6A problems for shortarses ...... (Read 7961 times)

grumpycrumpy · April 24, 2009, 08:41:55 pm

Hi y'all , I'm looking for a bit of help/advice .... I'm off to Font in a month and having finally reached the heady heights of 6A+ in the Peak I fancy giving it a go in the forest .... Can anyone recommend some problems at that grade which aren't too reachy ( I'm 5'7" , which my mum assures me is average , but which the friends I climb with have told me is ' well short '

) ..... Thanks in advance , Rob

Sloper · April 24, 2009, 08:52:05 pm

I'm assuming perhaps wrongly that you've not climbed at Font before If this is true and you're climbing 6a+ in the peak you'll find font 5 hard enough.

I'd suggest going for some circuits and not worryiong about the grade. I'd recommend the whites at Franchard Cuisinere, The reds at Roche aux sabots, the blacks at L' Elephant, the Reds at Isatis, and the reds at Gorges d' appremont. If you want to go off piste / cherry pick then that's fine, but you'll get more from a trip doing a whole bunch of stuff 'onsight' and then looking at the grades later.

My 2p

Eddies · April 24, 2009, 09:04:06 pm

I second that Sloper.

I climb 7's in the Peak but on my first trip to Font I had to settle for 6's... Circuits FTW

Jaspersharpe · April 24, 2009, 09:50:58 pm

Nonsense. Why do people perpetuate this ridiculous idea that everything in Font is desperate for the grade? It just isn't true. If you can climb a certain grade in The Peak then there's no reason why you shouldn't be able to do the same in Font unless it took you ten sessions to climb the Peak problem and you only have a week there obviously.

I have always found the grades comparable for the most part (daft sandbags aside) which is one of the reasons I'm such an advocate of Font grades in this country.

Psychology must play a part in this because if you regularly climb 7th grade problems in the Peak but you have to drop your grade to 6C in the Forest then there's something wrong.

Get a grip and give the man some help here. I'm too tall to advise.

Oli · April 24, 2009, 10:13:06 pm

I agree Jasper. I went on my first trip to font this year and managed to avoid getting shutdown by stuff that I'd envisaged shutting me down. I climb at low 7's in the peak and climbed low 7's in font, so seems about right. And I managed to do my first 7B+, so the forest can't be that much of a sandbag....

Jaspersharpe · April 24, 2009, 10:15:50 pm

Nice one! Which 7B+ out of interest?

Averageman · April 24, 2009, 10:21:42 pm

Truth is grumpy by the time you walk in on your first visit your be gobsmacked at the amount of stuff there, you will end up running around like an escaped loony trying everything and anything you like the look of, or think you can do, which i believe is an important step in finding your feet in the forest. My advice is climb first, find out grade later. By the way i am 5'8 and a lot of what you will find is not about height but about technique, enjoy.

Oli · April 24, 2009, 10:24:44 pm

Carnage, 'cos it's well basic...

Font's fucking awesome though, so much stuff to do - I spent much time running round like a hyperactive infant on speed.

Jaspersharpe · April 24, 2009, 10:28:03 pm

He's been loads of times before. Hence the request for a specific project this time.

I totally agree with both of you though. Doesn't matter how many times you go it's still kid in sweetshop time....

Averageman · April 24, 2009, 10:34:04 pm

Ok then black No 10 at L'Elephant 6b

LucyB · April 24, 2009, 10:42:13 pm

Is that the huge reach/ jump round the back of a free-standing boulder? If so, I did that with a freaky heel hook thing to the great disapproval of a bunch of on-looking bleausards.

Lu (5' 3" and a bit)

Jaspersharpe · April 24, 2009, 10:50:09 pm

I can see grumpy's eyes lighting up when he sees all these replies to his thread and then when he realises there's not one recommendation of a 6A........

Averageman · April 24, 2009, 10:51:49 pm

http://bleau.info/elephant/7838.html
le lancer

Eddies · April 24, 2009, 10:55:12 pm

Quote from: Jaspersharpe on April 24, 2009, 09:50:58 pm

Nonsense. Why do people perpetuate this ridiculous idea that everything in Font is desperate for the grade?

I didnt say that.
I was trying to say that the first trip to a new rock type will take some getting used to.
Mileage is the remedy and any first timer should concentrate on that over hard ticks.

lagerstarfish · April 24, 2009, 11:31:16 pm

I've climbed with GrumpyCunt a couple of times in Font and am faily sure that he's ready to take on "real" Font 6a.

Free beer for a month if he on-sights Marie Rose (coz Jasper didn't).

Jeu des Jambes is piss - long piss, mind...

and this is on the block that gives static elecrticity shocks; easy to work as it is only 2 moves really (it was Nige W's first 6a).

