[dave]

I've only walked round Oiseaux but I got the impression it's not mega extensive, mainly destination 7s and then a bit of oldschool very high stuff (that probably gets little traffic). I.e. not a normal type of font crag with circuits to suit everyone. Wouldn't be my first choice for what you're after.

[tommytwotone]

Ah right - back around.


Was trying to avoid the obvious places but I guess given the profile of our squad and limited time for exploration it might be a case of sticking to what I know.

[dave]

For a spread of grades probably limited to big crags, but you could do some that are a bit further from the car - Potala, Fin, Reconnaissance, Manoury, Simmonet, General/Diplodocus etc.

[tommytwotone]

Yeah - was thinking about a few of them.


Manoury is tempting if only for Radaboum, but with 2/3 of the team sub 5 foot 8 I reckon the send train could end up stuck in the station on that one.

[Will Hunt]

We had an amazing trip. Didn't really know what to expect since we had a very mixed ability group. Three people had never climbed outside before, a few people climbing high 5s to mid 6s and then Dunnyg and I are obviously rock gods. This actually ended up working really well because everybody made time for everybody else and made sure there was the opportunity to get on what they fancied. This meant not running from tricky problem to tricky problem - but I think on balance this meant I didn't get burned out and was able to climb at a reasonable and consistent standard throughout the trip, because there was lots more rest incorporated into each day. We were also very discerning about what problems we tried and what crags we visited on a particular day. Tactics work!

Some thoughts on the problems and some added to the list:

Franchard Isatis
La Memel - 7A+/B
l'Angle Ben's - 7A+ - as I think I mentioned before, this isn't that skin friendly, but it is very good.
El Poussif (Dune) - 7A+
El Poussah - 7A/+
Boulder de Nerfs - 7A/+

Franchard Hautes Plaines
Lapin Ou Canard - 7A
Le Surplomb de la Coquille - 6C/+

Franchard Sablons
Jokari - 7A/+

Cuisinière
Undertow - 7A - Nice problem but came to it at the end of the first day and wasn't recovering well between attempts (think the flash go was probably the strongest I felt on it). Fingertip friendly but trashes the skin on your arms. Sacked it off after a few goes of feeling quite weak on it.

Cuisinière Crête Sud
La Teigne - 7B
Beatle Juice - 7A+
Excalibur - 7A/+
Déraper sur la Tête de Chien - 6C+
De Fil en Aiguille - 6C/+


Petit Bois
L'Oeuf - 7B
La Baleine - 7A/+
Big Jim - 6C


Apremont
Onde de Choc - 7B
Egoiste - 7A
Clin de l'Oeil - 7A - Thought this was a bit of a rubbish problem to be honest. Quite soft and doesn't actually climb that well. Plus it had a slightly sharp crimp for the right hand.

Roche aux Sabots
Le Bond de l'Hippopotame - 7A - Brilliant dyno. Well worth doing.
Graviton - 7A
Jeu du Toit - 7A
Élucubration / Le Quark - 7A
L'Oblique - 7A/6C+ - Very soft but really nice climbing. Very skin friendly crimps.
*NEW ENTRY* Jet Set - 7A - A reasonably good climb that is probably more popular than it deserves to be. Conditions dependent. Very skin friendly.
*NEW ENTRY* Smash - 7B - Skin friendly and not that hard if you're even average at jumping.

Roche aux Sabots Sud
Zen

Cul de Chien
Le Toit du Cul de Chien - 7A - As said above. Don't think this deserves the trash that people talk about it. Its historic and climbs brilliantly. The walk is not that far and its very close to other good areas. If you get there early before the uni students have got up its shady and lovely.


Cuvier Est
Festin De Pierre - 7A - Really nice problem.
Duroxmanie - 6C - Absolutely stellar. One of the best problems we did.

