Le Bloc

The famous Fontainebleau, it's a 35 minute train ride from Paris and before you know it you have escaped the hustle and bustle of the city of light. I got myself a little crashpad and headed out!

My mission involved about 30 minutes on the metro, a half hour wait for the hourly train out to font, which was cancelled, so another hour wait, then a 20 minute bus ride, and a half hour walk. Quite the mission, but I made it. I walked along the highway and disappeared into the forest where I met up with some serial killers and drug dealers. Nah just joking, but I was alone for the morning anyway, which was a little creepy.

After checking out a boulder or two I joined up with the blue circuit, which I should have done from the start, it takes you easily around to the best problems. And they were tough! real tough! Though I must admit I haven't done any strength training or bouldering for over two months, so I was definetly super weak. (also everything was damp, misty and fucking cold!)



A nice little warm up problem



Some of the boulders along the blue circuit



The main tourist attraction is the Chateau of Fontainebleau, I prefer the boulders personally..

So after about four hours I had had enough of the cold, so I bailed. Though I'll be back next year and I know how, where, what, who, why etc. I'm thinking two to three weeks of camping, probebly a car and temps of around 22 degrees... Perfect.

Athens

Back on the tourist trail!

Well after a rough night sleeping on the floor of the 10 hour Kalymnos to Piraeus (Athens port town) ferry, I arrived at Athens Backpackers hostel. Definately recommended by me, if you ever find yourself over this part of town. It's literally thirty seconds walk from the metro station, it's friendly, has a good vibe, is excellent value and is situated right by all the big sights.... So... Time for some sight seeing.

The Orange tree lined street that the hostel is on.

 So on the hit list.... Acropolis, Syntagma Square, National Archiological Museum.. Check. Check. Check. I'm a little disappointed to say I haven't seen a single demonstration or any civil unrest! Damn. However on the bright side, there was supposed to be a strike for all museums and archeological sites the weekend I was there, but it got called off.... Lucky.

OK, being on random hostel computers causes trouble, unfortunately the photos below are somewhat out of order...

Yeah me again, this time with Athens and the temple of Zeus in the background, taken from the Acropolis

Parliament house, taken shortly after a meeting with the Prime Minister where I suggested a range of financial measures to help with the debt situation....

National Archeological Museum! Really really old stuff!

Acropolis backed by a setting Southern European sun, ooohhh ahhhh

When visiting foreign countries I always seem to end up with so much loose change!

Celebrating Kalymnos

Well another Kalymnos trip down!

A big thanks to everyone who joined me and/or made the trip possible and so fun and enjoyable.

I managed to finish on a high, sending Andromeda, 7c+ at Odyssey on the very last day. Always nice.

The ticks of note for the trip included, one 8a, four 7c+, four 7c (one onsight), seven 7b+ (two onsight), five 7b onsight, two flash and four 7a+ onsight. Pretty nice haul bag, even if I do say so myself.

I'll be back Kalymnos, there's still so much left to climb!

Thanks to all the friendly Kalymnians for picking me up when trying to hitch a ride..

Here's to Miltos and his great restaurant serving seafood and greek dishes

My favourite is feta and tomato stuffed squid

Here's to the time we got hold of the magical sprinkle shaker that makes gyros' so tasty, no one would ever tell me what was in those spices......

Here's to catching a 2am ferry and sleeping on the floor.

 

Kalynichta Kalymnos. 'Til next time anyway.

Daniboy Photos

A few weeks back, after a very shaky send of Daniboy, an English bloke by the name of 'Gordo' told me he took some photos of me on the climb. We exchanged emails, I forgot all about it. Until some emails turn up.... Thanks Gordo!

Anyway enjoy the happy snaps, as I've said before unless you're climbing in a group and constantly harassing people to take photos of you it can be hard to get much in the way of photos. So these are a real treat!

Moving up into the roof

A nice little heel hook / toe clamp combo to gain the tufa blobs

Kneebar calf rest thing in the roof, steepsville.

Start of the crux, biiiiiiig move up to a tendon pulling three finger left hand slot thing, this is followed by another biiiiiiig pull up to a two finger pocket with a cruxy clip.

Sustained and technical all the way til it slabs out.. about to chuck to the 'relax and keep calm' hold.

Struggling to 'relax and keep calm' as I struggle my way to the anchor!

Sweet!

 In other news I managed to sneak in some 7c's another 7c+ and another 7b+ onsight. Rad.

 

 

 

 

Marci Marc

Well you asked for it, so here it is! An actual video of me climbing in Kalymnos! Probably the first step on my way to becoming a superstar.

So debate has raged for a while whether 'Marci Marc' (7c+) is pronounced (forgive the bad attempt at spelling phonetically) "Marsy Mark" or "Marky Mark". I have no idea, but the climb is amazing!

Me on Marci Marc (7c+)

Now lets get all corporate and sponsory like...
Danny wears Icebreaker Jacket and T-shirt, Moon climbing jeans, La Sportiva Solution climbing shoes, Arcteryx Harness and Chalkbag, filled with Metolius super chalk, Upskill Friction Kneebar Pad and finally, caught on a Sterling rope. Phew, glad I kept the sponsors happy... haha.

Now for the main event...



Daniel Friedman on "Marci Marc" (7c+) - Kalymnos from Robbie Phillips on Vimeo.

 Huge thanks to Robbie Phillips for the video and catches. Check out his Blog and Coaching website if you're after some Euro coaching.

I hope you enjoyed this one, I certainly did!

Thanks for stopping by,

Danny