It has been prime Little Cottonwood Canyon bouldering season lately…
My first attempt on ‘Helen Keller’. I didn’t get much farther than this … and yes, those are the starting holds. Picture by Trevor.
… but Rafiti did. He picked up the send this past weekend!! Woot, woot! Picture by Trevor.
Nathan at the Goldy boulder.
Emil on ‘St. Nick’.
Me on ‘Sweet Baby Jesus’. I have only given this line one attempt but would *really* like to try it again. Only problem is it is a high-ball with a crappy landing, so basically you want to avoid falling at all costs while fully knowing the crux is at the top.
The forest of Fontainebleau in the Trois Pignon area.
Best Time to Visit
Like every other bouldering destination, the best time to visit is when temps are in the 50’s. These temps can be found in Fontainebleau during early spring to around mid-April. And though Bleau can be fun during the off season, note that Bleau is BY FAR the most temperature dependent place I visited during my 10 month trip. Due to the necessary friction moves, the problems can feel a bit harder during the off season.
Be prepared for rain when visiting Bleua. I was extremely lucky and had only one climbing day cut short due to rain during my 3 week visit. I heard this was an anomaly.
Length of Stay
I was in Fontainebleau for 3 weeks and had barely scratched the surface of the climbing. A trip of months would still leave you with problems to explore.
How to Get There
The climbing in Fontainebleau is very dispersed making a car quite a necessity. Fontainebleau is an hour south of Paris or four hours north of Lyon. If without car, you can catch the train from main cities, with the ride from Paris being less than an hour ride. I hear you can usually hitch rides if staying at one of the main camping sites. That being said, I would still suggest to any readers to rent a car. I found the best deal through Holiday Autos, a Travelocity subsidiary, but would also suggest checking Expedia and EuropebyCar. Note that many credit card companies will have rental insurance (simply call and ask your credit company for details) and often will provide discounts on rental cars.
Guidebook
The must-have resources are the purple “Fontainebleau Climbs” and a map of the forest. Trust me, you will want a map of the forest in order to understand the forest layout. There are numerous other guidebooks that highlight certain grades, with the 7 + 8 book having additional excellent maps.
Classic Climbs
I usually write up a whole post of my favorite climbs in each area. However, in Fontainebleau you really can’t go wrong with anything you hop on. Plus the climbing in Fontainebleau is different than any other area because it is organized in circuits. At each crag there are a handful of circuits, meaning a grouping of problems, that are all marked (literally painted) with numbers. Most climbs do not have names, just a number. And the idea is you go to an area and run a circuit. Levels of difficulty are noted by the color, but also a circuit at one crag may be harder than the same color circuit of another crag because the difficulty is assessed by averaging all the problems in that circuit. The guidebook notates the difficulty of each area.
Each circuit problem will have a painted number and an arrow that shows the direction of the climb. Often there is a dot that shows the starting foot. It is NOT uncommon for a climb to be a jump start and very few climbs actually sit start.
There are also off circuit problems, usually named, often of very quality.
Some of my favorite problems and circuits included the following:
Everything at Le Diplodocus was great.
The Red Circuit at Roche Aux Sabot was very good, but hard.
Bas Cuvier Classics were The Helicopter, Druxmanie, the Joker, La Marie Rose, and Holey Moley.
Fronchard Isatais – Many excellent problems including La Statique (part of the white circuit), La Coquille, El Poussif and El Poussah.
Canche Aux Mercier has numerous great problems, with my favorite being 13 red.
Definitely try the Cul de Chien Roof.
Camping / Where to Stay
I was extremely fortunate that I was introduced to Guillaume through a mutual contact. Guillaume offered me a place in his house, such a generous offer and being the perfect setup for me. Most climbers either camp or stay in gites. Here is some information but there is definitely more out there.
Gites – gites are apartments that are rented out, being most affordable with groups of people. Two gites I would suggest, due to friend recommendations, are Lu Clos du Tertre, owned by Stef, and Maison Bleu, owned by Neil. I did contact both of these people prior to knowing I had a place at Guillaume’s and must say they were both genuinely nice. I would urge people to contact them if going to Bleau.
