English man in Font

52 is an untouchable number, since it is never the sum of proper divisors of any number.

Finally I touched dry rock again. What a feeling. I’ve had 4 rest days partly due to rain but mainly due to my skin being bruised and thinner than Twiggy after 6 hours in the Sauna running on the treadmill. This morning it was finally in a state that needed to be in contact with rock. The weather wasn’t great and things were looking damp, so we waited until lunchtime by which point things were looking much better. Sara arrived last night so we headed out towards Roche de Milly in the hope of being able to get some climbing in. As we arrived we bumped into Neil along with a massive downpour from the skies. Suddenly the grey skies had unleashed and everything was thoroughly soaked. We wouldn’t be climbing anytime so I went to have a look at a project at a very small crag near Milly. Usually when I hear about projects they are either 1. Incredible but absolutely unclimbable (or at least 8C) or 2. Totally shit and not worth cleaning. Well, this project fell in between the two. It’s a diminutive overhang with a few pockets on it, leading to a cool looking and big move to a sloper jug. It’s not going to be a modern classic or anything but it’s certainly worth a look on a dry day. I expect it to be in the 7C+/8A region but it was hard to tell since it was rather wet as I looked at it today. I’ll report back with pictures when I do get back on it (or if Olivier Lebreton suddenly goes and crushes it out of the blue).

After hiding out at the crag under a boar hunting platform waiting for the rain to pass we finally made it back to the car and back to base camp. Although everything was drenched the sun had come out in force and everything was drying fast. I helped Neil out with a spot of Gardening (which isn’t the new climbing in any way) and then passed some time figuring out how my video camera wraps 24 progressive frames into 60 interlaced fields (don’t ask). Eventually dinner time arrived and we faced a choice between the wonderful smells of neil’s cooking and the wonderful feeling of dry sandstone against soft skin. Clearly the rock won and we zoomed off to Cuvier.

Sara got stuck in whilst I began to warm up whilst trying to be really careful with my skin. There was a big group of Hombre’s at the Carnage block so after a couple of very easy problems I headed up L’Abattoir, which as you probably know was the first 7A in the forest. It took me a couple of tries to do it which was amusing, and I ended up using a rather funny method, but it worked and I got to the top. It’s so great to think that a man climbed that boulder in 1960… the forest would have been so different, France would have been so different, Europe would have been so different, and the World would have been so different. It just took a man with some vision and some psyche to create the forest’s first 7A. Well, it certainly wasn’t easy, but it’s a nice complement to the other problems on the bloc. It has it’s elements of power (the last move to the helicopter jug), it’s elements of balance (the move across with your left hand), and it’s elements of technique (being able to stand comfortably on rather sorry footholds). By this point the lugubrious motion of the sun begun it’s decline so I packed up and rushed up to Rempart, leaving Sara down at Bas Cuvier ticking 6A’s.

I wanted to at least have a look at Gourmandise. I wasn’t sure my skin was up to pulling on but I felt like I should at least assess the situation. I unfurled my pad and quickly did the end sequence. Then I thought to try the moves from the 8B start. I pulled on and did the moves rather easily until I was halfway through the whole problem at which point I let go in surprise. I guess that’s a good sign anyway. My skin was not great, and the first hold was hurting my right hand but I felt like I had a couple of goes in me. My body certainly felt strong so I had no excuses not to give it some effort. My first go I climbed smoothly from the low start into the stand start, then kept going, feeling strong, light, and like it was on. I got to the last move to the hold from which point it’s finished and as I went to move my right hand it just greased off leaving me sat on the pad. I was slightly pissed but also rather shocked. I’d just done it until the last move on my first proper try from the low start. The sun was setting, casting a beautifully warm orange glow onto the tree tops which were contrast against a wonderfully blue sky. Conditions weren’t perfect on the rock, but the scenery was pretty magnificent, and I was just happy to soak it all up after being cooped up at home for 4 days. I only had enough time for one more go before it got too dark to see the footholds. I went to the back of the roof and set off once again, hoping this time I would finish at the top. Unfortunately I once again greased off at the last move. From what you’ve read it probably seems like this is the crux, or perhaps at least the redpoint crux. That may be so, but it’s actually not a hard move. I’m doing all the hard moves with ease, and falling off from an easyish move because I’m not using some alternative heelhook beta. I have my sequence which is wonderfully satisfying in it’s movement, but it isn’t the easiest way. Does that matter? No. I just want to get to the top and enjoy the process along the way. Am I doing that? Yes. However, I’m now absolutely sure that I will do it in my next proper session. So although I had two goes today and they both resulted in failure I am happy in the knowledge that they are two small steps bringing me much closer to success.

Alan Bean was the fourth man on the moon. You might not have known that, because not many people remember the 4th man to have done something rather momentous, but I’m sure Alan Bean still feels momentous.

47 is prime and the smallest number n for which 666ⁿ has a digit sum of 666.

Today I made a number of mistakes. I am frustrated with myself that I didn’t see them coming, but I am happy that I’m not foolish enough to not learn from them. I’ll share my mistakes in the hope that by doing so I won’t make them again, and also in the hope that you won’t ever make them!

