Molly Thompson Smith

Molly Thompson Smith
Edinburgh EYC 2013

Thursday, 31 December 2015

First Time to Fontainebleau..

Beautiful scenery as we were getting lost! (JR)
During October half-term, I travelled to Fontainebleau with some friends for 9 days of bouldering. It was my first time going to Font, and my first trip abroad specifically or rock climbing! After a long journey we arrived at our place, almost opposite the lovely palace of Fontainebleau.

On our first day we headed to Bas Cuvier where the aim was to have a nice intro to Font style climbing – only 6's, no 7's. That lasted about half an hour; Aidan and Luke quickly dispatched L’Aerodynamite, a 7c classic. So the day changed to trying as much as we could in Bas Cuvier. I was amazed at the rock; not only was it beautiful to look at, it was so nice to pull on!! I really
Will holding my favourite hold in Font (right hand)! (CW)
enjoyed Bas Cuvier, and found it the best area for me out of all the places we visited over the course of the week. 

Spotting Kitty on Holy Moly (JR)
The first of my 2 favourite problems was Carnage – a name I’d heard before I visited Font. It was my style and I really enjoyed it's moves. One of my favourite things about this bloc is that at the beginning it had felt above my limit and I didn't think I'd be able to work out the right feet placement for me. But after working it for a while I managed to find a way. For the second move of the stand, I couldn’t lock it like the boys with a low foot, and couldn’t lock it with a high foot. After quite some time, I gave up trying to find some foot that would work for me and just flicked the move, catching it to my surprise. After a few more attempts trying to link the problem I managed to do it. The rest of the group had started working on L’hellicopter, another bloc I’d heard about before. I thought why not and joined them on it, but and falling off the last move, and watching everyone else take some interesting falls I decided that my one go was enough for me that day ha!  

My other favourite boulder, and the one I was most pleased with doing was Holy Moly, again at Bas Cuvier. It was something that took me quite a while to get, a problem that I knew I could do but just wasn’t doing! I have a short temper and short patience so I don’t really work things very often. It was good for me to practice this skill as I’ve learnt it’s something very important in outdoor climbing! It was a great problem and I eventually managed it with everyone's support and encouragement for me to keep at it!
Watching Aidan send Big Boss (CW)

The rest of the week I watched the boys send a lot of hard stuff, ate some baguettes and pulled on a few boulders. As much as I wanted to climb lots of hard stuff, I knew Font would be hard, especially the first time I was there and it would take some time for me to get used to climbing there. As well as this, I needed Font as a psychological break from competitions and training. The months previous to Font had been pretty heavy, hard and tiring and I was pretty done with the competition season. It was nice to be away with no pressures or stress and just enjoy climbing with friends!
Crew (CW)


Overall, the trip was great fun and I really enjoyed my time in Font. It was always impressive watching the others walk up things I'll return for one day! Thanks for a great trip guys!

But a massive thanks to my sponsors who've been the most amazing supporters this year!

Lyon Outdoor
Berghaus
SportsAid
Sport England
Natoora
NuLine
Michael & Lauren Clancy

And thanks to Carys Whomsley (CW) and Jo Robbings for the pictures (JR)... here's a few more of theirs!

Sale Gosse - Roche aux Sabots (CW)
Always smiling in Fontainebleau! (JR) 
Learnt how to do some of this... (JR)
Jo throwing shapes at Bas Cuvier (CW)
Getting stuck on Professional Killer - Cuvier Rempart (CW)

Noir Désir - Cuvier Rempart (CW)