Bouldering in Fontainebleau

One of the most popular bouldering places in Europe is just a few kilo­me­ters south of Paris. In the beautiful „Parc naturel régional du Gâtinais français“ next to Fontainebleau you can find thousands of boulders in all difficulties ranging from 1a to 8c. The rocks are sandstone and their consistency varies depending on the individual bouldering regions.

This article is structured as follows:

Enjoy and share your thoughts in the comments!

Getting there & overnight stay

Since the forest near Fontainebleau is just 60 km south of Paris, it is easily accessible by anything of your choice. The most logical choice is to travel by car, in order to be able to transport a few crash-pads with you. Alternatively, you can of course also travel by airplane or train, and rent some crash-pad(s) locally. Many regions are also in walking range, depending on your overnight stay location. Furthermore, having a bike with you makes it easier to reach nearby bouldering spots.

In addition to a variety of overnight stay possibilities in Paris or vacation homes in & near Fontainebleau, there are also a few camping sites in the middle of the bouldering region. Some of the well-known examples are the camping sites Les Pres, La Musardiére, Ile de Boulancourt & Belle Etoile. Check out their websites for opening months and for reservation.

We decided to drive by car & camp at La Musardiére, since we wanted to mainly explore the Gorge aux Chats (Cote) region. This is a very nice camping place with a pool in the summer and fresh baguettes in the morning from 8 to 9 (except for Mondays and Tuesdays). You can just park near the entrance & check-in at the reception. Here you get a card for entering the camp with your car. The prices are reasonable: You pay about 7 € per person for a night, plus the expanses for the tent / van. Don’t forget your own toilet paper!

When to visit

The time point of your visit highly depends on your preferred climbing temperature. The most pleasurable seasons are spring or fall. If you want to climb at your maximum, travelling in the winter could be an advantage, due high friction in cold conditions. Ultimately & most importantly, you need dry conditions. Even after a rainy period, however, a decent amount of wind could give you the best conditions you ever had. Keep in mind, that the weather can vary locally throughout the forest, so check out the weather forecast for multiple regions. Have fun!

History of Fontainebleau: The origins of circuits

There are numerous bouldering areas in Fontainebleau scattered in a forest filled with beech, birch, pine, chestnut and oak trees.^​1​ Areas such as Bas Cuvier, Cuvier Rempart, 95.2, Cul de Chien^​*​ and many more are described on multiple websites and various climbing guides.^​1,2​

The forest of Fontainebleau served as a hunting ground for many centuries. First in the Stone Age, as indicated by Petroglyphs, and since the 13th century exclusively for french royal families. After the French Revolution in 1789, the forest became his civil status. A few decades later, the mapping of the forest began, resulting in color-coded hikes through the forest. It did not took long, until alpine climbers began to use these rocks as a practice playground from 1908 on and established the today very well-known circuit climbing. With the years passing, the climbing progressively became more technical and harder. It took 50 years from the first 5th grade boulder in the region (La Fissure des Alpinistes by Pierre Allain in 1934) until the first 8a boulder was sent (C´Était Demain by Jacky Godoffe in 1984).^​1​ Several 8b and 8c boulders have been bouldered ever since.

Circuits

The difficulty of circuits ranges from 1 (easy) to 8a (hard as 3 day old baguette) marked with colours yellow / orange, blue, red & black, each of them getting progressively harder. Especially, if you are a beginner, these circuits help you by aggregating boulders in similar difficulties. A circuit consists of 20 to 40 individual boulders marked with the same colour and consecutive numbers as schematically shown in Figure 1 (on the left). This way bouldering becomes an additional endurance character, offering a perfect training for alpine climbers.

Circuits are marked with a painted, coloured, thumb sized numbers as shown on Figure 1 (on the right). These markings are also come in handy while locating yourself in the maze of boulders. The paint lasts for about 5-10 years, before it begins to wear off, so they could change a little bit during of their re-painting. Do not wonder, thus, if there are some minor differences between your climbing guide and the markings on the stones.

