© BLR coll.
Benjamin Linné Ryn from Sweden has had an amazing week in Fontainebleau, ticking 3 8A's, two 8A+'s and one 8B. As if that weren't enough, one of the 8A+'s, Gecko, he flashed! This is one of the hardest flashes ever in Fontainebleau.
Unfortunately, the "crushing" should be read literally as he, when trying Dave Graham's Sideways daze, ~8B, broke off the starting hold on his very first try...
Font is really the best there is. This is "real" climbing so to speak. The average quality of the problems is very high and there is so much to choose from! It's a very particular style which demands you are more of a complete climber, and there is so much history...
Gecko was a bit of a mind boggling experience!
First, I did Beaux quartiers an 8A to the right of Gecko. I really had to fight for it and got the adrenaline going, so when I got back down, I didn't waste much time before making an attempt on Gecko.
I climbed perfectly and didn't really have any problems until the mantle. I managed to do it though and but had a hard time grasping what just happened, then I just lost it completely!
I was also very happy to be able to do Khéops, bacause it's another one of those cool classics. Obviously, it suited my style quite well as well, with two technical moves on bad holds. Also, this apparently made me the first Swede to climb 8B in Font :)
I heard you had the misfortune of breaking off the starting hold on Sideways daze. There has been a lot of talk about that on French forums. What can you tell me about it?
Yes, this was really unfortunate! When I got there, there was this strong climber working it. I joined him, and on my first try, I broke the hold..
I was shocked obviously!
So, I wrote a post on Bleau.info, and... well, my French is really bad, but as I understand it, some people were really upset and angry with me.
© Pierre Délas
Anyway, they seem to have drawn the conclusion the boulder was wet, and that this was the reason the hold broke. The thing is it wasn't wet at all, and as it has broken once before, maybe it wasn't a huge surprise after all?
Boulder problems break sometimes. It's always unfortunate, but it happens, and someone ends up being the one who breaks it. This time it was me. It's a bit strange I think, because I'm only 64kgs and not very strong....
Sideways daze R.I.P
Even if it wasn't the case this time, it's very important to the respect the rock in Font and not climb while it's wet/damp.
Some dos and don'ts. in Font.
Here is an article about the consequences of climbing on wet rock in Font.
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