Paris et Fontainebleau!

I know it's been awhile since my last update so I apologize for that. Things have been pretty hectic for me since the end of the France portion so without any further stalling, here we go! After climbing in Frankenjura with Dave, the 3 of us piled into our EuropCar and started the drive towards Paris. I've dreamed of climbing in Fontainebleau for quite sometime and it was finally time to make the trek. We setup the bouldering pad in the backseat so that the 3rd person wouldn't have to sit on hard plywood the entire drive; it was super safe... trust me. :) We made it to a hotel late at night near the airport since we were to pick up Alex's parents the following morning.  

Since we never got Dave his traditional Bavarian breakfast while in Germany, we were lucky enough to scrounge some of the makings from a grocery store and had them for dinner that night. We brought in our camping cookware and made Dave his meal right there in our hotel room! Weissbeir, Weisswurst, and bretzen... mmmmmm!!!! After we picked up Alex's parents, we headed to Paris to do some sightseeing. Our friend Camille that we met in Peru was back in Paris and she was gracious enough to walk, talk, and show us around her city.

Notre Dame!!!

Camille hung out with us and showed us a good time around the city for the first day. We saw Notre Dame, had some wine down by the river, and got some yummy ice cream too. Our plan was to check out Fontainebleau for the next few days until Dave and Alex's parents had to leave. We'd then take a rest day back in Paris. We packed up our van with our crashpads while Alex and his parents took the train down to Font. We then checked into the hotel (Alex's parents were gracious enough to reserve a room for us as well) and then headed out to the boulders! We didn't have a full guidebook, just random snipits of information that we pulled together online. Hopefully we could figure out where to go!

The Louvre

Now, for anyone who hasn't climbed at Fontainebleau before, the climbing is very different from anything that we've found in the States or the previous countries that we've visited. The rock is sandstone and forms these slopey holds on these egg-like formations. Sometimes you'll find the occasional crimp or overhung roof climb but these are an exception. This place requires tons of technique and body position and if you don't know the sequence to get up even the easiest of problems, it probably won't happen! I loved the challenge and even though I was climbing problems much easier than what I can climb, I had an amazing time figuring out how to climb at this place. 

Alex staring down some sloper holds on a v3?... say what?!

Fontainebleau has many sectors which are spread out over a large area near the actual town of Fontainebleau. Some of them took almost 30+ minutes to get to from our place. Having a car here is a must; you could get around by hitch hiking or by public transit but you'd cut out a serious chunk of your climbing time. Everyone that we met there had a van to house all of their belongings and crash in at night. If they wanted to move to a new area, they'd just pack up and drive to the new spot and throw down. Best way to go in my opinion for sure!

Above, Alex and Dave are trying to climb the classic Helicopter! It's a v6 where you climb the left side of the boulder, grab a sloper with your left and a undercling sloper with your right, then jump to a jug up and to the right. Your body swings left to right horizontally like the blades of helicopter blade and you have to hold the swing... super difficult and scary since you are pretty high off the ground! Amazing problem... Camille came out and bouldered with us for a couple days as well which was awesome!

Mo crushing a boulder problem...

On our first rest day, we went to check out the Chateau at Fontainebleau. Many great people spent their time in this chateau, including Napoleon. We got to see very intricate decorations and paintings, ornate furniture and chandeliers, not to mention beautiful architecture and grounds. So much history in this place and we were super lucky to witness it first hand. If you ever head to Font, I'd highly recommend taking an afternoon to check out the Chateau; you won't regret it!

The gang in front of the main entrance to the Chateau... damn we look good!

Back to Bouldering! There were so many different types of climbs with so many styles and techniques that we were able to try. You name it; slopers, cracks, rails, crimps, pockets, jugs, knee scums, knee bars, campuses, edging, smedging, mantles, dynos... the list goes on. This place tore not just our fingers up, but our entire bodies. We had to use all of our muscles to get up these climbs and we were always super tired after each day. Our forearms weren't the only thing that got sore; our backs, our triceps, our lats, our hamstrings, EVERYTHING!

Our buddy Alex (not Li) from Magic Wood met us out in Font and he joined us for the last few days that we were there. I found out that he was another guy from the States, near Santa Barbara at the time. Super ironic how we were so far across the word yet another guy 1 hour from our college ended up climbing with us. Unfortunately, he got injured doing the climb pictured below, hitting his knee on the point at the bottom of the photo. He was MIA until the last day or so of the trip. Bummer dude!

The forest that Font is located in spans for miles and is quite beautiful regardless of whether you climb or not. There are tons of hiking trails and we met tons of people who took their kids out and hiked through the forest to have a picnic in some of the open areas. One day, we climbed in this area on a small hill and I was able to capture the setting sun while Alex (Li this time) tried a problem or two. I wasn't climbing that day because I hurt myself pretty badly a couple days before. It was a pretty scary incident for me and I'm glad to be writing to you injury free at the moment. Here's what happened...