Cuvier
Araignee - 7A - A bit crap having that tree behind you. You'd be better off doing...
*NEW ENTRY* Charcuterie - Basically the same as Araignee but with no dab risk and better starting handholds, thus a little easier.
Joker - 7A
Vaudou-Systeme - 7A
Holey Moley - 7A
La Conque à Doigts - 7A - A crap eliminate. Don't bother!


Mont Pivot
Pancras - 7A


Rocher Canon
Chasseur de Prises - 7A


95.2
Le Yaniro - 7A+
Indestructible - 7A+
Tentation - 7A
Retour aux Sources - 7A


Elephant
La Voie Michaud - 6C


Maunoury
Rababoum - 7A


Rocher Fin
Le Nain Vert Sait - 7A/+ - Had a very quick play on this and thought it was toss. You'd be better off turning around and looking directly behind you at...
*NEW ENTRY* Mémoire d'Outre-Tombe - 7A+ - Starts at the very back of the roof lying down. Feels a bit crap and dabby at first but once you figure out the move the climbing through the roof is fantastic and culminates in a slappy crux. Double toe hook brilliance.
Towards the end of the blue circuit in the woods, there are a few very (very!) soft 7As that were amongst the best problems we did all trip. Well worth seeking out.
*NEW ENTRY* L'Auvent Tripotant (raccourci) - 6C+/7A - Very soft but nice. One hard move to start (start low for the left hand).
*NEW ENTRY* L'Oreille en Coin (assis) - 6C+/7A
*NEW ENTRY* Boule de Gnôme - 6C+/7A - Absolutely fantastic. There are a couple of boulders that are a bit dabby but they're not too bad. It looks really unlikely and then you see that all the holds are really good and friendly. Possibly one of the best climbs of the trip.

Gorges du Houx
Gargantoit - 7A/+

[rodma]

*NEW ENTRY* Jet Set - 7A - A reasonably good climb that is probably more popular than it deserves to be. Conditions dependent. Very skin friendly.
*NEW ENTRY* Smash - 7B - Skin friendly and not that hard if you're even average at jumping.


 You'd be better off doing...
*NEW ENTRY* Charcuterie - Basically the same as Araignee but with no dab risk and better starting handholds, thus a little easier.

speaks volumes about the morpho nature of those problems.

can't believe charcuterie gets lanked by almost everyone now, rather than being the awesome backpress testpiece it used to be.

fortunately araignee is not that dabby when you're my height, jet set is not conditions dependent (when you're my height) and smatch is impossible (you guessed it, when you're my height) 

[a dense loner]

ttt don't listen to Dave. Ouiseaux is a great little venue, Brazil is quality, as is satan m'habite etc. Some good 6c's there. Look at it like this, how many problems are you gonna do in a day? 5 7a's? if so ouiseaux is great. Loads of easier probs as well. Granted it's not got as many probs as cuvier but you're not gonna do all them in a day either

[fried]

Yeah Dave's been on the crack again. Oiseaux is an excellent venue for a visit, maybe not as extensive as some places. It's a bit high ball in places, but there's also a virtual blue that's not virtual anymore. Also one of the best 6As in the forest. And the rock is excellent and not polished. One of my favourite places in the forest.

[Will Hunt]

Getting the psyche on for our trip at the end of March.

There's still plenty on that list to keep me occupied but I'd like to open the floor to suggestions at 7B. Anyone? Magic Bus and Carnage both look good but are listed on Bleau as being 7B+ - I thought they got 7B?

[fried]

Way out of my league, but L'angle parfait at Dame Jouanne looks as good as they come.

[T_B]

Peter Pan, Pensees Cachees and Onde de Choc would be my top three 7Bs in Font.

[Coops_13]

Crazy Horse
A lot of good dynos 

[Will Hunt]

Ah yes, Angle Parfait does look really good. Does anybody know if that one is Skin Friendly^TM? I did Angle Ben's last time which isn't really but I made an exception for it. The bits of the arête you use are the bits with tiny little ripples that you crimp - they drag a little bit of skin off when you use them.