It’s been 2 days since I climbed last, and today was scheduled in for another rest day. 3 days in a row is a long time to rest, especially when you are psyched to be out at the rocks trying your projects. It’s always easier to rest when it’s raining because there is absolutely no way you can climb, so there is no deep turmoil about whether you are rested enough to hit the rocks. The forecast for today was for rain, which is why I was still planning on resting. However, I woke up and the sky was grey but it was dry. Immediately I checked the weather and it seemed that tomorrow was a write off, along with this afternoon. So, if I wanted to go climbing it had to be now. I just couldn’t resist. I gave in to temptation, packed the car, warmed up a little and drove to Rempart. This was my first mistake. My skin was not recovered enough. Gourmandise is a very aggressive problem, both in skin and in overall body punishment. My body was about 80% recovered, but the skin on my right hand was still thin, especially on the crucial pinky finger. I thought that it might be just thick enough to allow me some good tries, which was another mistake I then proceeded to make. I warmed up at home on the fingerboard so I didn’t waste skin at the rocks, and when I got there it was just a matter of cleaning all the holds, trying the end moves to re-warm up, then going for it. First go, I crushed it, and it was in the bag when my left foot slipped and I was on the pad. I was happy, because I knew it was on, and concerned since my right hand fingertips were already hurting, but I knew how close I was. However, this was close to the 8A+ version, from the middle undercuts, missing out the first 2 moves of the 8B version. In an ideal world this is where I would have made a better decision. My skin was so thin that I couldn’t pull on the first undercut move of the 8B start because the hold was hurting too much. In light of that I should have said goodbye and driven home. But I didn’t…. Then it started raining, so I covered the holds with my jacket and luckily 5 minutes later it had passed. Surely this was a sign that I should stop, but no, I don’t believe in that stuff so I carried straight on. I don’t know why I decided to pursue an ascent of the 8A+ start when in reality that is not my true goal and it was inevitably going to trash my skin. Perhaps I had too much psyche flowing through my veins, so I had another go. Again, I fell one move from the end (well, the end for me is not technically the top, but the point after which I know beyond doubt that I won’t fall off). I think that because I was so close I allowed myself to be lured in. This was yet another mistake. I then proceeded to spend 1 hour crushing the problem, and not getting to the top. My skin was getting ridiculously worn out and after each go I could feel the throbbing pain in my tips. At this point it wasn’t psyche flowing through my veins, but pure foolishness. The hold on the lip that you jump for was not feeling good, partly due to bad conditions and partly due to my lack of skin. I was sliding down this hold whilst doing the 4 left hand moves, and consequently ended up pulling way too hard with my left hand which in the end caused a small tear (on my left pinky). Finally I couldn’t take it anymore and I quit. I was annoyed to have quit, but more annoyed with myself that I even started.

Amongst all the feelings of frustration and egginess I did find one thing to be positive about. I was climbing it all very easily. Much more easily than the other day. I wasn’t falling off due to lack or precision, or lack of body tension, or lack of technique, I was falling off due to very bad skin and bad conditions. I guess I can only try to make sure I don’t make this mistake again.

I really do miss climbing when I have to rest. I love climbing, and so 3 days of rest is like a chore (even though I have plenty to do!). But what do I have now? Probably 3 more days to recover from my now exceptionally trashed skin, plus I know what mistakes to avoid in 2 days time.

44 is the smallest number which is the sum of a reversible pair of non-palindromic primes, 13 + 31.

I kind of felt like I needed a bit of a rest so I had 2 days off, but Friday I ended up doing 30min on the board to loosen up. I just don’t want to rest at the moment because I’m too psyched to be trying great blocs. The conditions looked really good for today, with chances of snow in the afternoon, prompting me to head out in the morning to Rempart. It’s a great crag, as I’m always banging on about, and there is enough there to keep me entertained, challenged, perplexed, and fulfilled for a good while.

Today’s challenge was Gourmandise, 8A+/B. I tried it last year with Danny Cattell, aka Longshlong, but we were having issues with the move to the lip. What a difference a year makes. Today I did that crux move 4th go. It actually felt easy, just a matter of timing, and of flowing through the move correctly. It’s a long move whereby you have to reach out from an undercut but as you are reaching out you also reach over yourself to the lip. The photos don’t do it justice, but give some idea of the movement. Once I’d done this move I knew I could climb the problem. I climbed it from the lip to the end (missing the first 2 moves) and then started trying from the undercuts. There are two different starting points, which is why there is a slash grade. The lower start adds two hand movements and you get 8B, which is what I’m planning to do next time. Today I was trying to do the 8A+ version mainly because I realized I could do it, so wanted to get it done fast. I did have one go from the lower start and climbed into the 8A+ start without too much difficulty. The lower starting moves simply cause you to have less chalk on your tips for the crux, and mean you can’t adjust the holds as well as you like when you get there. I have to say that it was feeling easy today, perhaps because of conditions, perhaps because I was light, but mainly because I think I’m going well at the moment, physically and mentally. I think that I’ve fallen into the magic of font (as Marc Le Menestrel goes on about) and as a result I’m climbing much better. I’ve got a good feeling on the rock at the moment, both in the hands and the feet. I was getting so close but at the same time my skin was getting thinner and thinner. I reached a point where I should have stopped, but I was so close that getting it done would make up for the loss of skin. Unfortunately, after many goes getting closer and closer, I eventually fell one move from the end. No tick and no skin! EEK! I was pretty gutted, but it was because I wasn’t appreciating what I was doing. I was nearly climbing an 8A+, which I should have been psyched about, but I wasn’t. I was sacked because I had failed. Normally, getting so close on something so hard leaves me psyched, but not today. I had to really concentrate and give myself a good talking to in order to take the positive from the situation. Anyway, I’ll definitely do it next time I go up there, which will be next session. I think I will also start trying it from the 8B start because I’m sure that when I’m fresh I’ll find it no more difficult.