Stunning sunset in Fontainebleau forest

I injured myself pretty badly at the end of one of our climbing days. We were trying this v5/6 that required you to twist your body pretty badly. As it is, I already have some back problems so this twisting really didn't jive with me. We were getting kicked off this climb left and right and Alex and I were getting pretty frustrated that we weren't able to it. I figured, why not try really hard this one time and if it doesn't go, I'll forget it. Well, on this time, something seemed to pop in my back and I immediately fell off because something wasn't right. I couldn't stand up because there was so much pain so I laid face down on the bouldering pad. This was the only position that seemed to not aggravate my back. Every time I tried to stand up, the pain would come back. I ended up lying there for over an hour trying to figure out what to do.

Sending a 7b+ compression problem in Isatis area

Somehow, my muscles calmed down enough for me to hobble to the van and head back to camp. After eating a large dinner, I took a hot shower hoping that would ease some of the pain and tension in my back. Unfortunately, it didn't help too much. That night, I woke up feeling like I couldn't move. I forced myself up even though it hurt really badly and tried to make myself walk outside. I could barely do that and ended up face down on my bed hoping the pain would subside. I took more pain killers and didn't really fall back asleep. That next morning, Alex tried pressing my back and luckily a rib popped back in!!!! Apparently, 3 ribs had popped out during that climb. I rested more that day and over the next couple, all 3 ribs were back in place and the pain subsided. Ultra scary for 3+ days but luckily, it didn't keep me from climbing well afterwards. So fortunate to not have to go to the hospital or fly back home!!! :)

Alex trying to mantle the alligator! Lay on your back, grab the snout, and mantle!

The last day in Font, Alex and I headed to this famous climb called Rainbow rocket, a v10/11 dyno with some other dynos next to it. A beautiful boulder that literally looks like we're jumping up the side of a gigantic ocean liner. I must have put in over 15-20 tries before sticking the gigantic dyno! So cool to end the trip with such a cool climb. Thanks to all those with pads and who took photos.

Alex and I took some of our rest days in Paris. Camille was gracious enough to let us crash at her father's flat near the Eiffel tower which was super convenient for us. Camille showed us and took us everywhere. We met a few of her friends, attended some outdoor music concerts and a independent film showing and we went to a giant music festival. We also checked out some amazing food while in Paris, including Allie's favorite crepe place which was amazing! All in all, France and Camille showed us an unforgettable time and I can't wait to come back again; thanks so much MO!!!!!!! ;-)

We then drove back to Munich to head to Oktoberfest. Our goal was to make it to the Hacker-Pschorr tent and get in line super early in the morning in hopes of getting a table for the large group of people that we had. Somehow, I managed to squeeze past a bunch of people and found the last table in the building; it magically became un-reserved right as I got there and I snagged it. So lucky!!! We drank ourselves silly and had a grand time. While in Germany, we also went to the BMW museum, sat on some of their motorcycles, and went to one of the greatest water parks ever with swimming pools and hot tubs everywhere (thanks for the idea Erin and Lex!!!). So nice to just relax and rest our bodies from all of the climbing.

Allie crushing it up around pitch 4!

I decided to fly home for a couple weeks before heading to Spain. During those couple weeks, I met up with a lot of friends, including hanging out with Jared for his 30th bday in Yosemite and climbing with Travis and others in Bishop. It was super hot but we managed to find shade and climb a few things. Allie and I also decided to go climb Half Dome one weekend! She had never been up there before and Snake Dike would be a great way to get up there instead of the crazy crowded cables way. We drove out to Yosemite friday afternoon and decided that instead of hiking part way up the trail with all of our sleeping stuff, we'd just wake up early and hike to the route, climb it, and hike back down in a day. This way, we wouldn't have to carry anything else besides our climbing gear; our backs would thank us later. The weather was perfect but when we got to the base, there were already 7+ parties in front of us!!!!!!! It literally looked like we showed up to Everest but in sunny Yosemite instead.

So happy! We also met an awesome couple from Germany/Austria on our way up...

We could have rocked the route in probably just a couple hours but it ended up taking us 6+ hours due to all of the super slow parties in front of us. No matter though, we met this awesome couple behind us and had a grand old time taking photos, goofing off, and taking in the scenery around us. We made it to the top of Half Dome around 4pmish and took our photos, ate our lunch, then headed back down to camp. We both were super tired but made it back to camp around 9ish. Lagunitas, grilled cheese, and tomato soup revived us while we chatted and remembered the day. Soon we were too tired to keep our eyes open and fell fast asleep. The next day, we just rested in El Cap Meadow, swam a little bit, then headed back to the bay. Such an awesome weekend!!!!

It was so great to see old friends and hang out in some of my favorite places back here at home. The plan now is to head to Spain for some hard sport climbing in Siurana and bouldering in Albarracin. Then on to Egypt for a week long trip to see the pyramids, temples, and tombs of the Egyptians. I'll be back in the States on November 6th. Watching a tennis tournament in LA with my sister, then straight to Bishop for some more bouldering! Tune in next time to see how Spain and Egypt were! Safe travels!

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