The unique geology of the Paris basin and the resulting diversity of rocks

The rocks near Fontainebleau are part of the Paris Basin, the origin of which is still not fully understood. Many theories exist about the exact formation of these rocks. Most of them include the periodic return of the sea (during Rupelian age) into this region in the last 25 million years: This way, multiple layers of limestone & sand could be created, resulting in a limestone-sandstone-limestone sandwich.^​3​

Parts of the middle sand layer silificated (during the Miocene age) probably due to a successively sinking ground water level. This resulted in a very rare, heterogeneous distribution of flat-lying and tightly cemented sandstones, within loose white sands.^​4​ The most unique feature of this layer structure in Fontainebleau is the contrast between its tightly cemented lenses and loose, permeable parts.^​5​

Due to a later on response during the formation of the Alps, the whole layer structure began to fall apart. A folding and thus fracturing of quartzites and the whole sedimentary occurred in various directions.^​3​ There are some indications for a possible second silification event afterwards (in the last 30.000 years).^​6​

All this resulted in sandstone blocks with extremely diversified quartz structures, making bouldering in Fontainebleau such variable. You can find more details regarding tectono-sedimentary movements and rock formation in this region elsewhere.^​7,8​

Variety of bouldering

The exciting part about having such a variety of different structures is the resulting variety in bouldering itself. Even within one circuit – and thus within one region -, various climbing skills are necessary. I personally highly enjoyed both the slopers and razor blade sharp edges. Even though the latter slowly but steadily destroyed my shoes. The obvious advantage is: If you do not like a boulder, just go to the next, it will probably demand a completely different range of skills. Enjoy!

Remark: The sandstone in Fontainebleau is often quite polished. A bit of polishing unfortunately happens every time, when you have sand on your shoes. You should thus clean off all the sand from your shoes before you leave the ground for two reasons: This way you get better friction on the rock and you also do not add any extra polish to the footholds.

Impressions of bouldering in Fontainebleau

It was amazing to have a week of multiple bouldering sessions after my knee injury in Fontainebleau. You can find a video below about the progression of difficulties ranging from 4a to 7a. There is not much finger strength necessary for the 4th scale, in the 5th scale, however, holding slopers or small edges becomes unavoidable. The 6th scale requires even stronger fingers, and often a lot more power. Technique always comes in handy, especially in even higher grades. The 7a shown in the video below also requires a huge amount of endurance. Check out the video for some funky boulders!

Bibliography

1. Watson J, Lambton C. Essential Fontainebleau. 2nd ed. Stone Country Press LTD; 2014. Link
2. Hirschmann B. Bouldern in Fontainebleau – Geschichte, Tipps und Infos. Bergzeit.de. Published 2019. Accessed 2022. Link
3. Missenard Y, Parizot O, Barbarand J. Age of the Fontainebleau sandstones: a tectonic point of view. Bull Soc géol Fr. Published online 2017:28. doi:10.1051/bsgf/2017194
4. Thiry M. Siliceous karst development in the Fontainebleau Sandstone (France). Nature Conservation. 2007;63:77-83.
5. Thiry M, Marechal B. Development of Tightly Cemented Sandstone Lenses in Uncemented Sand: Example of the Fontainebleau Sand (Oligocene) in the Paris Basin. Journal of Sedimentary Research. Published online May 1, 2001:473-483. doi:10.1306/2dc40956-0e47-11d7-8643000102c1865d
6. THIRY M, AYRAULT MB, GRISONI JC. Ground-water silicification and leaching in sands: Example of the Fontainebleau Sand (Oligocene) in the Paris Basin. Geological Society of America Bulletin. Published online August 1988:1283-1290. doi:10.1130/0016-7606(1988)100<1283:gwsali>2.3.co;2
7. Beccaletto L, Hanot F, Serrano O, Marc S. Overview of the subsurface structural pattern of the Paris Basin (France): Insights from the reprocessing and interpretation of regional seismic lines. Marine and Petroleum Geology. Published online April 2011:861-879. doi:10.1016/j.marpetgeo.2010.11.006
8. Steinthorsdottir M, Coxall HK, de Boer AM, et al. The Miocene: The Future of the Past. Paleoceanogr Paleoclimatol. Published online April 2021. doi:10.1029/2020pa004037

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My name is Vincent and I want to share my climbing & general outdoor experience with you. If you have any comments or questions do not hesitate to contact me!