Gorge aux Châts

Fontainebleau

Gorge aux Châts is where you go the day after it rains.

It has the perfect combination of South-facing boulders and rock made out of bulletproof water-shedding quartz that can be back up and running within minutes of the sun coming back out. On days when the Carrefour and Decathlon are full of bored looking foreigners in down jackets, this is the one area that will still have a flock of vans gathered around the parking gate. (Which you should never park to the NE of, by the way, if you value your windshield glass).

So while it's tempting to save it for that day, it's also chock full of mega classics. Sa Pelle au Logis is easily in the top 3 list of "First 7a For Girls" , and Rubis sur l'Ongle (7b+) needs to be on everybody's Life List.

"Betty Approved" boulder problems

More boulder problems with female ascents