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Jenw87
Nov 4, 2010, 6:23 PM
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Registered: Nov 4, 2010
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My partner and I are planning a trip to Europe around June/July 2011, and I wanted to spend a few days bouldering in Fontainebleau.
What is the easiest way to plan this? Can you hire crash pads from anywhere or should we bring our own, or are they unnecessary? Is it easiest to camp at the crag, rather than hire a car and drive there each day? etc.
Any advice would be greatly appreciated.
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ghisino
Nov 5, 2010, 5:38 AM
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Registered: Sep 12, 2005
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I love close to bleau
some beta:
-an average sized crashpad (bd dropzone like) would cost you aroud 150 euro here. No rentals, other than maybe (maybe) a guesthouse called "maisonbleau" and a van/shop parked @roche aux sabots on saturdays and sundays only.
One pad plus a spotter can be ok for many things, as the landings are generally nice and flat.
Two pads, you can do 95% of the problems with a spotter and 80% of the problems alone.
No pads, you can still do "circuits", i.e. easier problems with a number and an arrow painted...Just need something to clean your shoes before climbing (a piece of carpet).
And of course you can ask people with pads if you can try their problem...
-free camping at the climbing sectors is prohibited and has already caused some access problems (a convenient parking slot has been shut down last year because of this...)
If you really have to do it, be as discrete and clean as possible and don't do stupid things (such as burning your toilet paper in an attempt to be even cleaner...).
-a car is the best option to see most of the forest. Keep in mind that the area is roughly 20km in diameter!!!
For a quick visit from paris though, a few sectors are ok to see with train+walk.
Renting a bike can be a bit expensive but very feasible as the forest is packed with nice flat gravel roads.
For the walking and bike options you absolutely need an "IGN" hiking map of the forest, easily found @vieux campeur sport shops in paris or in fontainebleau itself.
-the sandstone is quite soft. do not climb if it's wet, do not try to dry it with towels and chalk, do not use hard brushes. This reccomendations are more essential the southern you go (areas such as l'elephant and petit bois have a softer rock than others)
for everything else, bleau.info is the reference website.
have fun and respect the forest.
and good luck with the conditions, june/july is usually tropical but sometimes lucky cold days happen.
(This post was edited by ghisino on Nov 5, 2010, 5:44 AM)
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regularjohn
Nov 5, 2010, 1:26 PM
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Registered: Mar 24, 2008
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We rented a pad from the (super-friendly) guys at "maison bleau" last summer for 20 Euro a week. Their gite seems a very nice place to stay, although we did not do that but stayed at the campsite inside the forest ("musardiere"). The campsite is decent but rather expensive, because they have a pool, entertainment and other luxuries we did not make use of.
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Jenw87
Nov 8, 2010, 1:51 PM
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Registered: Nov 4, 2010
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I emailed Neil at Maison Bleau - He said
"unfortunately we are are no longer renting pads out unless you stay at our place, we tried it for a year and it really does not work for us."
I think we might just buy one and see if we can sell it when we're done. Thanks for the help though :)
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spacemonkey07
Nov 9, 2010, 5:20 AM
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Registered: Jul 26, 2004
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You'll be bouldering in the summer.. If you're just there for a couple of days I wouldn't bother getting a pad. Since it's too hot for good friction, you won't be doing (or wanting to do) any really hard stuff and there is tons of good low, quality boulders with sandy landings which you can do.. area's I recommend (sandy with good landings)
bas cuvier (most popular sector with a lot of classics in all the grades, you'll be able to tag along with some people with a pad and do some harder stuff)
Roche sabots
roche canon
fuck this, here is a good overview http://www.zebloc.com/bleau/bleaue.php
Anyway, enjoy the magic!!
(This post was edited by spacemonkey07 on Nov 9, 2010, 5:21 AM)
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