Fontainebleau 2005

Fontainebleau May 2005 Trip Report (Rhiannon)

The club members ventured yet again to Fontainebleau for May bank holiday weekend.

I was brought up in the shadows of Craig Arthur, Pinfold and Dinbren, the limestone buttresses that watch over Llangollen, an hour or so drive from Capel Curig. My earliest memory is of my father lifting me up so I could see the illustrious names inscribed on the ceiling at Pen-y-Gwryd, whilst grim-faced and brooding fellows spoke in hushed tones of Cemetery Gates, Ivy Sepulchre, Sextons Route and other jolly-sounding picnic spots.

Ten years ago I moved to Yorkshire, where I hoped things might be different, but unfortunately they were not. The gritstone crags boasted Wall of Horrors, Deathwish and Appointment with Fear. And great tales were told too, of adventures in Borrowdale, of Obituary Grooves, The Mortician and The Shroud . . .

As soon as I was asked to provide the words for the 2005 Spring excursion to Fontainebleau (only later realising that this "compliment" is reserved for those new to the club who are too stupid to know better) I embarked on some serious investigative research.

Initial signs were hopeful. Assurances of blue skies and sunshine, acre upon acre of white sand, a direct-to-the-tent croissant delivery service, gorgeous lizards, and arguably the finest bouldering in Europe. But most enticing of all were the route names which seemed to reflect the twin preoccupations of the French - gastronomy and lust: Charcuterie and Boucherie waited invitingly in a forest where one might also find Baisers volés and even an Orgasme cosmique.

This looked altogether more promising . . .