Everyone should try Le Nez which is harder than 6a, but very safe to work and actually very easy.

La Nescafe?

grumpycrumpy · April 25, 2009, 12:07:13 am

Okay , my mind is is now boggled .... I can climb 6A+ in the peak which equates to 5+ in Font .... There are few problems for those of restricted height at the grade I'm hoping to achieve ... And my name is now GrumpyCunt ....
On a more positive note .... I've climbed there before so I understand the rock ..... I've got a week to keep going back to the problems I like the look of .... And Le Nescafé looks right up my street ....

.... It's all good ... Cheers chaps and chappesses .....

Jaspersharpe · April 25, 2009, 12:20:10 am

Also at Cuvier I thought this was a total gift at 6A but very good.

http://bleau.info/cuvier/1953.html

adam p · April 25, 2009, 07:48:20 am

went to font last weekend and enjoyed this....

http://bleau.info/chats/9065.html

very nice and pretty part of world too, recommend a picnic and a light red to toast success afterwards

sitter is good too though a little harder

whatever you end up doing, enjoy!

Sloper · April 25, 2009, 08:14:09 am

My point was two fold jasper, 1. I think that grades in the peak, certainly in the lower range are grossly inflated, eg Strawberries at Curbar is no more than 4+, never 6b in a million years and 2. That Font takes a little getting used to, as does every new type of rock etc.

lagerstarfish · April 25, 2009, 08:23:46 am

Quote from: grumpycrumpy on April 25, 2009, 12:07:13 am

And my name is now GrumpyCunt ....

I use the c word in an affectionate way here

nik at work · April 25, 2009, 08:30:30 am

My wife did a couple of 6B's when we were there over easter. One that stands out (if you like slabs) was at Buthiers. Can't remember the number but it's a short slab on the boulder immediately left of the boulder with Appartenance on it. In fact Buthiers in general was considered the venue of the trip.
The slab probably is slightly easier for the tall, but climbs really nicely.
Of course if you hate slabs...

lagerstarfish · April 25, 2009, 08:50:19 am

Les Bossettes du Lépreux is ok as long as you get the sequence right. Its only 1 or 2 moves straight off the floor, so is a good one to keep bashing away at. It's a mantley thing so the climbers lack of lank shouldn't be a hindrance.

tomtom · April 25, 2009, 09:18:51 am

My first (and only) Font trip was May last year. Then I was climbing 6a/6b (on a good day with a prevailing wind!) in the UK (up to V3 in a different currency). By the end of the trip (4 days) I was doing most 5's that were thrown at me, and also managed a couple on red circuits (a few 5+'s 6a's and a 6b). So the grades are comparable IMHO. But what is different is that you have to adjust your climbing style from climbing on Grit. In many ways there are many similarities - cunning footwork and good smearing are very important (I beleive some refer to this as foot faggotery!) and sometimes some grunt is useful. For me the biggest difference was because friction is different you have to put weight on your smears in a different way - more over the smear (pushing into the rock) rather than on the edge of smears as you can get away with on grit. Also - like many grit problems I found many of the font problems I tried were quite 'knacky' as in there was a way of doing it that worked really well... so its all about unlocking the puzzle!

Dont try and do too much hard on your first couple of days - enjoy the atmosphere - go and do a couple of blue circuits (even on blues there will be several problems you cannot do!) and get a good feel for the rock - then start playing with a couple of reds you like the look of. I pretty much ditched the guide and just did problems of a colour towards the end - then its a pleasant surprise when you find that you have actually done a 6a+ or something!

Enjoy it, its great - wish I was going again this may :-( I know I've only been once, and there are people on this forum who has been many many many times who probably have a better idea- but thats what I found out when I went last year - and was climbing at what sounds like a similar grade to you. BTW, good effort on the deliverance RH arete sitter - its no path at the grade (for me anyway!).
TT

Aussiegav · April 25, 2009, 09:57:51 am

the only reason why people think that font is so desperate is because footwork plays such an important role in about 99% of the problems.

that aside, a great 6A that would suit any gritstone climber is Trou du Simon at Bas Cuvier, its near Aerodynamite.
that is a mega classic.

grumpycrumpy · April 25, 2009, 12:22:24 pm

Wow they're coming in thick and fast ..... Brilliant .... I like the sound of Buthiers Nik , slabs are summat I've always enjoyed .... Excellent advice on the matter of building up to it , getting used to the style of climbing required will probably take me a couple of days ..... But it's such a fantastic place with so many excellent problems to throw my body at , whatever the outcome I know it's going to be a great week .....

I'm also lucky to be going with jaspersharpe of this parish , a man with an encylopedia of beta in his brain .....

And Lagers here's a

( in a manly , backslapping , bearhugging way of course ) .....

Again , thanks to all .....