Formule 1 – Forumle 1’s are affordable hotels with simple accommodations.
Camping - There used to be free camping near Bas Cuvier. Note that this has now been closed. Musardie, based in (or right outside of) Le Vaudoue seems to be the main campground. I was told by a handful of American friends not to camp… but, to be honest upon seeing the campground I think I would have felt just fine staying there.
Food / Drink
I can’t really opine on this subject as I didn’t go out at all when in Fontainebleau. I instead enjoyed going back to Guillaume’s house and spending time with his family.
Personal Hygiene
Not very knowledgeable in this area since I was staying with a friend. I know the gites have showers, but unsure what to do if camping.
Rest Day Activities
I wrote up a whole post on this, which you can read here.
If wanting to visit Paris, it is easiest to either just simply take the train or drive to the closest port of Paris (I believe it is the Port d’Orlean) and park your car, taking the train from there. (In 2009 you could get roundtrip train ticket and full access to Paris buses and metros for 16 euors.) The driving in Paris is CRAZY and it is hard to navigate, to the point where I didn’t dare drive into the city. If you do drive, whatever you do AVOID THE ARC DE TRIUMP ROUNDABOUT. Supposedly the arc de triump roundabout has six unmarked lanes and is sheer mayhem. =)
Buying Gear
I had been told that the closest gear stores were the Vieux Campeur stores in Paris. Note that due to the small space available in Paris, there are many Vieux Campeur stores within a couple block section, all of which carry one type of outdoor gear (climbing, backpacking, capming, etc.) You must ask where the store you are looking for is located. (Yes, you read that correctly.) I did hear from an American friend that there is a gear shop by the Carrefour near Barbizon, yet I did not visit it. The best bet if you are needing climbing items, Fontainebleau guidebooks or your shoes resoled, is the below pictured van. The van is usually parked at the Cul de Chien / Roche Aux Sabot parking lot on weekends and holidays.
At the Vieux Campeur guidebook store. The entire store was simply guidebooks and maps. It actually was quite phenomenal.
The only shoe resoler and the best source for climbing goods in Fontainebleau. Usually parked at the Cul de Chien / Roche Aux Sabot area.
Other
Other items to remember or of interest.
Gasoline Prices - I love visiting other countries and being reminded of how spoiled us Americans are when it comes to gasoline prices. I was driving a tiny Ceteron C3 that took diesel fuel, yet it was still 39 Euro (approximately $55) to fill up my car. Unbelievable. If you look at the prix par litre of 1.04 Euro that is equivalent to $5.82 a gallon. The thing is, these are NORMAL rates outside of the US, yet all of us Americans complain with high fuel costs.
First time buying fuel in France. (Nice self reflection, I know!) =) I must admit that I was pretty proud of myself for driving through Europe, though speaking very little French, yet actually making it to all destinations accident free.
Lots of Pads – The problems in Bleau aren’t nearly as high as Bishop, but there are definitely still some high’ish problems. It never hurts to have a lot of pads. Pictured is L’Helicoptre. This problem is known to be ankle twister with everyone landed in different spots. Definitely pad this problem up!
The pad party at L’Helicoptre.
Links
The best link I found was bleau.info. However, it has changed since I used it and I must admit I don’t like the new look. Before it used to provide excellent trip beta, but now it is looking closer to an 8a. Boo! It does, however, have a forum where you can possibly post up for gite mates.
If you have additional information, please feel free to post a comment.
Bishop was the last U.S. bouldering destination I visited before heading over to Europe.It was also my favorite bouldering destination due to the superb rock quality, the immense amount of problems, but also the enjoyable and chill climber “scene”.
Best Time to Visit
Bishop is similar to most bouldering destinations where the best time to go is when temps are in the 50 ‘s.I believe people winter here, but it definitely gets a bit cold during the true winter months.I think the optimal months are fall and spring.
Length of Stay
I was in Bishop for 5 weeks, albeit one week was nursing a sprained ankle. I felt like I had explored the area well, yet still hadn’t even seen ½ of the areas.For instance I only visited the Buttermilks, Happies and Sads, missing out on the other three areas covered in the book.A visit could easily consist of a couple months, if not longer.
