PRO climbers CAN'T flash this V3 boulder problem | A week in Fontainebleau

#bouldering #climbing #fontainebleau
Why can't pro climbers flash this classic boulder problem?
Do you think is V3?
I hope you find this video entertaining, let me know in the comments!
Music:
Music by MeccaGodZilla - Crushin on Shuri - [thmatc.co/?l=8...](thmatc.co/?l=8...)
Music by L03*, Altered Perspectives, SINES - Shimmers - [thmatc.co/?](thmatc.co/?l=2...)
Music by L03*, Altered Perspectives, SINES - Of All There Is… - [thmatc.co/?l=D...](thmatc.co/?l=D...)[l=24DD7425](thmatc.co/?l=2...)
Music by Ariel Sim & L03* - Life Is Good - [thmatc.co/?l=7...](thmatc.co/?l=7...)
Camara gear I use:
Canon M50 mirrorless: amzn.to/3gkgRdV
Rode Videomicro compact on camera microphone: amzn.to/3x6xyjQ
GoPro Hero 9: amzn.to/3cobIQU
Octopus tripod for camera: amzn.to/2TOkktU
Drone:
Mavic Mini: amzn.to/3pu4O26
Climbing gear I like:
Approach shoes: amzn.to/3crvBXl
Prana mojo shorts: amzn.to/3xaWzux

[@roxane1237]

In the 19th century, Fontainebleau almost got sold to industrials. The natural forest there (and the boulders) would have been destroyed. I would like all the climbers to know this story and be thankful for George Sand. She was a famous poet and writer and she was in love with Fontainebleau. She wrote a 12 page manifest in a newspaper to raise attention for this issue. Thank to her influence, the forest became one of the first protected natural landmark.

[@royvanrusselt211]

thanks for spreading :))

[@craigo7768]

😮🎉

[@joaoborges1619]

🤘🤘🤘🤘

[@haholaer4058]

insane, thanks for sharing!

[@Evan-Lennert]

This video was extremely well put together for somebody with 2k subs! Props to you man, keep this up.

[@Evan-Lennert]

You ever thought about coming out to Colorado for some bouldering? HIGHLY recommend!

[@RoadtoV11]

Thanks man, I really appreciate it. I have thought about it yes, maybe one day!

[@Shadowang323]

@@RoadtoV11 my Friends and I would show you Telluride.

[@DominikGuembel]

Just stumbled across this video and it made me super excited for my first font trip soon. I am already looking forward to getting smashed by the grades there and also learning again how it so often really depends on the climbing style and other factors!

[@RoadtoV11]

I’m glad to hear this. I hope you have an awesome trip!

[@ilikebananasFPV]

Grades in font are just all over the place and not be taken to serious below the higher grades (no idea but maybe above 7b..?). Some problems where just established so long ago you cant compare it with modern climbing. For reference I just came back from 1 week in font. I climbed 5 6a, including marie rose (about 10 tries), 1 6b and 1 6c (flash).6a feels really hard for me, everything above 6b nearly impossible. There where some 4a problems I couldnt even do half the moves. I flash 7a+ on the kilter board and climb 7b in my homecountry of austria. Font is just something else. Humbles your ego, a excellent place to learn and relearn your love for climbing

[@Noneymar1]

agreed. id like to make one additional point: rock quality/age/total ascents of the problem. This is a big factor in font, even more when it comes to this "legendary" boulders. These are just polished af. Some of them, especially the technical ones (and evrything rather old is quite technical there), just got way harder over time after thousands of ascents. This is a big problem in font when comparing the initial grades to modern times or the actual grade now. You can see this problem pop up in other areas too, Albarracin develops these issues too at the moment f.e.

[@staticoverplastic7456]

@@Noneymar1 very interesting, never knew polishing was such a big factor!

[@ThainAranlaus]

Congrats on this video, it is very inspiring to go climb outdoors. Though it is really lacking some educational information about the basic rules to make it sustainable : always wipe the sand of your shoes before climbing, never climb on humid rock, don't overuse chalk, dont camp, dont make fire, take your trash with you etc. Worldclass boulderer are not sliping of because its so hard but because feet are slippery as glass. And it is so polished because of the entire crowd of "consumers" coming without any care about anyone coming next.

