For almost his entire life, Jacky Godoffe, a 59-year-old French bouldering legend and World Cup routesetter, has lived in the forest of Fontainebleau.

Jacky’s identity and reputation are inextricably linked to the overhangs and slopers of the blue-grey sandstone boulders of Font. He established groundbreaking problems like C’etait Demain (the first 8A boulder problem), Le Movement Perpétual (8B) and Fat Man (8B) in the 1980s and ’90s. But while age has done little to dull his energy and enthusiasm, it has brought a change in focus. Where he was once dedicated to opening new problems in the forest, he now uses what he has learned to challenge a new generation.

Today, the blocs are his muse, the primary source of inspiration for the indoor boulder problems he creates for climbing gyms and competitions around the world. “The forest gives me inspiration through its shapes,” Jacky explains. “They are like filters, like with photography. You add a filter to a climbing move, and the more filters you add, the harder it makes it for the climber to understand.”