La Fissure Wehrlin – 1908 – Cuvier Est – Fontainebleau – by Jacques Wehrlin – 3+/V0
The Birth of Bouldering grades: La Fissure Wehrlin
Deep within the heart of the Fontainebleau forest in France is a vertical crack in the sandstone known as La Fissure Wehrlin. While it may appear to be just another crevice to the casual hiker, it holds a monumental place in sporting history. Established in 1908, The climbing community recognize La Fissure Wehrlin as the world’s first recorded boulder problem, marking the moment bouldering began to transition from a mere training exercise into a discipline of its own.
The Historical Context: From the Alps to the Forest
Climbers viewed rock climbing almost exclusively as a preparation for high-altitude mountaineering. Members of the Club Alpin Français (CAF) traveled to the sandstone blocks of Fontainebleau—affectionately known as “Bleau”—to hone the technical skills required for the peaks of the Alps.
However, a shift in perspective began to take hold. A group of climbers known as the Groupe Rochassier started to see the forest’s boulders not just as tools, but as ends in themselves. One of the most energetic members of this group was Jacques Wehrlin.
The first Ascent of La Fissure Wehrlin in 1908
In 1908, Jacques Wehrlin approached a flared, vertical chimney located in the Cuvier Est sector of the forest. By modern standards, the climb is modest, graded as a Font 3 (roughly equivalent to a V0- or 5.8 in other systems). However, the context of the ascent makes it legendary.
- Footwear: Wehrlin completed the ascent wearing nailed boots, the standard mountain footwear of the era, rather than the specialized rubber-soled shoes used today.
- Technique: The problem is a “fissure-cheminée” (crack-chimney), requiring awkward bracing and squeezing—a style that Wehrlin himself described in a 1913 article as a challenge that would “make the most hardened chimney sweep rejoice” .
A typical example of opposition climbing. Today this crack is called offwidth. Using all parts of the body including back and belly. - Documentation: Climbers consider It as the “first” because it was the first boulder problem to be given a name and recorded in climbing annals.
Etienne Jerome has the record of climbing this problem within 26 Seconds. This is at least what he confied to Agnes Cozy daughter of Jean Couzy. She was a Bleausard too, part of an informal oldtimers group. At the age of 90 Etienne still showed his skill on la Fissure Wehrlin.
Cultural and Technical Legacy
La Fissure Wehrlin acted as a catalyst for what would become the “Bleau” climbing culture. Following Wehrlin’s lead, other pioneers began pushing the limits of the sandstone.
In 1914, Jacques de Lépiney climbed La Prestat (3c). By the 1930s, Pierre Allain… established problems such as L’Angle Allain. This is the forest’s first 5+.
Today, the boulder remains a “pilgrimage” site for climbers. The problem is between two other famous problems: Le Carré d’As and Duroxmanie. While the physical difficulty of the crack has been surpased by modern problems , its historical difficulty remains intact. Climbing it today offers a direct link to the Bleausards climbing a hunderd years ago..
Climbing it
It’s a terrible chimney. The first moves you still have something to grab on, but getting higher the only left is the wall to push you back into and a very slopy boulder to push your feet and hands into.
Climbing it, I admired the first climbers attempting this without modern climbing shoes and no crash pad to land on.
Sources
https://www.climbing.com/travel/fontainebleaus-bouldering-circuits
https://www.youtube.com: the oldest boulder problem
https://bleau.info/cuvierest/1.html