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New child friendly crags in Font with grades 5-8! (Read 27170 times)

Nigel Poustie

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I've been to Font loads and loads of times before and obviously visited all the usual areas a number of times.
We going again in late March and we now have another baby, I'm looking for some new places to try.
They would need to have a short walk in and a spread of grades from 5 through to 8, all close together.
Any ideas?

Jingo

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Just printing a new guidebook to Font called Fontainebleau Fun Bloc which should be in the shops in a few weeks time. It has 17 kids circuits fully detailed, which are all the ones currently painted up. Should be of help to you. Plus all the best buggy approach routes.  Also has over 1000 grade 7 and 8 probs.

T_B

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Depends what you mean by obvious areas?

Potala is good for kids, though not that many 7s - a good 7a+, roofy 7b+ and a v obvious 8  ;)  Plus class 7a+ at Cathedrale 5 mins walk away. Can combine with Guichot.
Beauvais is also good en famille. One amazing 7b+, one OK 7b+ with a better 7c start.

Nigel Poustie

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Cheers.

Can you make an advanced order of the guide on the web? Sounds interesting!

By obvious I meant: Cuvier, Canon, Isatis, Cuisiniere, Elephant, Buthiers, Sabots, Gorge aux chats. Thoses seem to be areas we go quite alot.
I've never been to the areas you meantion so thanks alot, i'll check them out on bleau.info.

Anyone ever been to Rocher d' Avon sounds like it might fit the bill, nothing really hard there though but sounds like it's a short walk and low/mid 7s next easier stuff.

T_B

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Folk on here have been to Rocher Avon, but from a kids perspective, I'd heard from a mate with kids who checked it out that it's a bit spread out  :-\

dave

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Wouldn't have thought avon was great for binlids.

Cancha aux merciers would be good for kids, assuming they don't set off any of the blank rounds lying around.

T_B

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Yeah canche is good, though I've never found much to do there unless u like horizontal dynos. This looks cool, though has a bit of a bad landing http://bleau.info/canche/1754.html

Nigel Poustie

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Oh right....Thats the trouble you have so little time to yourself you don't want to spend it looking for boulders!

Anyone been to Mont Ussy? Any good?

Also what would the Alien roof at Rocher Caillaud (JA Martin) be like for easier problems? Whats the walk in like, you appoarch differently to the rest of JA Martin right?

Nigel Poustie

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Canche aux Merciers had crossed my mind but I was worried the dyno was the only thing to go at - not usually my thing!
Cheers all.

Bonjoy

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The Alien roof is about a ten min walk in along a decent (strurdy pushchairable) track. Nothing really there below 7a+, but JA Martin itself is pretty child friendly if mostly a bit dull.

Buthiers is a good bet, all areas close to the car, mostly with a flat approach and loads of brilliant probs of all grades (the best stuff tends to be high).

Petit Bois is a good choice. Compact flat based crag, close to car, good mix of grades inc some classic harder things.

Nigel Poustie

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Cheers Bonjoy

Yeah Buthiers is awesome! and so is Petite Bois, was thinking of going back to get Baleine - always found that hard!

We don't have a push chair, just slings. Eric ic three now so can walk a fair way just a bit slow hence short walk-ins.

dave

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Alien roof is great for climbing but fuckall else there bar that block and a vertical warmup wall. We took ours there when he was 18months but it wouldn't be my first choice. Mont ussy I walked round in the rain once, some good looking stuff, not sure about binlid friendlyness.

Jingo

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The copies come to the UK and go directly to Cordee in Leicester. They have a website and are set up for very quick despatch. Avon is good when kids are 12 upwards, plenty then but not really before. You will be quite surprised at how much has been developed in the forest. New book has 7000+ probs in just 24 areas.

Bonjoy

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Cassepot was another place we went to with the little one. A bit spread out but not too bad and otherwise child friendly

T_B

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Bois Rond?

Anyone been there? I seem to recall doing a great red circuit there, but it was 10+ years ago so can't remember much about it.

Jaspersharpe

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Bois Rond has an easy enough walk in (4 yr old rode his bike there and back when we went) plus decent flat areas once you're there.

There's not a lot 7A and above but what there is looks good. I didn't attempt to climb any of them as we went on the last day when I was totally destroyed but the red and blue circuits have some very nice problems on them.

Cassepot was another place we went to with the little one. A bit spread out but not too bad and otherwise child friendly

 :agree:

EDIT - Wrote this before you posted T_B !

tommytwotone

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Manoury looks interesting - decent concentration of Blues / Reds close together, and a fair selection of harder stuff including that impressive / terrifying looking Irreversible (7c).

There's even two handy downloadable topos for the blue / red circuits and the 7a - 8a stuff (the latter of which I'm sure is fine once you get past the Comic Sans useage):

http://bleau.info/maunoury/

It says 300m from the parking which I'd assume is OK for a walk-in?

SA Chris

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Bois Rond?


I was going to run that up the flagpole too; as JS says not a lot in the higher grades though, but is it Drei Zinnen just across the way where there are a few quality harder probs?

Bonjoy

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La Bombe Humaine assis 7a+ at Bois Rond is good. A lot of the other 7s seem to be eliminate in some way or other

ghisino

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Anyone been to Mont Ussy? Any good?

a cool looking 7c (l'etre have) and couple of very highball 6b/c, plus orange and red circuits and a virtual blue (no painted arrows, only exists on pdf).
Next to it you have roche d'Hercule, a big approachless chunk of pocketed sandstone with some very cool, highballish problems from 5 to 7a+.
A few more 7's 300 meters away.


Nice quiet area overall, oddly it seems more popular with fontainebleau people having a walk in the woods than with climbers.
The only reason i can see is that the harder stuff is either uninteresting or highball, otherwise it's quite good.

T_B

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Manoury looks interesting - decent concentration of Blues / Reds close together, and a fair selection of harder stuff including that impressive / terrifying looking Irreversible (7c).

Yeah, I thought that. Went there en famille last yr. I wouldn't recommend it. It's hard to find, spread out and not particularly child friendly. The blues/reds are disappointing. I would only go back for Irreversible (+ an amazing angular highball arete that's not in the 7s&8s guide (what is this?)) and maybe Oasis.

Nigel Poustie

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Yeah, from what I have seen off Manoury I looks like quite broken up lots of gullys etc lots of boulders you dont climb on a la Apremont! Which is no good for finding things

I think the arete your thinking of is Rababoum 7a 5 star apparently looks ace but perhaps not a area for a group with 4 / 5 kids!

Jaspersharpe

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Was looking at that problem earlier. It does look stunning.

http://bleau.info/maunoury/19065.html

T_B

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Ah yes, that's the one. Looks bigger in the flesh, with a boulder choke landing from what I can recall.

Take a team, not a toddler  ;)

Jaspersharpe

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 :agree:

There's a video of the sit start which shows the landing. As you say, looks like a chasm full of boulders filled in with a load of pads.

 

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