I think that in my head I’ve done something very dangerous. I’ve raised my expectations of myself to another level. I’ve gone from being very psyched by doing well on an 8A, to thinking I should be able to do 8A’s without too much hassle, and really I should be pushing much harder. It’s a dangerous thing to do because if you make a mistake you end up just being upset all the time that you are falling short of your expectations. That is where you should assess if your expectations are realistic. On the other hand it is a great motivator. I have been climbing alone a lot since being in font, and even before font. I don’t know why, but I guess I ended up being psyched and not wanting to slow down waiting for others. By raising the hypothetical bar in my head I am once again pushing myself harder, and I think I’m being realistic. I’ve always been my greatest critic, and also my greatest motivator. I have been so lucky to climb with beasts like James, Cattells, Simpson, and seeing them made me want it more. I came to font really hoping to be able to do an 8B before I leave. After today I am 100% sure that I will leave with one, but now that I have that in my head, an 8B is suddenly not enough. I want to climb more 8A+’s, more 8B’s, and perhaps try something harder. I hope this isn’t a case of sprinting before I can crawl, but time will tell. I also came here with a list as long as my arm of things to try, but I am now refining that list in my head. Tomorrow I will refine it on paper.

Aristotle said “He who is unable to live in society, or who has no need because he is sufficient for himself, must be either a beast or a God”. Today, whilst walking alone to the crag I was thinking about this quote, and I decided that with all the time I spend alone I have only one choice, to become a beast. Here’s to hoping.

Forty-one is prime in so many ways! It is regularly prime, it is the 12th supersingular prime, a Sophie Germain prime and a Newman-Shanks-Williams prime. That is PRIME!

Lying isn’t a good thing. Making bold statements about the future is a dangerous game that you should only play when you can accept the risks, which so often means accepting failure. Today, failure is something that I know nothing of. The only taste I have in my mouth is success (and Bolognese, Parmigiano, olive oil) because I managed to pinch my way up the (arguably) best line in the forest.

I was supposed to be doing uni work today, but it’s Sara’s last full day in font so I wanted to go out with her so she could climb. The first thing I saw this morning was a blue sky and I felt a cool wind blowing my face as I lay in bed. I did not want to be resting, but really felt like I needed it. We spent the morning doing small jobs that needed taking care of and in the afternoon Sara and I headed down to Buthiers. The weather had steadily declined as the day wore, but it was remaining dry. Sara warmed up, and was soon into the groove of things. She despatched a 6a slab without even thinking about it and moved on to a highball black 5+. Unfortunately a long move and weeping skin stopped play, but I’m sure she’ll do it next time.

By 4:30pm Sara was finished, the weather was getting worse, but I was getting more psyched. I was feeling very shaky though, like I was down on calories or something. I felt like I had no energy and had been cold all day, despite it being 10C. The solution? A quick trip to buy some pastries and get some sweet sugar inside me. A pain aux raisin and some chocolate thing later I was on top of the world and was warming up. After a number of red/black problems I was feeling good but then it started spitting. I looked to the sky and just pleaded “please, give me 1 hour, it’s all I need”. It was obviously coincidence when the rain stopped, but I didn’t wait any longer and rushed over to Partage. I gave it a quick brush, set up the camera, and had a go. First try was good, I felt much better on the second right hand hold. Feeling good on that means you can look at your feet more easily, which means more accurate placements, which ultimately means progress and eventually success. Another go or two and I could really feel that my skin wasn’t great, but I knew I had some good goes left in me. Next go I got up to the slopey right hand hold with a hole in it. I fell stabbing my hand into the hole/crimp thing which only meant one thing… I could do this problem. All doubt was erased from my mind and I let myself accept the inevitable conclusion. Only one more go was needed and I was stood on top. I’ve not been shouting at the top of boulders recently, only quietly acknowledging success. However, once I had the jug at the top I screamed. I screamed not because I had simply found success, or because it’s 8A+, or because it’s famous. I screamed because I had climbed something totally outstanding. Perhaps this is the first thing I have climbed which I genuinely think is incredible. The movement is practically perfect (slightly harder and it would be perfect) with the most sublime combination of power, technique, and control. I think I’ve dreamed about doing Partage for many, many years, long before I had the ability to do it. Today was the realisation of that dream and I’m pretty happy about it.

