Fontainebleau rock climbing - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

The region around Fontainebleau

Fontainebleau

Fontainebleau is a commune in the metropolitan area of Paris, France. It is located south-southeast of the centre of Paris. Fontainebleau is a sub-prefecture of the Seine-et-Marne department, and it is the seat of the arrondissement of Fontainebleau...

in France

France

The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...

is particularly famous for its beautiful and concentrated bouldering

Bouldering

Bouldering is a style of rock climbing undertaken without a rope and normally limited to very short climbs over a crash pad so that a fall will not result in serious injury. It is typically practiced on large natural boulders or artificial boulders in gyms and outdoor urban areas...

areas.
French alpine climbers practiced bouldering

Bouldering

there since the 19th century.
It remains today a prime climbing location. It is the biggest and most developed bouldering area in the world.

The Fontainbleau climbing areas are located in a forested area South of Paris

Paris

Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...

. They are colloquially known as "Font" to English speakers, and as Bleau in France. They are located mostly within the Forêt Domaniale (National Forest) de Fontainebleau, near the town of Fontainebleau

Fontainebleau

, des Trois Pignons (near Milly-la-Forêt

Milly-la-Forêt

Milly-la-Forêt is a commune in the Essonne department in Île-de-France in northern France.-Geology:The Forest of Fontainebleau in the western end of which Milly-la-Forêt lies, is composed of the Oligocene Fontainebleau sands, which are a marine deposit, laid down in an intertidal...

) and de la Commanderie (near Larchant

Larchant

Larchant is a commune in the Seine-et-Marne department in the Île-de-France region.-External links:* * * *...

).
Some of the major areas are:

Le Cul du Chien in les Trois Pignons.
le Cuvier (Bas-Cuvier
Bas Cuvier
Le Bas-Cuvier is one of the most famous bouldering sites in Fontainebleau. Due to a remarkably good concentration of boulders, wide variety of problems of varying levels and relative closeness to the town it has become one of the first places that many climbers visit.Famous problems include La...

, Cuvier Rempart
Cuvier Rempart
Cuvier Rempart is a bouldering area in the Fontainebleau forest, where its first 8a named C'etait Demain is located....

) and les Gorges d'Apremont
Gorges d'Apremont
Les Gorges d'Apremont are located several kilometers from Fontainebleau. Les Gorges d'Apremont is a splendid rock climbing area with several hundred rocks of all levels.-See also:* Fontainebleau rock climbing...

in Forêt de Fontainebleau.
La Dame Jouanne and l'Éléphant at Larchant
Larchant
Larchant is a commune in the Seine-et-Marne department in the Île-de-France region.-External links:* * * *...

, in Forêt de la Commanderie.

Although at a farther distance, the climbing areas of Beauvais http://beauvaisenblocs.free.fr/ (Nainville-les-Roches

Nainville-les-Roches

Nainville-les-Roches is a commune in the Essonne department in Île-de-France in northern France.Inhabitants of Nainville-les-Roches are known as Nainvillois.-References:** -External links:* *...

, north of Milly

Milly-la-Forêt

), Nemours

Nemours

Nemours is a commune in the Seine-et-Marne department in the Île-de-France region in north-central France.-Geography:Nemours is located on the Loing and its canal, c...

, Buthiers-Malesherbes (West of Larchant

Larchant

Larchant is a commune in the Seine-et-Marne department in the Île-de-France region.-External links:* * * *...

) and Chamarande

Chamarande

Chamarande is a commune of Essonne department in the southern suburbs of Paris.Inhabitants of Chamarande are known as Chamarandais.-History:...

are similar and are considered part of Bleau.

The Fontainebleau grading system originated here.

History

At the end of the 1800s, Aldolphe Joanne, the president of the Club Alpin Français

Club alpin français

The Club alpin français, usually referred to as the CAF, is a federation of club promoting mountain sports. It offers multiple training and courses to help people understand mountains....

, invited foreign visitors to visit the sites of Franchard and Apremont

Gorges d'Apremont

Les Gorges d'Apremont are located several kilometers from Fontainebleau. Les Gorges d'Apremont is a splendid rock climbing area with several hundred rocks of all levels.-See also:* Fontainebleau rock climbing...