[@lucaa4480]

7a+ on the kilterboard is like 6b boulder outside

[@Noneymar1]

@@staticoverplastic7456 it obv depends. But i climbed boulders in Europes SandstoneAreas which had holds feeling like an indoor dualtex (the no texture of course) quite often these holds are the crux holds , just cause they got touched more often (naturally more people have to work on the crux sequence in iso). And yes, if thats the case the boulder is harder than it once was.

[@danielsbrickbuilds2483]

Awesome video 😊 I especially liked your choice of calm music, as it fits the forest's scenery very well in my opinion (and also because i am not so much into Jazz-like music, which you sometimes use 😅)

[@RoadtoV11]

Thanks a lot!!

[@carlosgarcia-em8ln]

Awesome! 👏👏👏 loving the drone birds eye view shots.

[@RoadtoV11]

Glad you enjoyed it Carlos!

[@BigBoiClimbs]

Fantastic video, man! What high quality to find in my feed! The rock in Fontainebleau looks beautiful and artistic, somehow you can tell even from the screen!

[@RoadtoV11]

Thanks!!

[@dieselrugg]

I've been on so many font 6a's that I could not even stand on the start. At least, Marie Rose has some foot and hand holds, no matter how polished they are...

[@nadiadagati2580]

Well done mate… specially the sick van is absolutelly cool❤

[@RoadtoV11]

Thanks! The trip wouldn’t had been possible without it!!

[@PiotrWojnowski]

It's kind of funny seeing Adam Ondra slipping on this boulder problem 😁

[@IsTomJay]

great vid Cris! I look forward to trying this next week..

[@RoadtoV11]

Thanks!!

[@georgeswainston198]

Loved it Cris ! Very cinematic 😮

[@RoadtoV11]

Thanks George!

[@moxy2218]

Beautifully shot dude very inspiring to watch.

[@RoadtoV11]

Thanks Michael!

[@danielbeall7725]

The funny thing is, I feel like despite the reputation, this thing felt like one of the least “sandbagged” 6A’s we tried out here 😂

[@CollinGill7]

great video, beautiful cinematography! and sick send man that was so good

[@RoadtoV11]

Thanks a lot!

[@lorenzodicassadeltoro837]

More of these please!

[@hannahmorrisbouldering]

This was great - really made me miss the forest :)

[@RoadtoV11]

Thanks Hannah!

[@MiguelClimbs]

Bravo Cris! Your storytelling is truly my favorite bro 💗

[@RoadtoV11]

Thanks Miguel!!

[@andrewwebber421]

Just a thought - perhaps the route is no longer a V3!?! There is a somewhat odd reluctance to upgrade routes when they become polished. Thus leaving a whole new generation of climbers struggling on some routes which are no longer what they originally represented!

[@pio197]

Great video! Really enjoyed

[@RoadtoV11]

Thanks man!

[@beastofackworth]

Did this first go in the late 1990s and my grade at the time was about V8. Ofcourse it's harder now but not by that much. Most people use the illegal hold high up left.

[@bilbo3820]

Such a great thumbnail

[@RoadtoV11]

Thanks!

[@SnikenCSGO]

Does anyone know the "Story" behind the forest? Like... how did the rocks end up there? I find the geology very interesting.

[@miroz5824]

Oligocene sea sand bed... Add silica, quartz and water (pressure) e voilà - some 25 mil. years later, the magical forêt :)

[@maxdilcon5679]

Going next month, excited to see if I can get the flash.

[@RoadtoV11]

Good luck!

[@paulmitchell5349]

I did Marie Rose. Very polished and way harder when in hot weather.

