One very notable and accomplished woman of the Fontainebleau region was Catherine Miquel. She is perhaps one of the greatest female boulderers for her time.  In 1989, Catherine became the first female climber to send V8 “Le Carnage”.  Subsequently in 1996, she became the first female to send V9 “Miss World” and then in 1997 to achieve V10 “Halloween”.  She then proceeded to complete V11 “Sale gosse assis” in 1998 and V12 “Liaison Futile” in 1999.   

Since 2003, Catherine has been practising Land Art in the forest of Fontainebleau with one key word: respect for nature. 

As she relates in an interview, “In my work, nature and the landscape are essential, they are the support of artistic work and its meaning. I use the materials that are available there, earth, stone, sand, water, plants.It is an approach where ecological ethics are marked. It is a nostalgia for an original state where Man was in harmony with nature…”