.
In 1900, the Club Alpin Français

Club alpin français

The Club alpin français, usually referred to as the CAF, is a federation of club promoting mountain sports. It offers multiple training and courses to help people understand mountains....

organised a meet to ascend "the Gorges d'Apremont

Gorges d'Apremont

range" and then go to Larchant

Larchant

Larchant is a commune in the Seine-et-Marne department in the Île-de-France region.-External links:* * * *...

whose huge rocks constitute the "usual practicing area of the Paris Section of CAF

Club alpin français

The Club alpin français, usually referred to as the CAF, is a federation of club promoting mountain sports. It offers multiple training and courses to help people understand mountains....

."

Several Bleau boulders or routes are named after famous climbers of the beginning of the XX^th century: Prestat, Wehrlin, Maunoury, Gaché, Labour, Paillon, Souverain, and the famous Pierre Allain

Pierre Allain

Pierre Allain was a French alpinist who began climbing in the 1920s. In the 1930s he was joined by several others at Fontainebleau, where his group of "'Bleausards" developed a love of bouldering that went beyond simple training for the Alps. The famous , done in 1934, is a testament to their...

, the inventor of the smooth-sole
climbing shoe (named P.A. from his initials). Before World War II, most of the areas that are popular today were already well known
to Parisian climbers, except for Les Trois Pignons, which was not easily accessible by public transport.

At the time, people would climb in Fontainebleau primarily to train for mountain climbing

Mountaineering

Mountaineering or mountain climbing is the sport, hobby or profession of hiking, skiing, and climbing mountains. While mountaineering began as attempts to reach the highest point of unclimbed mountains it has branched into specialisations that address different aspects of the mountain and consists...

.
Thus, the 1936 French expedition to Karakoram

Karakoram

The Karakoram, or Karakorum , is a large mountain range spanning the borders between Pakistan, India and China, located in the regions of Gilgit-Baltistan , Ladakh , and Xinjiang region,...

included several Bleausards (Bleau climbers).
Bleausards Robert Paragot, Lucien Bérardini and René Ferlet made the first ascent of the South Face of the Aconcagua

Aconcagua

Aconcagua is the highest mountain in the Americas at . It is located in the Andes mountain range, in the Argentine province of Mendoza and it lies west by north of its capital, the city of Mendoza. The summit is also located about 5 kilometres from San Juan Province and 15 kilometres from the...

in 1954.
Initially, there were no formalised routes; climbers would choose the most remarkable boulders, aiming for the highest and most committed ones, as a preparation for the mountains.

The first guidebook appeared in 1945, written by Maurice Martin

Maurice Martin

Maurice "Mo" Martin is a retired American basketball player. He played at Saint Joseph's University from 1982 to 1986 and was an Associated Press honorable mention All-American in his senior year. The 1986 Atlantic 10 Player of the Year, he was a three-time selection to both the All-Conference...

, providing a map of blocks and routes with their names and ratings.
The first painted route was created in 1947 by Fred Bernick in the Cuvier Rempart

Cuvier Rempart

Cuvier Rempart is a bouldering area in the Fontainebleau forest, where its first 8a named C'etait Demain is located....

area, followed by routes at Les Gorges d'Apremont

Gorges d'Apremont

painted by Pierre Mercier in 1952.
The standardisation of route colour by difficulty (Yellow = PD, Orange = AD, Blue = D, Red = TD, Black = ED, White = ED+) dates back to the 1980s.

Today, most Bleau climbing areas are owned by the French state and managed by the Office National des Forêts

Office national des forêts

The National Forests Office , or ONF, is a public establishment of the National Government of France charged with the management of national forests....

, in cooperation with the local governments and with the climbers, represented by COSIROC (Comité de Défense des Sites et Rochers d'Escalade).

Grading system and route marking

Two complementary grading systems are in use.

The adjectival system ("difficulté" in French guidebooks) goes from F (Facile, easy) to ED+ (Extrêmement Difficile Supérieur, Extremely Difficult Higher) applies to a whole route. It measures the overall difficulty and danger of the route. (An easy route with a single hard move is graded lower than one where the hardest move is the same, but many moves are hard or unprotected.)
The numerical system ("cotation" in French), ranging from 1a to 8c+, that measures the difficulty of a single boulder or move. The numerical grade of a route is the grade of the whole route's most difficult move.

This is now widely used also in other bouldering areas around the world.
However, the Bleau grades are generally more severe; thus an 8a route outside of Bleau is significantly easier than an 8a boulder problem in Bleau.