[@angelinesfontanovalle4832]

Amazing stuff!!🎉

[@RoadtoV11]

Thanks 🙏

[@jessicabarrett8633]

Go Cris! 🙌

[@YnseSchaap]

It took me the better part of the day and I didn't do much climbing after that but it was my first 6a and I was so damned proud 😁

[@RoadtoV11]

That’s an amazing and solid one to get as a first 6a, congrats! 🎉

[@YnseSchaap]

@@RoadtoV11 😁

[@Sheet_music_eater]

Grades can be weird. I flashed a 5.10 at a gym I’m rarely at, and recently had to give up after hanging a while on a 5.9 at my home gym

[@AdamClimbs]

this is a work of art

[@RoadtoV11]

Thanks man!

[@thelonelyphish]

Awesome video! I think youre ready to flash 9A lead now lol

[@theDomCorporation]

Great videography :D

[@RoadtoV11]

Thanks!!

[@TristinWhetstine]

Pretty amazing video! I really enjoyed it

[@RoadtoV11]

Thanks a lot!

[@unbringrimpeur]

Nice video 👍🏽keep it up ! I 've just tried bouldering outside in Fontainebleau for the 1st time. It's an amazing spot ! I post a YT vid today !

[@saulsarry]

Amazing quality.

[@RoadtoV11]

Thanks!

[@PeterYehan]

Nice video :)

[@RoadtoV11]

Thanks!

[@calimerobmx]

Maybe is time for updating some of the grades and consider the polished surfaces hahahaha or to add some glue with sand to recover the grip 😂

[@staticoverplastic7456]

the top looked very slopey. would have been nice to see close-ups of the holds to get a better sense of the difficulty.

[@RoadtoV11]

It’s all in the first half really, the top out although slopey isn’t hard at all🙌

[@ilikebananasFPV]

Top out after the 2 wide slopers is easy, but these 2 slopers are so polished and rounded. push your belly out and lay your hands on sidways - thats about good as it gets, maybe a 5-10° degree angle with your hands. Add some supee slippery 2mm footholds and you got a image of the crux

[@staticoverplastic7456]

@@ilikebananasFPV thanks for the detailed description!

[@heqitao]

Very nice. tyvm.

[@RoadtoV11]

Thanks!

[@mlb82gaming32]

I loved this :)

[@RoadtoV11]

Thanks!

[@caspyr_-6364]

i think this means you’re better than adam ondra

[@RoadtoV11]

Not even close! A foot slip can happen to anyone🫠

[@systemzajety]

We are all equal on slabs

[@LSDerek]

avoid night climbing in Font!

[@Nick12Bradley]

It's not even V3 / 6B let alone V5 / 6C!!

[@Nick12Bradley]

Also, since when were V grades used to refer to problems in Fontainebleau? It's 6A+.

[@danyool777]

​@@Nick12Bradley its for us goobers that dont know anything but V0-V17 :^]

[@jimmyjackfunk2003]

Way to sneak in some spray you tool

[@MSHNKTRL]

to be honest, by the time I was reminded of the title at 5:32 , I was suddenly more concerned with planning a trip there

[@raphaelmardinli9921]

Vadim's face when he doesn't flash it 🤣 Really liked the video too!

[@RoadtoV11]

Thanks man!

[@Nightwishmaster]

It's just surprising as hell how easy it is to slip off that freaking problem, it's every bit as tricky (and polished) as people say it is, I couldn't get through the crux to save my life over 2 days spent trying, the slopers feel terrible lol.

[@raphaelmardinli9921]

@@Nightwishmaster I can only imagine! I will try it one day for sure! At the same time it's also hard to imagine because the only times I climbed on sandstone, it was impossible to find any polished holds. From what I was told, the grains of sandstone I was on are much thicker, so instead of getting polished, a thin layer just comme out as you try the problem!

[@Nightwishmaster]

@@raphaelmardinli9921 Fortunately it's not like that there, people have climbed on the boulders so many times for so long there wouldn't be much left if it wore away like that lmao..

[@Aldroid0]

I’m in this video wtf 😂and also I did it barefoot it’s really just v3😅

[@edwardoakley8659]

Awesome content :)

[@RoadtoV11]

Thanks!!