How To Get There
Directions to the city of Bishop are quite straightforward.Further directions are needed to find the crags, but the guidebook includes sufficient instructions.If still lost, stop in at Wilsons (on Main street) for directions.
Guidebook
The Bishop guidebook, similar to the Hueco and Red River Gorge books, is phenomenal.It is called Bishop Bouldering and is written by Wills Young.The only downside, and it is a HUGE downside, is the lack of an index.You can either reference page numbers or download an index from here.
Classic Climbs
There are numerous are classics in Bishop, which I have already written up here.
Camping
There are two main places to camp.
The Buttermilks – It is free to camp in the Buttermilks plus, depending on your camp site, it is possible to be walking distance from the climbing. Note that the Buttermilks are located higher than town and The Pit, meaning it will definitely be cooler at night. The downside to camping here is town is 30 minutes away.
The Pit – Cost to camp is $2 per car per campsite. It is located 15 minutes from town and is the main climber hangout. The downside is it will be louder than the Buttermilks.
Pat’s tent in the Buttermilks. Photo by Pat Lionais.
Food / Drink
There are two markets in town. Vons is definitely the bigger of the two with the selection allowing you to find most anything you might want. The other is the Manor Market that sells some organic foods, has a very good wine selection, sells delicious dried bananas and supposedly has cheap sushi on Friday afternoons. If wanting to eat out, check out the following:
Yamatani – Surprisingly good sushi place, with the best items being off menu. My favorite (off menu, of course) was Mt. Fuji which is a Mexican inspired dish with a mixture of fish, avacado and sriracha served on a fried wonton. Hmmmmmm…. delicious.
The Bowling Alley – The bowling alley has the best and cheapest burgers in town.
Whisky Creek – Good food but a titch over priced. Best to go there at Happy Hour which is daily between 5 – 6.
Las Palmas – The Mexican place behind the Black Sheep, located on Line Street.
Bishop Grill – Wanting a typical American breakfast of bacon and eggs? The Bishop Grill is the place to go.
Schatz Bakery – A must stop! Definitely try the chili cheese bread.
Great Basin Bakery – This bakery is an easy stop on the way to the Buttermilks and is where the locals stop.
Personal Hygiene
There are two laundromats in town, both of which have showers. The one located closest to The Looney Bean, Sierra Suds, has a bit nicer shower facility. Showers are also available at Kenough Hot Springs.
Wi-Fi
There are two main coffee shops in town, The Looney Bean and The Black Sheep. Both have free wireless, but The Black Sheep’s is exponentially better! Both coffee shops are main climber hangouts, but the scene at The Black Sheep is definitely better mostly because of the setting and folks running the counter. The Black Sheep is located at the back of Spell Binder books.
Rest Day Activities
Keough Hot Springs – The hot springs are actually a perfect after climbing treat. There are two options at the same approximate location. The resort of Kenough Hot Springs is a paid service where the springs are cemented off and showers are accessible. However, most climbers go after 7:30 when the resort closes and releases all the hot water to the down stream to the free area. Note: As a female I would not go to the free area alone.
Mammoth – Mammoth is quite closeby. I actually wished I had my snowboarding gear as Mammoth resort was having a good ski year.
Mono Lake Tufa Reserver – I didn’t know about this area until after I left Bishop. From the pictures I saw, I think this is a must see on a rest day.
Other
Injuries – I’ve noticed each area has its own type of injuries, but the sprained and broken ankle is definitely the demise of Bishop due to the high-ball problems. It wouldn’t hurt to take pre-emptive measures and tape up your ankles if you have had past injuries.
I felt fortunate that world class destination Hueco Tanks was on my list of road trip stops. I had heard about this destination for years and happily rolled in mid-January, exploring the boulder problems for a month.
(I apologize prior to any of you readers scrolling through the pics. Usually my posts include pics of friends, but I was real lax on taking pictures in Hueco as there were always friends around with better cameras than mine. The result was good pics, but most of the ones I received were of just me. I apologize.)
One of my Red River Gorge friends hiking down North Mountain at sunset.