Addiction is a dangerous thing. Climbing can easily be an addiction, where the highs are success and the lows are failures. As I said yesterday though, the line is so badly delineated that it’s often confusing. Perhaps it’s because in climbing there is only one judge, and that is yourself. Since I was 15 I had a piece of paper on my wall that said “I’m the athlete. I’m the competition. I’m the distinguished panel of judges”. I think that sums up so much about me, my game, my life, and my climbing. The names and numbers are one thing, but the personal judgements are the real yardstick. I’m just hoping that I can continue to climb well, meet good conditions, and complete some more of my projects.

Bonne Grimpe.

39 is the smallest number whose sum of digits is larger than that of its square.
40 is a boring number, but in English, forty is the only number whose constituent letters appear in alphabetical order.

Now I’ve been here as long as Jesus was in the wilderness. I don’t know much about what Jesus did, but I know that I feel I haven’t done very much. What’s most fascinating about keeping this blog is I can easily see the ratio of climbing days to non climbing days. At the moment I’ve climbed 18 days out of 40. That’s a low percentage in my opinion, but that is how I must suffer due to horrific skin. Everybody has their weak spots, everyone must pay the price by accepting the bad that accompanies the good, and for me it’s my skin. I’m not complaining, simply realising that I have this defect which can hinder me.

I didn’t get a chance to update this yesterday, which is very lazy of me, but Sara made a last minute decision to come down to font for a few days. To rectify this, I have pulled out a couple of stills from the video I’ve been shooting, so you can see the amazing things which I have the privilege to climb. However, no blogging has in this particular case not implied no climbing. Conditions were fairly good both yesterday and today. Temps were around 7-9˚C and there was a bit of wind to boot.

I was determined to make the most of conditions so decided to head to Karma in the morning. This bloc is so great but at the same time so frustrating. It all boils down to a blind slap, which translates to many, many goes getting the move incorrect. However, as posted previously, I watched Lebreton absolutely destroy Karma, so strength, technique, and font magic probably make it easier. I’m just trying to increase the levels of each… My first few goes were good, and I felt very strong. I was able to hold the nothing next to the crimp when I didn’t get it right. That gave me a lot of confidence because I figured that if I could hold on to nothing then when I did get the crimp I would probably finish the problem. My goes continued, strength/power decreased, and accuracy became a problem. I think that it’s too physical a problem to have a lot of goes. My left arm soon gave up, and I had a bit of pain in my elbow from over exertion. Essentially that one move is just asking your left elbow to lock off 1-5 static (but much wider) and hang there whilst you faff about. I was disheartened because I really would love to do Karma, be like Ben Moon, and get the hardest tick in the real thing. Perhaps such a feat is just awaiting perfect timing… who knows, but I do know that I’ll be going back to try again. I don’t care how many sessions I spend on it, I see them as great investment. Sara also made an impressive ascent of an unnamed white problem, 6A, in just 2 goes. If you have ever been to Cuisiniere you have probably walked past it as it’s just before Misericorde. It’s kind of high, with a kind of bad landing. Both these things only add to the intimidation of a boulder problem, and whilst Sara is learning to climb and improving constantly, I want her to assess these things with total rational. The only thing to look at is the boulder. Can you climb it? Yes. Don’t let the fall put you off. Simply remain a master of your climbing and the boulder will subdue. I had to do the same thing myself later in the afternoon, which was a good personal test!

After some lunch back at the ranch Sara and I had to go to Nemours for some car stuff. On the way back we stopped at Sablibum so I could check out Pierre, Feuille, Ciseaux, 7B+. It’s a very cool highball, which would probably be E7 7A if you wanted to use an outdated and archaic grading scale. There is a new high quality video on bleau, and the chap in it was smart enough to have tripled up pads. I wasn’t. I only had one layer, which was fine, and I didn’t hurt myself, but I certainly didn’t want to FALL off. After some pre-emptive goes I figured out what was necessary and got through the crux. I reached the jug from which it is a jug haul to the top, but the jugs were filled with sand, filth, moss, etc. I was trying to blow it off but I was getting pumped, getting sand in my eyes, and did not want to slip off. All of these excuses amounted to one thing, me backing off, reversing a few moves and then jumping off. I was happy because I knew it was in the bag, but wasn’t willing to press on into dirty, sandy ground. Sara said she’d ab off and clean the holds which will help. I’ll do it next time I’m down there, because it’s a stunning feature. You can see something of the line in this still from my footage;

The second photo shows my highpoint, which is a couple of moves beyond the first photo.

