Page 28 - 2013 AMA Winter

10 Reasons why everyone should go bouldering in. Fontainebleau this year
Tom Odling
ull Disclosure: I Love Font. As far as I am
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ned it is the best place in the world. This is not an im
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bvious and most important fact that the climbing is amazing!
1. Bouldering is social. A trip to Font is best done with a crowd. Friendly banter and competition, the trust required that your spotters will catch you when you fly off that move 4m above some Sh**ty ankle breaker of a landing, and communally decipher- ing a problem move by move as a team are some of the best bits of being in Font. Camping in the woods with 10-15 friends and discussing your days triumphs and disappointments around a campfire is hard to beat.
2. Learn to use your feet. Being strong is not enough. You might be able to boulder Font 7a down the indoor wall in the UK but there will be font 4+ slabs that you can’t do until you learn to use your feet.
3. Train for the big routes. One of the things that makes font so special are the circuits. A circuit is a route around and over the boulders consisting of anything from 20 to 120 boulder prob-
26 ARMY MOUNTAINEER