[Reprobate_Rob]

For some reason i've always struggled to find much at 7B in Font. Tonnes at 7A+ and 7B+ but not so much at 7B. 
Of the ones I have done Bleau's Art (Cuvier Mervielle) is mint - very knacky but effortless when you get it right. I really enjoyed Crazy Horse (Apremont Ouest) too.
Iceberg (stand 7A+ and sit 7B+) at Isatis is good as well.

At 7B+ (and unfinished business for me) Rubis sur l'Ongle (Gorge aux Chats) and L'Etrave (JA Martin) are both top notch and should be on everyone's list.

[36chambers]

I always thought of Carnage as being benchmark 7B+. Wasn't all that impressed with Magic Bus when I saw it, but I may have just been bitter, as I was sporting a sprained ankle at the time.

I thought the moves on Biceps Mou were excellent and it's also a Real Thing tick! 

Noir Desir Gauche (Rampart) is very good, having fallen off the last move many times. Masters Edge (Buthiers Piscine) also looks sweet, but I haven't actually tried it. 

[Coops_13]

Noir Desir Gauche (Rampart) is very good, having fallen off the last move many times.

Isn't this just avoiding the main event to the right?

[benno]

Getting the psyche on for our trip at the end of March.

There's still plenty on that list to keep me occupied but I'd like to open the floor to suggestions at 7B. Anyone? Magic Bus and Carnage both look good but are listed on Bleau as being 7B+ - I thought they got 7B?

I was under the impression that Carnage is about 7B if you jump to start and pulling on adds the extra grade.

[Duma]

Onde de Choc should def be on

[36chambers]

Noir Desir Gauche (Rampart) is very good, having fallen off the last move many times.

Isn't this just avoiding the main event to the right?

It's securing myself a spot on the main event

Crazy Horse

Only worth doing if you're in the area IMHO

[Will Hunt]

I think Onde de Choc is on from last year. I've been on that before and it felt really soft so will hopefully do that if we go to Apremont - the other thing I'd like to do there is the full orange circuit so that might make a nice semi-rest day.

Crazy Horse - I'm ambivalent. Played on it very briefly and thought it was a bit grotesque.

Noir Desir - That looks good. The folk I'm with might want to try the standard version so I could just have a go at the easier variant. Interesting that 36C says he dropped the last move - it looks like a hard start into a piss jug fest. Have I missed something?

Bleau's Art looks brilliant.

[Will Hunt]

Master's Edge also looks good but some of the RH holds look suspiciously like the dreaded gratons to me. Not sure if this is the case or not but let us not forget that this thread is all about Skin Friendly and good, not just good.

[the_dom]

I think Onde de Choc is on from last year. I've been on that before and it felt really soft so will hopefully do that if we go to Apremont - the other thing I'd like to do there is the full orange circuit so that might make a nice semi-rest day.

Crazy Horse - I'm ambivalent. Played on it very briefly and thought it was a bit grotesque.

Noir Desir - That looks good. The folk I'm with might want to try the standard version so I could just have a go at the easier variant. Interesting that 36C says he dropped the last move - it looks like a hard start into a piss jug fest. Have I missed something?

Bleau's Art looks brilliant.

Bleau's Art is really tricky.

Clandestino at Apremont and Megalight at Rocher St Germain are very good. Carnage isn't bad. Rencontre Platonique (I have no idea how to spell that) at Cuvier is quite interesting, if a touch soft.

Crazy Horse isn't great.

[fried]

Another good one that comes to mind is les conquistadors at Rocher Greau, don't know how crimpy it is, or if good footwork get's you through it.

[36chambers]

Noir Desir - That looks good. The folk I'm with might want to try the standard version so I could just have a go at the easier variant. Interesting that 36C says he dropped the last move - it looks like a hard start into a piss jug fest. Have I missed something?

*having fallen off the last hard move. It transpired that I was heel hooking the wrong place.

[Plattsy]

Just to add another to the list in the 7A grade. The recent addition of Je Te Veux at Isatis is pretty skin friendly and very good.