorous manner to describe the way in which a problem is started, it's not so much jumping to the first good hold but more not fully waiting the starting holds before making the first move. I've never really understood the origins of the term but I think it's similar to the term "French free."

In reply to mike_clayton:

Yes it's a pity Petit Bois is getting so mossy and lichened, it's partly because it's a very shaded area and partly because most people don't bother going round the hill or to the top of it. Terrible place to be when the humidity rate goes up: lots of tiny slugs and spiders in the cracks and pockets!!

I do find sometimes that harder graded problems can be easier problems than lower graded ones. It's weird. I guess it's because some problems are very style-dependent, for instance it's very easy to get stuck on a mantle or a slab when you prefer overhangs or walls. Maybe it's also because many easy problems were put up by strong climbers, who may no longer be able to tell the difference between a 3 and a 4. In Petit Bois for example most of the stuff up to 6s was put up by Bernard Théret, who in total opened more than 200 lines up to 8A, so maybe creating the orange and blue circuits was tricky for him (and fair enough, I'm not criticizing him in any way).

In reply to mike_clayton:

Of course they are - you are in france for gods sake! If you can cheat to make it easier you can be certain the Frenchies are doing it