Harder grades in Font - too hard?

There exist 100+ boulders graded 8C and harder, out of which just a few are in Fontainebleau. In 2005, the hardest Boulder in Font was 8B at the same time as some were already doing 8C+'s around the globe. For example Antoine Vandeputte had an 8A+ Font personal best when he did Tonino 78 8C+ in 2005. Around 2004, 8a started to question the hard core grades outside Font and in the beginning we were heavily criticized for it. In 2005, Dave Graham opened The Story of Two (Grading) Worlds as an 8C and this, together with downgrading suggestions from 8a, stopped the grade inflation. In fact, most hard core grades outside Font have later been downgraded. The strangest thing is that in Fontainebleau, the locals seem to have the opposite grading mentality. We asked the question to Pierre Délas – Font local who is running the new Fanatic Climbing page. Here is his answer, and his picture of Paul Robinson doing the classical Kheops that has been upgraded from 7C+ to 8B: “In Font, there is a sort of downgrading game. When a new hard problem is opened it's a sort of challenge to repeat it quickly and to suggest a downgrade, because on the one hand it’s very technical, and new and easier betas are often found. Also on the other hand, it's a sort of challenge to test the grading credibility of the one who has proposed this new boulder, because there’s a tradition of being careful with the grading here. Now it's more quiet but at the end of the 90’s and in the beginning of the 2000's when all the hard classics of the forest were put up, it was like a jungle or war with different clans and some epic stories! So in Font we are now used to propose solid grades, because there is a sort of tradition and one to be taken serious by the community. Have a look at 7C+ test pieces like Proueptologue or Deforestation for example…Some boulders like “Realist” opened as 8B+ now downgraded at 7C+/8A… Most of the active climbers who are opening new problems in Font are now very prudent. On the other side, it’s important to be homogenous in the area and some boulders have been upgraded with 1-2-3 grades to fit the modern standard. The best example is Kheops, a standard 8B opened by Laurent Avare with the 7C+ grade. That’s maybe why the Font bouldering grade is so famous all around the world and we are proud of this! For finishing I would say that bouldering in Font is so specific with bad friction, compression on slopers. Very physical and technical at the same time. Smooth, sensitive with some tricky balance to feel. That’s why it’s magical ! Grading and climbing here are unique! Remember Jacky Godoffe’s sentence: Font is the climbing move laboratory !”