Me working through the crux of “Baby Martini”. This climb was a perfect way to wreck oneselves at the end of the day. Long and core intensive, it was an excellent way to ensure a great workout. Photo by Frank Wu.
Kenyon on “Fern Roof”, which he sent a couple days after this picture. Congrats, my friend.
Me on “The King Cobra”. I loved this line and had to put in quite a few days of work prior to sending. It was one of my proudest sends simply because it was a climb that wasn’t my style.
Daron on “Julio and Me”. Photo by Frank Wu.
Me on “Moonshine Roof”. The best part about this climb was the huge surfboard feature pictured here. Photo by Frank Wu.
A fun aspect of road tripping is continually running into the same people. I had climbed with Courtney, pictured here, in Rumbling Bald and then again in Hueco Tanks. She was in Hueco with her friend Shulpa, who I have now ran into in Joshua Tree and in Bishop. =) Here Courtney is climbing the fun line “La Delicate” in the New Meadow area.
Me on “Big Iron On His Hip”. This was by far my favorite line in all of Hueco, that I luckily sent right before the end of my trip. Though the line wasn’t really aesthetic, it included the coolest movement with techniques such as a heel-toe cam, a bicycle and a campus drive by move.. all of which were necessary (at least for me) in order to send. So much fun! Photo by Frank Wu.
I had lived out of my car for my entire road trip until I reached Hueco. In Hueco I had a place to stay in with fellow climbers, which worked out well for the sole reason that I didn’t know what I would have done with CB otherwise (as dogs are not allowed in the park). The Rock Ranch allows dogs to roam, but CB is so small that I would have worried about her. The people in the house were great. Pictured here is Tammy and Daron shaving the dog and James drinking jack and coke… all at 9:45am. =) CB absolutely loved James, and he was real great with her, petting her while he would play video games on his rest days.
El Paso is quite the unique place. Old buses, random open air living arrangements and buildings that look like space craft can be sighted on the way to the Park.
I love this picture. This is me, hanging out with The CragBaby and Johnny Utah.
Little Rock City was one of my very favorite climbing destinations on this road trip. The bouldering area is compact, the sandstone problems quite easy to locate, but mostly there are numerous aesthetic, classic lines.
Best Time to Visit Little Rock City is a cool weather bouldering destination making the best time to visit when the temps are in 40 – 60’s.
How to Get There
Little Rock City is very easy to locate as the boulders surround the Montlake Golf Course. From downtown Chattanooga head north on US-27. I believe I used the exit for Chickamauga Dam and then followed the signs for the golf course. However, the google map instructions differ slightly and can be found here.
How to Receive Access Currently only 35 climbers are allowed into LRC daily, with 20 parking passes given out. To climb there, you must do the following:
The day wanting to climb, WAKE UP AT 5am (no later!) and log-in to the site. Click “Get a Pass” and state if you need parking or not. (Note: I was visiting the area during Christmas break so perhaps there were more climbers than usual. All I know, is there were days when all the climbing passes were taken by 5:12am.)
Park at the furthest side of the parking lot (furthest from the boulders) as this is the climber parking area.
Rumor on the street is the golf course is going to start charging $5 per day per car in 2009. The registration process will still be necessary and supposedly they will not be increasing the number of climbers allowed in daily.
Camping
There is definitely NOT any camping around LRC, but possibly some in Chattanooga. I was fortunate enough to have friends to crash with while in the city. If not as fortunate, it looks like the following campgrounds are located in Soddy Daisy.
Guidebook
There isn’t an official guidebook to the area, but there is a Triple Crown Series comp guide that is available in the club house. I might scan a copy and put it here on my blog, but I don’t have an access to a scanner at this time.
Wi-fi
Internet Access can be found at a handful of locations in Chattanooga. I usually went to GreenLife as their wi-fi is good and they have excellent, healthy food.
Rest Day Activies
Rest days are easily filled with Chattanooga site seeing.
Tennessee Aquarium – this aquarium ranked as one of the best I had visited in the US. Current cost is $20.
Walnut Street Bridge – this pedestrian bridge is located on Walnut Street. Take a couple minutes to saunter across as it gives a great view of downtown and the riverways.
Civil War Sites – Chattanooga was a key city during the Civil War, resulting in many historical sites.
