Mum of Sebastian, 9, and Theo 7. Living in Arbonne-la-Forêt.After making transitions from trad, to sport, to motherhood, Helen now lives in the Fontainebleau area dedicating as much time as possible to bouldering and playing in the forest with her two boys. Still getting stronger at 50, Helen recently climbed her first 7c+ (V10).
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I hope everyone has seen the Instagram posts, but just to confirm… turn up at Apremont Desert tomorrow, any time before 12.00 to warm up, and get a few ideas. Then meet with everyone at the picnic spot by List in Translation at noon to discuss plans and rev up the send train 🤗
So, let’s do it!! Let’s meet at Apremont Desert on Tuesday. I’ll be there from about 11am until 4pm. I’ll put a few videos on Instagram of some boulders we might try. Feel free to bring friends, family, etc, but guys need to avoid sharing too much beta 🤣🤣
Alright!! Let’s try and get some folks together for 19th! It’ll be a Tuesday, so not ideal, but let’s see who’s free. What grade range are you looking at?
Alright!! Let’s try and get some folks together for 19th! It’ll be a Tuesday, so not ideal, but let’s see who’s free. What grade range are you looking at?
Thank you for pointing out the error in video labelling 😳🤭. That’s actually not me 😬. I didn’t get a video of my crazy high heel…. I shall endeavour to get one before Christmas 🤗
I’m not quite following your description Theresa, but I can tell you what I did for the end which was quite fun. I was tracking with my left heel, and when I got up to the final arête, I kept putting my heel higher and higher until it was over the top of the boulder, and I was pushing down with my hands. I’m sure there are many more sane ways, but you could give it a go 🤪
Hiya Petya, yes I have this on my iPhone, but not on the computer. I understand it was an apple interface issue, but let me remind the tech department and see if he can re-visit it 🤩🤩
That would be fun. How long are you staying? I’ll see if we can get some girls together while you’re here. Get in touch again the week before and I’ll see who’s around.
Yikes! That’s a seriously hard first 6b. It’s one guys always recommend to their girlfriends. Whilst it is a cool problem, it’s quite butch, and definitely harder if you’re short. Good luck!
Hiya Elin, yeah! this move is brutal, but there are a couple of techniques that I found to work. I'm a bit shorter than you, so this is hypothetical, could you use a right heel hook on the right hand flake. I found this made the first move fairly solid, but I was still too short to reach the hold. In the end I used brute force and did man-beta, but the placement of the right foot was still critical!
Ah! Mine de Rien! Cette première prise est vraiment horrible. Il dépend de la condition et constitue le premier crux. Les gars de grande taille ne l’utilisent pas. Tu pourrais peut-être essayer une méthode plus directe. Le deuxième crux est d’attraper l’inverse. Bon courage
It is possible that the true line goes under the final tonsil, but this method is so much fun that it deserves to be repeated. Having checked with the first ascensionist he didn't feel it was significantly different, so the verdict is out ... most importantly, climb to have fun!! If you need the grade ticked you might need to be careful about claiming this one.
It seems completely implausible to get both feet on the headwall before making the last move, but I found this was way more successful than trying to lurch for the top
The crux for me was making it round the arete onto the easier ground. I fell at this move maybe 20 times, until I found a little crimp for my right foot that helps to bump to the first good potato.
Did you work it out Josie? Sorry I didn’t reply straight away. If you go to the ‘contributing’ section, in the first bullet point, there’s a line in blue text... ‘import individual lines from Bleau.info’. If you click that you should be able to paste in the URL of the page from Bleau.info that has the climb in it. If you have any problems let me know.
Bonjour Celine, Je sais que cette route est un peu déroutante, mais je pense que ca dépend de l'angle de lequel vous la regardez. Autant que je sache, la prise de départ est légèrement à droite et tend à gauche sur la dalle pour sortir. Je pense que ça peut être plus facile que 7b si tu es petit ??
I love your beta Petra! That right hand near the top looks like it might be the key! I’ve always struggled to set up for the final move on this problem! Thanks for sharing!
Are you alone or will you have family along? We live around Font, and I’ll have my 6-year-old son with me and could possibly climb on the Wednesday, or if you could get down early enough from Paris we could climb one morning? Hope you have a great trip
I’m looking for any top tips anyone may have for speeding up recovery rate. I want to be able to climb when the weather’s good, and not have to wait 3 days for my body to catch up!!
I found this quite a bit harder than Surf Betty because I couldn't keep my feet on with my hands on the top. Taller folk seem to find it somewhat easier. The beta I used makes up for the difficulty, because it is so sweet, and big guys miss out!! I found I could get a heel-toe cam in under the undercling for the move around under the arete. Then, forget the feet, campussing is easier!
Ok, so I'm biased because I opened this line, but it is so much fun for someone of just my height!! Sit start to the right of the wave, matched in a pocket, and avoiding the pedestal. Move out to a luscious undercling, and using core strength, a foot jam and a tiny crimp on the face, make a full-length dead-point to a small dish on the lip. The move left around the corner is easier if you can bunch your feet up really high.
I am short, not terribly bold, and nearly always climb on my own, feel free to look at my list of ascents for ideas, but I really recommend a day at Drei Zinnen on Close contact and Bifurcation :-)
It is. This page is actually the result of a mis-spelling way back on our first day of entering data for BettyBeta, and should be hidden from view for anybody who's not a moderator. Here's the actual entry for the line:https://bettybeta.com/bouldering/fontainebleau/franchard-isatis/ya-pas-fotoAs a historical note, this line is one of the reasons we now use bleau.info's route names as the single point of truth for how things are named. If we didn't we'd have four copies of some routes in our database by now!