Today was another day that looked good on the meteofrance forecast. I had booked my car in the garage but wanted to get to Buthiers in the morning for a session on Partage, 8A+. At about 9:30 we were just getting ready to leave and the clouds starting crying. A combination of hail and rain forced a quick change of plan. We headed to the garage and after a bit of faffing about we left in a courtesy car. The French really know service, and our courtesy car was a 15-year-old Citreon AX with serious problems. A VERY loud knocking noise emanated from the engine, but we ignored it and pressed on, just happy to have transport. The weather had cleared up a bit so we headed to Buthiers so I could try Partage and Sara could continue her onslaught of 6th grade problems. We warmed up on some easy things, and after a sandy flash of La Rampe, 7A, (which I exited directly and not the the left!) I felt good to go. I walked over to Partage, got psyched up for my first foray onto such a wonderful problem, and proceeded to flash the thing. Not really. I fell off the first move, getting your right foot nice and high. I’ve waited a long time to try this problem, and for no good reason. It’s incredible though, and perhaps I felt a bit intimidated by it’s (non physical) stature. In the course of the next 30 minutes I had found the method, and I have to say that these are some of the best moves I’ve ever done, anywhere. It’s so excellent that I think I will stop recommending anything to anyone, bar Partage. Damn it’s GOOD! I actually did rather well on it, and thought I was going to do it in one session. I even said at one point “doing this in one session will be the greatest thing I have ever achieved in climbing”. What a shame it didn’t happen. I even climbed through the crux, which is a left hand move in the middle, and fell going for the big sloper with a hole in it for my right hand. I kept trying, but my skin was tiring, my body was weakening, and after a last ditch effort I had to give up. The high point was thus;

I am absolutely psyched out of my mind to do this problem, and without sounding too confident, I know I am going to crush it. It’s just so perfect, the moves, the line, the height. If I wasn’t already sitting down I would need to right now. I decided not to try anything else until I do this, so next climbing day will be at Buthiers. I am nearly certain I’ll do it with another few goes, but let time be the judge of that. Tomorrow brings rest, possibly rain, and definitely more uni work for me. I hope the next blog entry brings good news and not broken dreams. Danny, I do it for you.

36 is the smallest number (besides 1) which is both square and triangular.

The weather always plays a part when making plans for rock climbing. Yesterday’s forecast predicted alright weather for today, bar the blazing heat that would be descending upon us. Of course, everything is relative, and by blazing I mean the prediction was for 16°C. As it turns out, they were wrong (a rare occurrence for the boys at MeteoFrance). The car was reading 17.5°C as we drove away from the crag today…

Saturday is normally a busy day here at Maisonbleau because people are leaving in the AM and arriving in the PM. Once all the jobs here are taken care of Neil and I head out to the crag. Before I went to bed last night we were discussing a plan for today and I was in the mood for closing projects, not trying new things. With that in mind I declared my intent to slay La Coccinelle, 8A, at Buthiers. Why do I want to do this problem so much? Perhaps it’s the Staminaband of Fontainebleau, by which I mean it’s one of the most famous traverses, and so maybe it’s a rite of passage in the traverse department. I’m not exactly known for my cosmic levels of Stamina, but La Coccinelle is a 2 move problem with some easy moves before and after, so it was a ripe challenge. Plus, Jerry does it in The Real Thing which is reason enough to want to do it!

Armed with the pressure of being like Jerry we headed to Buthiers. I plopped my pads beneath it, and did the end a couple of times to warm up, which also served as a reminder as to where the footholds are. I was beginning to feel warmed up when the first drops of impending doom fell from the sky. I wasn’t quite warmed up enough to get involved with the crux move, but the prospect of rain forced my hand and I had a go from the start. Needless to say it wasn’t very good, but perhaps my desperation to climb this bloc showed, and the rain held off for a few more minutes. I tried the crux move a couple more times, but it just felt hard, and then more drops of failure fell from the sky. Neil declared the last couple of slopers to be getting bad, but I didn’t care as I knew I could hold on if I ever got there. In a moment of pure desperation I even reverted to trying the heelhook method (forgive me Jerry) but after 5 goes I sacked it off. I’m happy I gave up on that method for 2 reasons. It makes you feel close to the move when really you’re not, and also because that’s not how Jerry did it. If he didn’t need a heel, then why do I? The rain had stopped, and I was busy brushing the holds with a bit of chalk, still determined to slay this dragon. I had some good goes where I got the pocket but only with the tips of two fingers, and I slipped straight out as soon as I tried to move off it. I really needed to get 3 fingers squeezed in to make use of the good bit of the hold, but it wasn’t happening. I kept trying though… Persistence is a quality required in this game (as the great Doylo taught me). Eventually, with a smile on my face, I set off. Before I set off I remember saying to myself that if I was doing it easily it just wouldn’t mean as much to me. The beauty and the joy is in the struggle itself. Failure is actually the path to true reward. With that in mind started. 2 moves later I was at the crux and not feeling particularly good or bad, but I managed to get 2 fingers in the pocket. However, I hadn’t fallen off yet, my foot was still glued on, and a quick foot change enabled me to jump to the pinch (essentially the end!). By some miracle I stuck the pinch and my 2 fingers were still clinging to the lip of the pocket! Wow. I was actually surprised to still be on the rock. Just a plod to the end remained and I must have seemed a bit mental as I climbed along saying things like “don’t fuck up now”, “you’re feeling good”, etc to myself. Sure enough I got to the top and felt quite chuffed. I had to try hard to get it done, but the failure only added to the sweet taste of success. I knew I could climb it, from my very first go to the very last. It was a matter of persistence.

