Bleauventures: Beauvais Beauté

A bit north of the usual Font haunts lies Beauvais. This area is absolutely worth the drive for some laid back woodland bouldering - especially as we had a few old projects hanging over there.

Beauvais seems quieter than the main sites and has a lived-in feel, a bit more integrated with everyday French life and further from the power screams of international rock junkies; you are just as likely to run across people picnicking, gathering chestnuts or bashing together graffiti pieces on stretched sheets, as you are climbers. Pathways ramble and undulate, with blocs strewn here and there amongst the chestnut trees (a note on these, sit down anywhere and you will be impaled on their spiny fruit - but they're awesome on a bbq) and tucked under giant swooping pines. 

For a project day, this was a pretty good one. After a quick 'warm up' on some blues with typically tenuous Font top outs we got drawn into Helen's project, Le Diéséliste (7a). Sam and Helen (covered here in our Sunday Send) sent this, whilst Amber got the short version, Le Cambouis du Diéséliste (6c). Onwards and up the hill to settle an old score: Le Grain de Beauté (6c+), and Le Grain de Beauvais (7b/7a+), two rather different animals on one low, wrinkled prow. Beauté, that traverses the lip with a gorgeous sequence of cross-throughs, went a treat for Amber with some ingrained beta (only her first Font 6c+!!) and for Jason also, making the bloc look much smaller with his 6'4 frame. Sam sessioned the straight-up Le Grain de Beauvais with various combinations of experimentation and grrr, finally latching the last hold with an interesting three point cut loose on the slabby top out. 

​He got the route, and a dead leg.

Amber and Jason moving through Le Grain de Beauté (6c+) at Beauvais Nainville.