Hey Chrissie, I tried that Chasseur de Prises with Caroline, and it’s super hard if you’re our height. I think it’s hard for everyone anyway, because it’s a classic, and more polished than when it was first climbed, but that little jump to a sloper is quite tough for 7a!
Begnots Story ? https://bleau.info/valleeeglise/1392.html Really fun roof that’s good on a hot day, and will stay dry in a light shower. There’s not much else around it, but I have no doubt you’d love it???
I am loving my ‘blubber’ at the moment, it’s this giant thin mat that goes over the top of whatever else you take with you. I go for one big, one small and a blubber. This is great for higher probs to make sure there are no gaps to fall in, or for ground cover on low traverses, oh, and of course, the towel!! Gotsta wipe those feet :-).
This is a nicely climbed block, but I'm not sure that it's Black Hole Sun that you've climbed. I think it starts a little further right and exits to the right of the prow. If you need a definitive decision perhaps you should ask bleau.info, but this line looks fun - maybe you need to name and grade it and submit it as a first ascent.
Hi Josie, are you still around? I would love to discuss Insta-posts, hashtags and flyers. Sorry that I didn’t get back to you before. I’m completely new to the Inst-scene :-).
The only way to climb this is to concentrate on your feet. Get them as high as possible, and forget how bad the holds feel. Climb by levitation and belief!
For me the trick was to creep the hands along the ledge to make room for the left heel. Then the mantle goes with a high right heel, but the trick here was the placement of the left foot to initiate the rock over.
This doesn't feel like 7b+ if you have tough skin and a high pain tolerance :-) There are no big reaches, and it benefits from hip flexibility, so an easy tick if you're a lightweight rhino!
The initial traverse is definitely easier if you're short, as we don't need to worry too much about butt-dragging, but the move to the start holds of the stand-start can be a bit of a stopper if you're less than 5ft4. It does go with a precise right foot placement and a dead-point to the left sloper. For the top move I had huge problems sticking the upper left sloper, so I found some foot-beta that allowed me to miss it out.
Fun jamming to a little change of style in Font. Be aware of the flake inside the crack that seems a little fragile, don't crimp behind it, commit to that jam :-) The move at the corner benefits from a large undercut low on the left.
If you can keep your left foot in nice and close, and rock your weight right over it, this mantle is probably easier for us shorties, just make sure you have a plan for what to do with your feet once you're over the lip :-)
This is a little harder the shorter you are, but its actually loads of fun. The holds are ok when you get to them, so commit to the swings and hang on :-)
For me the crux was getting off the ground, although even after the good hold there is a long reach to the left hand crimp. We used a slightly worse vertical crimp that was fractionally closer. For the fist move my beta involved pressing down with my right thumb on a marginal crozzle (see photo), and Beth used the tiny edge next to the crack.
If there are any girls around who fancy meeting up on Sunday 21st April at La Segognole, we’re meeting up from 10.30 for some fun on orange and red circuit problems.
If you get it on a good day the tiny sloper crimp on the right will work as a lay-back that turns the problem into two 6bs tied together by a lucky catch. I used my flexible hips to get in a high left heel hook and bump up onto the key undercling that marks the start of the 6a+ upper section.
Not a bad 7a+ for lightweight frames and small fingers. For me the key was matching the high crimp, moving the right hand far enough over to leave space for the left.
This appears in some guidebooks as a 7a+. Maybe it's not quite that hard, but it is a great line, and has the option of using a hand-jam and plenty of girl-foot-trickery. Take care not to jam the foot in too well at the start, because you'll end up on your head if your hand-jam slips out!!Crouching start on the horizontal break using a left hand jam and right foot jam. Reach backwards to place the right hand-jam in the crack on the lip, then the left on the sloper next to it. reach around the lip to a good hold on the vertical crack with your right hand, and bring your feet out to the front face. Trust the left hand sloper and a marginal right hand to place a toe jam in the crack, and udge on up to the jug on the right. it helps to have good hip flexibility for this last move if you're not very tall.
The key for me was moving the right heel to the front of the ledge to reach the sharp holds, and swinging my right foot around to lead on the way out of the roof.
Beautiful bit of Bleau sandstone with a combination of athletic overhang climbing and true Bleau slopers. If you're super short the first move is a bit dynamic, and the spans can feel a little stretched, but it works, and feels like a very solid 7b+
This is a lovely problem for girls, with pockets and high foot placements. The first move is a bit of a trick, but once you have it, the route flows quite nicely.
This was put up when there used to be a large pinch hold for the right hand that was used to start a route to the right. Since the hold has broken and the line is more direct it may be a little easier than the original 7c, but it still flows really nicely for girls.
Super fun route with a hole in a roof that you can cam your foot in and climb round it like a clock. The description on Bleau.info says where to start with the left hand, but it is unclear if you need to match on the start or not. I didn't, so the ascent in the video may not be valid, but the beta for the rest works and is too much fun not to recommend to other girls.
Rain sucks, but broken holds suck even more. Remember, never climb on wet rock in Fontainebleau.
The sandstone becomes brittle, and pulling on it will ruin classic problems. Drying it doesn't help, because it's still wet and weak inside.
All you can do is wait for better conditions.