With it in the bag I was ready to head back home. I wasn’t feeling in great shape, and conditions weren’t exactly good, so I came home, and had a good stretch. My ass is feeling nearly pain free and a day of rest (uni work) tomorrow will mean I’m 100% for Monday.

34 is the smallest number to be surrounded by numbers with the same number of divisors as it has.

The last few days have been spent driving to crags, putting on climbing shoes, and then watching as the heavens open and rain drenches the perfect sandstone blocs. There isn’t much you can do with wet sandstone boulders so a step back is required, and I’ve been doing a couple of fingerboard sessions to try and make sure all this outdoor malarky isn’t going to cause me to get burned off by Dobbin upon returning to the school.

Yesterday evening I was really feeling like I should be climbing as the conditions were excellent and Lorenzo was trying Sale Gosse, 7C, which I really want to do. Luckily I’d pre-empted myself and left my boots at home on purpose! I felt rather torn because I felt like I was wasting good conditions but at the same time I was determined to let my skin recover to a decent state. Lorenzo made good progress on Sale Gosse, reaching the last move after a few goes. Unfortunately the last move provided the crux, and he was stuck between an all out jump for the top or a tricky balancy move to the hold just below the top (as used by Catherine Miquel). Next time…

Today I woke up nervous about the weather, because I was missing climbing, but my first view of the world through bleary eyes revealed that things were allright. The magic piece of wood in the garden was dry (a sure sign that there is dry rock out there!) and the skies weren’t full of grey clouds. I was psyched, rushed to get dressed, eat breakfast, drink tea, and then went out to get Lorenzo. The guy was asleep, probably dreaming about climbing. 20 minutes later he was in the car and we were off to Cuvier Rempart whilst listening to Breakthrough by Queen. BOOM! The rocks were dry, the sky was clouding over, but things were looking alright. I walked straight up to the big four area and remembered just how great they are, also thinking how Graham crushed them on his first day in font back in 2001. I harbour a deep desire to climb Big Golden and Atresie, two great benchmarks, and two serious challenges for me. I warmed up by doing some very easy things, then a Nameless 7B, then went over to try and flash Noir Desir, 7C. I hadn’t tried it on purpose because I knew I could flash it, but was sick of waiting to try it. I just walked over, plopped the pad down, and sorted out a sequence. Whilst figuring it out I had my hand on the first hold and was reaching up with my other hand when all of a sudden my hand ripped, I lost my footing, came crashing down, missed the pad, and my left arse cheek landed on the corner of a sharp rock. I’m sat here 12 hours later having to sit on a cushion cause of the bruise on my left cheek. I could barely walk down from Rempart due the pain. But anyway, after this setback I was determined to flash it so I set off, only to grease off on the hold after the undercut. Damn it! I was a bit disappointed but I knew I could do it. Next go I fell on the move to the jug, DAMN IT! The last holds before the jug felt so greasy and as soon as I looked at my tips they were devoid of any trace of chalk. Oh well. I had one more go and my hands just slipped off so I gave up. The move up from the undercut went static, so I did feel strong, but strength isn’t everything (am I serious?). I chalked up one last time and climbed it from the undercut to the top to make sure the move was easy and it was, when you aren’t greasing off from lack of chalk. Anyway, It’s a great problem and I’ll include on the warm up circuit next time I’m up at Rempart.

Now that I was warmed up attention turned to Atresie, 8A. I thought I had a good chance of doing it as the previous session I felt really strong. Today was a different story altogether. I didn’t once manage to get the kneescum in correctly, leaving my flailing and pulling way too hard on the undercut. One go this resulted in me ripping off the undercut, the first point of contact with the ground (not the pad!) was my ass which only added insult to injury. From this point on my ass was seriously debilitating. A few more goes and I was ready to quit. Conditions felt bad, I felt bad, and sometimes that just the way the cookie crumbles. I accepted my fate for the day and packed up. Lorenzo wanted to try Ouzo, 8A, so I walked down there with him to give him a spot (or rather, to watch, since it’s quite low). Once down there I was sucked in to giving it a go. I’m too weak to say no sometimes, especially when I have the opportunity to try a problem with somebody rather than alone. It didn’t take too long to figure out a sequence. I had seen pictures of Adam Wood (check the link) on it, but I ended up freestyling and using a rather different (read; simple but powerful) sequence. I managed it without heelhooks and without matching if that gives you any sort of clue. Sometimes I think I take school rules a bit too far (like outside the schoolroom). I had a number of goes getting closer and closer. Then a bit of tea and a piece of chocolate gave me the required psyche to latch the crux hold and I was on my way to the top. Success! I was a bit surprised to have done it, because it felt kind of hard, but also because I had stopped climbing for the day due to feeling like I was a sack of spuds. I was pleased anyway, and also pleased to have got it on film. Too often I forget to switch the camera on or never get it out because I’m unsure if I can do something. Doing Ouzo saved my day in a way. It turned a failure (not in a particularly bad sense) into a success. It’s a fine line in climbing, between success and failure, but one so clearly marked that it’s something painfully obvious. Truly, success is a personal battle and not entirely dependant on reaching the top of a piece of rock.