Route paint marks

The typical Bleau landscape is a "chaos" of rocks (no more than a few meters high) spread over a sandy plain.
A climbing route threads its way from boulder to boulder.

Routes (circuits in French) are numbered within the restricted area (say, within Les Gorges d'Apremont

Gorges d'Apremont

).
Routes are colour-coded according to their adjectival grade:

Colour	Abbreviation	Adjective !! Translation	Typical Numeric
White	Enf.	Enfants	Children	none
Yellow	F	Facile	Easy	2–3
Orange	AD	Assez difficile	Fairly Difficult	3–4
Blue	D	Difficile	Difficult	4–5
Red	TD	Très difficile	Very difficult	5–6
Black or White	ED	Extrêmement difficile	Extremely difficult	6-7

(The Translation column is a literal translation of the French adjective; do not assume any relation to any other grading system.)

A small number of routes have retained their historical, non-standard colour, notably at Les Gorges d'Apremont

Gorges d'Apremont

(La bleue outremer = marine blue) and La Dame Jouanne (La mauve = purple).

All the boulders used along a given route are marked the same colour.
The difficulty of each individual move can be found in guidebooks.

The first rock of the route (le départ) carries a white painted rectangle inscribed with the route number and its grading (e.g. AD+) in the appropriate colour (orange in this example).
On each individual boulder, an arrow indicates the general direction of climb.
Problem boulders are numbered in sequence (number 1 is typically the boulder after the départ);
easier, transition boulders are marked with an unnumbered arrow.
Alternative problems are marked with an arrow and a b (bis) or a t (ter), or with a small triangle (variante).
Where the same route crosses a boulder twice, the first arrow is marked A (aller) and the second R (retour).
The final boulder is marked with a circled A (arrivée).
The body is positioned such that the arrow is at navel level.
Generally, all holds within reasonable reach are allowed; occasionally, a forbidden hold may be indicated by a dashed line.
A lone dot indicates a suggested foothold.
A dot within a broken circle indicates a jump.
A dot with a triangle indicates the general direction of the next boulder.

Some routes, called parcours montagne, intended to emulate a mountain route, are bi-directional and are indicated by a line rather than an arrow.
Very few of these remain; there is one, for instance, at Franchard-Cuisinière.

Fontainebleau do's and don'ts

Climbing in Bleau requires very little equipment:

Smooth-sole climbing shoe
Climbing shoe
A climbing shoe is a specialized type of footwear designed for rock climbing. Typical climbing shoes have a close fit, little if any padding, and a smooth, sticky rubber sole with an extended rubber rand...

s.
A rag, for dusting the sand and pollen off your shoes and off the rock.
A piece of doormat, the ground being often damp and sticky.

Other useful gear:

A crash pad
Bouldering mat
A bouldering mat or crash pad is a foam pad used for protection when bouldering. There are various sizes and makes, but the most common type is a folded mattress, 8 to 10 centimetres thick , that when unfolded measures about 1 x 1.3 metres . Bouldering mats often have shoulder straps so as to...

for increased safety and to avoid erosion.
An old toothbrush for removing old chalk or dirt from holds.
A natural fiber or synthetic scrubbing brush (brosse en chiendent) to remove lichen. Do not use a wire brush, which will damage the soft sandstone.
For a small number of high or unprotected climbs, a short rope will come in handy.

Other types of climbing gear are not often used.

Climb with friends and spot

Spotting (climbing)

Spotting is a technique used in climbing, especially in bouldering, where the climbers are close to the ground and ropes are not typically used. The spotter stands below the climber, with arms raised or at the ready. If the climber falls, the spotter does not catch the climber, but redirects the...

them.

No camping, no fires.
No graffitis.
No chipping of rocks.

Marking new routes (even in chalk!) is not permitted without approval of ONF

Office national des forêts

The National Forests Office , or ONF, is a public establishment of the National Government of France charged with the management of national forests....

.
If you wish to create a route, submit your idea to COSIROC.

The ground at Bleau is soft and erodes easily.
Some boulders are fenced off, having become dangerous due to erosion, notably at La Dame Jouanne and at 95.2 (Vallée Close); stay away.
Stick to the established paths; preferably tread on rocks rather than sand.

External links

Bouldering Routes in Fontainebleau

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.