[@ChrisHaileyTrainHardDiveEasy]

Great video dude, one day I hope to make it over to font 🤙

[@RoadtoV11]

Thanks man, definitely, you won’t regret it💪🙌

[@iustinuntaru4665]

beautiful

[@Nightwishmaster]

I spent probably 25-30 tries on La Marie Rose over a 2 day period and I just couldn't get through the crux. I don't know what the hell is up with that boulder but those slopers just felt impossible for me to hold on to. I still had a blast and was able to do some of the other problems on the same boulder though, getting down from the top is definitely a bit more hairy than I expected lmao. Also the feet are horribly polished at the bottom, at the start it's a little better if you kick over a bit farther right and down slightly but it never feels good.

[@DylanMatto]

Love the video, thanks! Do you remember the name of the boulder at minute 6:27 by any chance? :) or at least the area?

[@TonicNova]

Yep same question that looks superb!

[@RoadtoV11]

Thanks a lot! I can’t remember the name of that boulder, but it is in Franchard Cuisiniere and it was 6A or 6A+ if I remember well…!

[@martinharris9415]

that's La Superbe at Cuisiniere

[@hj40]

what a vibe! can't wait to get to the forest again now

[@RoadtoV11]

Cheers Harry!

[@michaels8902]

Super fun video!

[@RoadtoV11]

Thanks!

[@mariodeluistristan2285]

De lo mejorcito que has subido al canal. Y tremenda comunidad del anillo durante el viaje😂

[@RoadtoV11]

Muchas gracias Mario!!

[@stielbelgie]

Great storytelling!

[@RoadtoV11]

Thanks!!

[@Arizmi]

Great wee mini doc

[@RoadtoV11]

Thanks!!

[@chiz161190]

Great content here!

[@RoadtoV11]

Thanks!!

[@garinehbonyadi308]

Great video Cris!

[@RoadtoV11]

Thanks Garineh!

[@BenLe42]

nice flash

[@RoadtoV11]

Thanks!

[@estevanruiz6500]

Great video ! Makes me want to go to font even more 😂🤙🏼🤙🏼

[@RoadtoV11]

Thanks!

[@TheJZab]

Wooww such cool shots!

[@RoadtoV11]

Thanks!!

[@MrSTeunissen]

cooool!

[@RoadtoV11]

Thanks!!

[@joseraulsusaeta200]

ooh, great video!!!!

[@RoadtoV11]

Thanks!!

[@clintstechtips6571]

slab problems are by default a V10 in my books. Absolutely hate em hahahaha!

[@stefanofalero]

the classic intro to O1 grades

[@raffaele301]

Great video Cris! Keep going!

[@RoadtoV11]

Thanks!

[@George_Climbs]

Great video... great storytelling... and congratulations on your flash!

[@RoadtoV11]

Thanks!

[@lebulba]

This may be small but that top down tree shot was beautiful

[@mr.robertblackett1273]

Good job - that problem completely shut me down, where some higher-graded things went fairly easily. On the same trip everyone in our group of five also found at least one problem they could do which no one else could, which would never happen climbing indoors with the same people.

[@RoadtoV11]

Thanks! Yeah Font climbing is so intricate, we also find some other problems that we could barely start…!

[@cebollas2379]

This video was amazing! You will find yourself with a huge opportunity soon enough if you keep putting out content like this

[@RoadtoV11]

Thanks!

[@WayAlpha101]

Solid video, fantastic stuff. Subscribed!

[@RoadtoV11]

Thanks!!

[@darrylhscroggins]

Beautifully shot!

[@RoadtoV11]

Thank you 🙏

[@miroz5824]

For flash try, Marie Rose might be 6A+, but once you are familiar with beta, you'll find harder 6As in the forest! Nowhere in 6C range!

[@GrundkursBouldern]

While I‘m not sure wether Marie Rose should be considered 6C, I can‘t agree your argument against it. That there are a couple of harder 6A could simply show that those are even more sandbagged. If you compare it the majority of 6A in Bleau or elsewhere, La Marie Rose surely is one of the hardest. Maybe it was a perfect fit for the grade in 1946, but it is just not the same climb anymore. The polished stone forces you to be way more precise and keep a lot of tension, while you move. Just imagine the first foothold would not be a piece of glass. That alone would make a huge difference.