With a now very, very painful ass I hobbled back down to the car park. It was 6pm and I hadn’t eaten since 9:30am apart from a Pain au chocolat. I got home bruised and starving, starving to the point where I did eat something but immediately felt sick, as if I was about to throw up. It took me a lot longer than usual to eat something due to this sick feeling. That pain eventually passed, but my ass is still killing me. I’m sat on a pile of cushions and it still hurts. It’s never hurt this much before… Tomorrow is Lorenzo’s last day so fingers crossed for good weather, pain free ass, and much crushing.

31 is the third Mersenne prime! RAD!

Late lastnight Fontainebleau felt a small tremble when the Italian Stallion, Lorenzo, rolled into town. After a whirlwind tour of Britain he was ready for some sandstone action. His first nights decent sleep saw him awake and ready to crush, but the forecast was iffy. It had rained a little during the night but the wind had arrive in the morning to solve all our problems. We drove to Cuvier (surprise, surprise) cause Lore was psyched for La Balance and I thought that Rempart would be a sure fire bet for dry rock. We started the warm up circuit which now involves Coup de Bambou, 6C+. I love slab climbing, not more than I love overhanging subtle power problems, but I love them none the less. The weather didn’t look too good, but before the boulders were actually soaked, we’d keep going! We moved over to Bicep Mou, 7B, I was psyched because I couldn’t remember ever having tried it, and it’s a real thing tick! I think I just want to tick everything in that film, which is sad but probably true. I had a couple of goes to figure out what to do, and then Lore came over to test himself against Jo Montchausse (he did the FA). Once I’d established where the finishing jug was I did it next go and even paid a little homage to Ben and Jerry (wait for the video). Lorenzo struggled with the first move citing lack of height, but I’d put it down to still being a bit tired from the travelling. Soon thereafter the rain began, first the persistent spitting and then the dreaded downpour. That settled that, and we headed home.

After a bite to eat the weather turned, the rain had stopped and wind was blowing like George Michael. Charged up we headed out to try L’Homme Fossile. I knew everything in the roof would be dry and the final move to the jug would be drying quickly, so I was hopeful. Upon arrival it was clear that it was climbable, and it was drying at a ridiculously fast rate. It didn’t matter even if the final jug was wet since the moves at that point looked so easy. I pulled on to do the 7A+ to the left called Feel du Logis, but after doing the first move I felt something moving in my right hand. I let go and sure enough, the entire starting jug was peeling away. All the holds in this roof have been glued, which was completely necessary to preserve the holds, but the glue was become unbonded. It was bonded to the hold, but not to the roof. It was quite a large chunk of rock, so neither of us pulled on that hold again. We climbed it from the next move in, and did it in the original eliminate way which is really fun moves. Then on to the main meat. The crux move was obvious, and took a whole heap of power and a bit of thinking, but it was solved. The rest was steady, powerfulish undercut moves leading to the lip. I did all the moves quickly and was psyched to have a go when Lorenzo realised something rather alarming. Whilst brushing one of the holds he noticed a bit of movement… uh oh… And upon closer inspection, and a bit of pulling to test it out, we realised that a crucial hold in the middle of the roof was very loose. Not only that, but the crack along which this chunk of rock was planning to detach was about 45cm long. A few taps revealed just how hollow it was, and there was no doubt that if I pulled hard on this hold it would break, and being an undercut, it would break right into my face/chest. I didn’t fancy a 40kg piece of rock landing on me so I quickly quit. The moves were so good though so I was doing the rest of it when we realised that all the holds, bar the first and the last were loose. They were all flexing like Daniel Smith! The death zone suddenly came over us, and we both stopped. They were getting worse and worse, with a potentially serious injury if one of them did break. It’s a real shame because it’s a cool problem, but I don’t know how you’d solidify these holds, other than drilling a huge steak into them and affixing them deep into the rock. The bottom line is, don’t climb there!

There was still daylight left, and we were psyched, so we drove to Buthiers. I wanted to finish of La Coccinelle, and Lore wanted to humble magic bus. La Coccinelle was completely dry, bar one finger on one hold. Unfortunately, it was a crucial finger on a crucial hold! Magic Bus was dry though, and after a bit of fannying about figuring out just how he wanted to crush it, Lore despatched in fine style.

It was a day of rain, wind, and power, but it goes to show that if you persevere a bit you can always find some good rock that will be dry. It’s all about the knowledge, knowing where to go in what conditions and I think I am starting to learn these mysteries of the forest.

29 is the smallest multi-digit prime whose product of digits of its cube is also a cube!

