Font Trip, 20-27th April 2019
If you’re looking through these reports trying to find funny mishaps, then you’re in for a bit of disappointment. It is my greatest pleasure to announce to you that not a single thing went wrong on this year’s Font trip. Absolutely nothing. Zilch. Notto. Bingo bango. In fact, it is widely considered that I am the Michelangelo of trip running.
As was initially planned, MPV 4 got the later ferry when crossing to Calais – this was in order to create a more relaxed and friendly atmosphere within the vehicle. The support for this decision was phenomenal, and the passengers of shuttles 5 & 6 expressed their encouragement through the group chat.
Upon arriving in France, we had to fight our way through wave after wave of insects throwing themselves at our windscreens on the motorway. This was a strange period, mixed with equal parts excitement and disgust. The variety of colours of the splats was nice though. My favourite was lime green.
Before leaving Bath, the weather forecast for the week had been depressing, with rain starting on Monday and continuing through the rest of the trip. Fortunately, once we reached the Gite the forecast started to brighten up, and suddenly Monday was looking like nice weather. The next day this good forecast extended to Tuesday. And then Wednesday. 4 days without a rest day meant dangerously thin skin for many people, and I can confirm that by Wednesday afternoon there was blood leaking from at least 3 anonymous fingertips. Thursday brought some rest with a much-needed rainy day.
Despite our struggles with weather which was too good, this year’s Font Squad did incredibly well. Sam Edmans and Ross Norman both came away with an impressive “seven sevens” (seven problems between Font 7a & 7c+), Salem Shammakh got his first Font 7 with the problem Anak Krakatoa (7a), and Conor Smith finally ended his 2 year battle with the infamous Le Flipper (6b). James Rich undoubtedly bagged the most vertical mileage during trip, working alongside an injured finger to get over 50 routes done on the Friday alone! It would take too long to mention everything, but it’s safe to say that this was a great trip in terms of personal achievements.
This year Elinor Scruby made great use of her health insurance, spraining her ankle after landing on the patch of ground where the mats weren’t. Thrifty thinking to get a free hospital trip. Nice one Eli!
Everyone knows that to climb hard you also have to rest hard. It would take too long to explain most of what happened during our down-time, so I’ve just plopped some photos here instead. Highlights included the one-shotting of flans and a salt shaker of exactly the right proportions….
Alas, all good things must come to an end. It was with sad hearts that we left Fontainebleau for another year, some of us knowing that they would never again find themselves on the BUMC Font trip. In moments like these it is best not to think about what you have lost, but what you’ve gained, and all of the happy memories that happened along the way.
Until next year!
Rob Haseler, Climbing Sec 2018-2019*
*(now also 2019-2020 whey hey)