Is Fontainebleau the best place in the world to practise indoor climbing?

Jon explains Fontainebleau's role in shaping modern climbing walls.

As anyone will tell you who is familiar with the climbing in Fontainebleau – a huge forest south of Paris, with thousands of boulders – the bouldering there is without doubt world class. Arguably the best climbing there is.

So, why is it so good and why do you need to go?

First up, this is where I’m coming from: I have been climbing for forty-plus years, I’ve had hundreds of days climbing in Font, but I have always predominantly been an indoor climber, in that I spend more time climbing indoors than outdoors. I love climbing indoors – it is athletic, challenging, varied and fulfilling – but nothing quite beats climbing on rock. This is where Font comes in, because the climbing there is very gym like, even down to the colour coding.

My local gym has colour-coded circuits from easy warm up greens to WTF oranges. Arriving in La Forêt (what us cool kids call Font), it is very much the same, the white circuit at Bas Cuvier (Fontainebleau’s most famous venue) is very much like a purple Depot circuit (with a couple of yellows thrown in). The problems are varied, they suit good technique, they are easier with beta and they are not far from the bakery. Of course, some are just hard and do require some basic power to send.

What do you need? Ideally a mat; chalk; soft brush; some friends, maybe; a smattering of GCSE French is handy to work out the pizza menu and, of course, a guidebook. Vertebrate Publishing has a brand new guide out to the bouldering circuits – over 100 of them with over 3,000 problems ... almost more than Big Depot Manchester ...

So, if you need a focus, want to test yourself, need a fun holiday while the local gym does a reset, then this is the guide for you. Fontainebleau is where it all started, it represents the state of the art of our wonderful sport. If you only ever climb once outdoors then make that trip to the world’s greatest climbing gym.