[@miroz5824]

@@GrundkursBouldern Nope bro, improve your technique and you'll realize that Marie Rose is a perfect 6A. I've even done it barefoot. And I stand by my argument - it being one of the 1st 6As in the world, it should be considered a benchmark. No more grade inflation by spoiled gym rats please. Next time, try dyno-ing from starting holds to the top out slopers... that is 6C variant more or less (rather 6B+ but i am being generous here). Also, not sure what are you referring to with the first foothold which is not a hold per se, but rather a sloping ramp allowing for a perfect feet placement suiting your own body type. Of course if you are gonna be stretching yourself to max in order to reach highest side pull you'll see from the start, the foot will pop. That is the nature of smearing. Maybe engage in this conversation with some true bleausards, you'll probably be laughed at and humiliated by 80yr old 'grandpa' showing you how real feet technique looks like..

[@miroz5824]

@@GrundkursBouldern I personally am always going for left sidepull, than right foot higher on a razor edged (and polished ;) ) crimp and up slapping the right sloper. Feet do pop a move or even two before going for the right sloper. As for the dyno, I never seen a video of it, only live, having fun in the foret, I haven't seen it on bleauinfo either, not worth publishing honestly. Once you stand in front of it having dyno in mind, you'll figure the jump, I am sure :) Also, really simple compared to e.g. Windmill, or even Smash, Air Sweden etc (if you are not 2 meters tall :D) It is one of the classic 'jeux' meaning games/eliminates. As for the argument: soooo you guys upgrade routes in Jura once they are polished? Did Underground or any other often climbed route in Arco got upgraded just because it is (highly subjectively!) polished? The answer is no... Also, do take time and observe the 'old' Bleausards and how they use their feet, it makes a ton of difference in Font. As I am sure you are well aware - in some problems, raw power won't take you anywhere. Partenaire particulier or even L'angle a Jean-luc comes to my mind as an example. Even Carnage is campus-able but it has no point (and would be one of those jeaux i mentioned earlier). Boulders are graded by the easiest beta, not the hardest... Out of some 830 ratings, ~93% agree on 6A(+) for Marie Rose on bleauinfo currently. That is a pretty solid merit in my eyes. And of course, guys crushing 7Bs shitrless impressing girls in their local gyms not climbing outdoors comming for the first time to Font will be really dissapointed by not being able to climb 6As ;) seen shoes being thrown in anger many times ;)

[@GrundkursBouldern]

@@miroz5824 I think, we are doing pretty much the same, except that I reach for the right sloper, still standing on the second sloping ramp, before putting my foot up on that edge. Like I said, I always had trouble holding that right sloper. A friend did use it just as an intermediate, going for the left one first, then to the right and up into the jug. But you need a pretty wide wing span to do that. Jumping Marie Rose is on the list now. Propably a multi year project for me. 😅 To me, it doesn‘t matter much, if anyone calls it 6A or not. It is a historic 6A, that will always be the first one. Maybe that is enough to never upgrade it officially. My point is: Does it get harder, when it is polished compared to the time it was put up - I‘d say yes. Denying that would be like denying, that it is harder to climb on wet holds than on dry ones. (Not that you should do that, but you get the point.) And of course we would not grade a climb differently, when it is wet, although it is objectively harder. Should we take polished rock into account, anyway? That is a difficult question. Grades are obviously not set in stone. Hubble was originally 8c+ and is now considered being the first true 9a by some, taking that title away from Action Directe. For me, that is fine. Moon and Güllich both were beasts and it wouldn‘t make Action Directe any less iconic. On the other hand we‘ve seen multiple downgrades of hard routes, once they have been repeated. Adam Ondra was notorious for doing so a while back. And we do change grades, when holds change, either by breaking or due to chipping. See Karma, which was 8A and is 8A+ now. Especially the last point could be an argument for those, who would like to upgrade older climbs. Of course it is harder to say at which point the rock has suffered enough compared to a broken hold and reopening the route afterwards, but in both cases the rock changed. Personally I try not to care to much about grades, especially on classic climbs. Also I am quite aware of my strengths and limitations. My ultimate goal is to become a better climber. If that means I have to spend a whole day working a 6A slab without getting up in the end, I‘ll take it. I had that experience on Science Friction in Apremont. I failed on the last move, but I learned so much that day, it was worth every try. But do I start asking questions, if I fail miserably on a supposedly easy climb that fits my style? For sure.