Just a short entry, because rainshowers were intermittent all day so only the smallest amount of climbing was done. We went over to have a look at L’Homme Fossile which is something I’ve wanted to see/try/do for ages! We got there and it’s a fairly small little roof, with plenty of glue/cement, but it’s still cool. There aren’t many roofs like it in font, and probably not many sandstone roofs like it anywhere, since sandstone isn’t the best material for crimps in a roof! Anyway, I hadn’t taken my boots thinking it would be a bit wet, but it wasn’t and so I trekked back to the car to get them. Unfortunately, upon arrival at the car it was already raining so we gave up and drove on to Recloses.

I’d seen a video recently of Olivier Lebreton doing Narcotic Direct, 8B, and it looked very cool. Since Recloses was on our way home it was worth a bash. Unfortunately there was nothing to warm up on, and the holds were slightly damp, but I had a quick bash and can sum it up as a 1 move problem. It’s 3 biggish, powerfulish, but ultimately easy moves into a hard 1 move throw, then 1 tricky move, followed by a lunge to the finishing jug. I came close to the crux move, which is crazy. I’ll try to get a photo when I go back. Watch the video to see what I mean. The intermediate crimp is sharp, but I think I can try it with tape on! My skin is just such a wuss, it can’t take any level of sharpness without ripping.

More soon, I hope!

26 is the only number between a square number and a cube number, which was first proved by Pierre de Fermat (genius mathematician!). 26 is also the maximum number of moves needed to solve a rubiks cube, which is neat. I used to be able to solve a rubiks cube in under 30 secs.

I always end up writing these blog entries late at night and usually with sore tips. Today is no exception as I have both sore tips and heavy eyelids. This morning I awoke to see grey skies and very light rain. It soon rolled in and the rain poured for a couple of hours, but there was still some hope as the wind was blowing and if it did stop raining we’d surely find dry rock. We headed to decathlon so I could buy a skipping rope which I’m planning on utilising every morning! Sara said I could lose some weight so I’m going to get on the case and get my heart rate up every morning pre breakfast. There’s no point lugging excess weight up all these boulders so if I can lose a couple of kg then all the better. After purchasing the rope we grabbed some lunch and drove down to Cuvier. It had stopped raining at the strong winds meant that many blocs were dry already. In fact, I would hazard a guess that it hadn’t rained that much at Cuvier since there was way too much chalk about… unless there is a man who waits until the second the rain stops and then heads out armed with plenty of chalk to whiten up every hold. It was only 2pm so I chilled and Sara climbed. She crushed more red problems and also did another 6A which is great for her confidence. I wonder when the day of 7A will arrive?

As the day wore on I decided to get my boots on and warm up. The plan was to warm up at Bas Cuvier, have a couple of tries on Apotheose then head up to Rempart. That plan went straight out the window within 10 mins. I have pretty much devised my warm up circuit now, which involves a red problem or two, then Carnage, Berezine, Carnazina, etc. I thought I’d have a quick go on the Carnage-Berezina Assis, 8A, link up as I hadn’t done it and I’m aiming to tick the block, but that quick go turned into a siege. There was a crucial point where it changed from a quick go to a must do siege attempt. Conditions weren’t great and so my skin wasn’t lasting long. I had lost just a little too much skin on the Berezina-Carnage assis link up so that I knew my goes on Kheops would be wasted, but I had enough skin left to fight on through with this problem. I had no choice but to press on. Conditions on the crux hold on Berezina were atrocious, as normally I can get it every go and get to the top but I was getting it and just sliding off, which was killing my skin. I also changed my hand sequence slightly so that when I got to the start of Berezina I was holding the holds a little lower. It made the move up easier on it’s own but wasn’t helping on the link. After way too many goes I realised just what I was doing wrong. Something so subtle that I fear it’s too difficult to explain. It had to do with the trajectory my hand and my body was taking throughout the move. Utilising the hand holds in method 1 would give my body and hand a certain trajectory, but method 2 gave it something different. I was using method 2 with trajectory 1. Not until I was really concentrating did I realise that this was the crucial mistake. Only a few goes later I was stood on top. I wished I’d realised earlier as I really have no skin left now on my right hand. I think I’ll have to take 2 days off and get intimate with the climb on. I only have Apotheose to do and I’ll have ticked that block which would be a pretty cool feat.

After that epic I was keen to get on something else, but light was fading fast and my skin was weeping the tears of a thousand virgin mary’s. I saw someone on Coup de Feel, 7C/+, the other day and thought it looked amazing so we headed over there for a quick burn. Within a few goes I’d done the crux move, and was one move from the top jug but I let go due to lack of carrot vision to see the footholds, and a fear of slapping for a hold that I thought was very very bad. It turns out the hold is good and I should have slapped, but that’s part of living and learning! I’ll get it done next time I’m at Cuvier (which I still think is all too often at the moment!).

Tomorrow the forecast is for rain, which I’ll welcome actually so I can let my skin recover. Also scheduled is the man to empty the septic tank, so let’s hope that works out without a hitch!