Restaurants – there are a good amount of great restaurants in Chattanooga. For hamburgers, definitely hit up Tremont Tavern as it is far superior to Hair of the Dog. The best pizza joint is by far Lupis, plus they have a good beer selection. An excellent affordable Italian place is Tony’s in the Bluff View Art District. Good seafood can be found at Blue Water (the lobster mac and cheese is phenomenal!) but it is probably on the pricey side for a dirt bag climber. There is a fabulous authentic Mexican place, the name of which I forget, that is down the street from the sushi joint Hiroshis.
Other
Little Rock City does NOT allow dogs. Most climber simply leave their dogs in their vehicle, walking them in the adjoining field. This seems to be allowed.
If you have any additional beta, please feel free to post in the comments.
After the Red River Gorge I hit the road again with my friend Pierre (from Quebec), with the destination being Boone, North Carolina and its abundant gneiss boulders.
My whole vacation, which started on August 1st, has been a little “off” with lots going on at home and on the road for me to worry about. Problems ranging from moving, car wreck, dealing with insurance companies (and in this case it was particularly long taking about 2 months to solve), looking for a new house and new car, breakups, job interview, car problems while on the road, the climbing accident and one of my dear friends at home being extremely sick (I actually considered calling the trip for the last two reasons.)
I usually climb to forget about my worries, but even climbing became stressful as being a sole traveler means that I am climbing with new climbing partners daily who I don’t know and who I am unsure know the technique of the soft catch. Add to that the fact that the bolt placements are more sparse in Rifle and the Red in comparison to home, and I catch myself really NOT wanting to fall. Falling is always scary (my head still being messed up from the broken ankle) but knowing there is a potential for a big fall on a belayer I don’t know is even more stressful On top of all that, there are so many strong climbers on the road and especially in the Red that my projects are often everyone’s warm-ups, resulting in me really starting to wonder if I truly am a “climber” since I am unable to climb 5.13.
But the past two days have started to turn around with me being truly happy each morning and excited to be on the road. I think it is because a lot of these worries have started to clear up: my car is working, the girl in the accident is doing real well and I am starting to mentally recover, my good friend at home is home from the hospital and it is just real nice not to be stressing about rope climbing. Though I’ve never considered myself a “boulder-er” since my focus has always been more towards sport climbing, I have loved my time here in Boone and perhaps the end result of all my worries will be me also loving this form of climbing. =)
Little Cottonwood Canyon houses numerous boulders and routes, most of which on granite rock. The majority of the routes are traditional lines with a few sport routes (one of which being All Chalk and No Action) with boulders sprinkled throughout the whole canyon. The canyon rock is known for its small features that are superb when the temps are in the 40 – 55 degree fahrenheit range, but can be nearly impossible at warmer temps, making the grades often feel sandbagged.
A couple weeks back, Shaft and I ran up to the Five Mile area as I am working smiley left. The funny thing is I almost topped out this project last summer at a night bouldering session (the least likely time to climb in LCC) but am struggling to get off the main rail with the optimal temps. Argh.
Smiley Left beta. It actually looks as if a foot hold fell off; however, I am pretty positive it was a foot hold I wasn’t using. Oh well… I will use it as an excuse anyway. He he he.. just kidding. =)
Shaft on the warm up slab.
Shaft on the Surfboard.
With this erractic weather, LCC season (especially as of last weekend) was over as the temperatures soared into the 90s. Thankfully a storm has blown in allowing me to hop on some boulders with Katie, Shaft and new friend JR on Monday. Perhaps this storm will allow LCC season to last just a tid-bit longer.
The Route Slayer on one of the warm ups. The climbing on this problem is easy, but the height can be quite mental. As Shaft would say, “It’s NOT over!” =)
Me on the Chipped Arete Variation. Fun.
Triznut crushing “Fat Albert”. It is amazing how this climb feels so much more do–able in the right temps.
HA HA HA! Check out the determination! This might be the worst photo of me EVER, but that look and my beloved heel hook helped me pull “Salad”, completing my second V5. I completed my third, a great undercling one at the Parking Lot, about a week later. I was so psyched!