[@miroz5824]

​@@GrundkursBouldern I'll try to keep my answer short :) As for the dyno-ing MR: do not expect anything great, it is as I said previously a game. I would rather suggest starting left of Joker traversing two angles and finishing with MR - that is an interesting trav with even worse feet after the first angle than it is in MR as that slab is used for absolute beginners :) I think it is in 6C range. As for polished rock - does anyone upgrade polished routes e.g. in Arco? I don't think so. I also think that polishing something rarely brings the difficulty 2 grades higher. That is very rare. In Bleau, you can adjust feet if you know how to smear. Action Directe is pretty polished too, but there were discussions whether it is a proper 9a or not, no discussion about upgrading it. Of course I am not arguing against grade change when the route changes e.g. by broken (foot)hold etc. That is a normal practice. It is also a normal practice to update grades in new areas after enough ascents, but in classical ones such as Bleau or Boux, the grades hold to this day and should be held as benchmarks. And at the end of the day, I don't care that much about grades, as you said, grades in Bleau should make you humble if nothing else... Of course you'll find new-school power problems that are perfect for gym rats too nowadays... Soooo.... to wrap up... respect the forest, don't climb on wet rock, don't play loud music, don't climb in the night, stay safe and have fun :) !

[@nox2179]

There is another "boulderingforest" in the south of France called "le Prieuré" which look a lot like Fontainebleau where there is a similar problem. The problem is a 6a named "le visage" and as I know nobody has ever been able to flash it. Great video btw

[@jaredasa626]

Well made video. I will say, though, it takes balls to show a clip of AO dropping it and then you flashing it. Even with the brief disclaimer.

[@TheJZab]

Think it was meant to be tongue in cheek/ a bit of whimsical exaggeration

[@CasaDelMandar]

very cringey click batey title, good video

[@biomorphic]

Most likely the boulder has not been graded properly, that's why. There are boulders in my gym that require specific finger strength. I did two boulders rated V4, that none of my gym buddies can do, it doesn't matter how hard they try. They don't have it. On one of these problems I did over 20 attempts before I sent it, on multiple sessions. At the same time I flashed other V4 boulders, and sent a V5 on my second attempt. These two problems in particular are, in my opinion, V5. They look easy to the route setter, because someone who climbs V8/V9 has enough finger strength to make a quick work on these boulders. But the average V4 climber can't climb those V4, which means those are V5 problem, at least. My gym buddies aren't worse than me, some are better, and they do climb problems I can't climb, because they do require the ability to do dynamic movements that still I can't do, due to my limited raw power. But it's a fact that if you can't see anyone climbing a problem, and you do, after a long effort, that boulder is undergraded. Grading is subjective. And especially very strong climbers are going to have an hard time to rate easy (for them) problems. I would be better at grading V3/V4/V5 boulders than a professional climber, because V5 is currently my limit, and that's all I can climb. After all climbing is a challenge against yourself, not against a grade. If a boulder problem for you is hard, then work hard to solve it, it doesn't matter the grade. Everyone is different, what is easy work for me, can be difficult for you and vice versa.

[@gsr97_]

Yeahhh no one’s gonna read this 😂

[@jlehm]

Didn’t read, but you’re wrong. It was most definitely graded correctly at the time, but grades can change as the climb changes…ie polished or broken holds.

[@biomorphic]

@@jlehm If you didn't read, do not comment. Jeez, people are stupid as fuck.

[@miroz5824]

Referencing gym boulders just... gives you zero validity...