The lillbob climbers: april 2011

fredag 29 april 2011

Font (cont.)

Well in F. isiatis Cecilia and sir Hank were impressed by the rock formations. The pad came out and we probably did 30+ problems up to 6c just to get a feel for the place. The kids were also happy and Alba found a rock that could be penetrated through a small. When here scientist dad tried to tell her that water and ice flowing for thousands of years moulded this… she just looked at me and said: “Ok dad, whatever, I want to climb through it”? 3 hours later, exhausted, excited and happy, we returned to the gite for lentil-stew and fried rice. That night we slept well!

Alba returning from the underworld

Early morning we munched on the traditional baguettes and sipped our coffea before heading of to Bas Cuvier. Despite it being a Sunday there were not much people and in the morning cold the friction was ok. Yet again it was more tempting to try everything easy than work on something hard. Is there anywhere else in the world where you can enjoy a 5a like in Font? I could live here I think...

Big Bob getting ready to stick it early mornin in Bas

måndag 25 april 2011

Font - there better be no god (part 1)

Leaving for Font last Friday the spirit was high and not to be thwarted by the 20+ hours in a car packed with gear, clothes, and five children (two officially). All but me were Font virgins and excited to see what the fuzz was all about. They’d been told (by me incidentally) that Font is, undoubtedly, the best bouldering destination in the world. Not that I would know, really, but I just assume that no other place can offer the same amount and quality of boulders so easily accessible (if this is what you are looking for). Since the alternative (i.e. hiking into the realm of death with two toddlers while looking for the perfect line of suicide) had been rejected by all but our two-year old, Font suited us better than well.

Zizzi on funky arete in Rocher canon

Though tiresome for all and despite problems with the gears after driving fast, the trip went well and Saturday at noon we arrived at our gite in Hericy (close to Fontainebleu town). Used to residing in the countryside of France, Hericy felt more like suburbia (but cozy). However, as if to make up for the lost rural feel the gite owners were running a small eggfarm at the back of the house just next to our gite. “The rooster better sleep in”, I thought. The gite was spacious and the caretaker extremely polite and we were as happy as can be. Lunch and then sending time!

Sir Hank on holy rock in Bas Cuvier

Cruising the cobbled streets of the southern France villages towards the rock we heard a shaking sound from underneath the car. Fock! I was happily relieved when I found that it was the thin foil-like protection under the car that had come loose and not the exhaust. We had to look up a local car shop and get it fixed. Of course the French mechanic who knew “a little English” turned out to know no English at all and it took a while to convince him of our problem. He fixed it temporarily, and it is now awaiting the magic touch of Darko in Kålltorp (our local car expert in Sweden). Shaking our way through Font terrain we set our sights (GPS) on F. isiatis, the perfect start to the perfect trip (to be continued…)