Aiguille de la Cabane (above the Cabane d'Orny) · Orny (Champex, Mont Blanc massif) · Switzerland
Bail with caveatsBolting confidence: high
The friendliest long route at the Cabane d'Orny: four short pitches up the lower spur, a walk right along a ledge, then two steeper pitches up the red summit bastion. The first pitch is the crux, a physical corner that many find hard for 5b, and it can be avoided by an easier bolted start. Fine rough granite and a summit at almost 3000 m.
The route
Bon accueil climbs the Aiguille de la Cabane, the granite point that stands directly above the Cabane d'Orny, in two tiers separated by a walking ledge. It was opened by the Remy brothers in 1986 and re-equipped in 2016, and camptocamp describes it as one of the best routes of its grade in the area. The pitches are short apart from the first one on the summit bastion. Expect a morning or afternoon out from the hut, about three hours on the route, and a summit view over the Val d'Arpette and the Orny glacier.
The climbing
| Pitch | Grade | Length | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| P1 | 5b | – | A physical start, a traverse across an easy slab, then a harder and more committing corner with the hard moves just below the belay. Several parties think 5c is fairer. One 2025 party took an intermediate stance before the corner to avoid rope drag. The alternative start up the gully side goes at about 4b/c. |
| P2 | 4c | – | Short pitch. If you took the alternative start, this pitch begins with a traverse right to regain and pass the arête. |
| P3 | 4b | – | Short, easy pitch on good holds. |
| P4 | 4b | – | Flakes lead to the shoulder where the descent path crosses. A 2025 party found some of the flakes loose, so load them gently. From the belay walk right along a small path to the summit bastion and take the middle line marked with a red dot (the neighbouring routes also have red dots). |
| P5 | 4b | 50 m | The long pitch of the route: steep, on big positive holds in excellent granite. |
| P6 | 4c | 25 m | A final pitch to the top of the bastion. |
Getting there
From Martigny take the train to Orsières and the bus (or drive) to Champex-Lac (1498 m). The La Breya chairlift carries you to Grands Plans at about 2190 m, from where a mountain path leads to the Cabane d'Orny (2811 m) in roughly two hours. The chairlift runs in summer only and stops for a midday break, so check the timetable and the last ride down. Without the lift the walk from Champex takes about four and a half hours; there is also a longer path from Praz-de-Fort. Most parties sleep at the hut, which should be booked ahead.
From the Cabane d'Orny follow a faint track east through the scree to the foot of the Aiguille, 15 to 20 minutes. Bon accueil is the left-most route and starts at the foot of the descent gully, marked by a red spray-painted dot. If you are coming up from the chairlift for the day, you can leave the hut path at the lake below the hut and follow a track along the top of the scree under the wall. An alternative bolted start lies a little way up the gully on the north-west side and avoids the 5b corner at about 4b/c.
Loading map
The point marks the crag, not the exact start of the route.
Parking
Top station of the La Breya chairlift at Grands Plans (camptocamp access waypoint 1205077); the trailhead for the hut path. The lift starts in Champex-Lac.
Point from camptocamp summit waypoint 39003 (Aiguille de la Cabane)
Contains the route point and parking. Opens in most mapping apps and GPS watches.
Points are compiled from published sources, with the precision stated above. They were not surveyed on the ground: check them against a current topo.
Coordinates: 46.00658, 7.06832 (crag) · Parking: 46.02158, 7.10303
Getting down
From the top make one short abseil down the north-west side from a chained anchor (camptocamp's French text says 15 m, the English text 25 m), then scramble down, following paint marks, to the col at the top of the descent gully that you passed at the end of pitch 4. The gully starts straight down steep scree, sometimes with a fixed rope, and then eases into zigzags back to the foot of the route. A walking pole helps. Allow 15 to 30 minutes, then return to the hut by the approach track.
Retreat
Bail with caveats
The route is in two halves. After pitch 4 you are on the shoulder where the normal descent path passes, so you can simply walk off down the gully from there. Lower down, retreat would mean abseiling from the bolted belays; how they are rigged is not documented.
Partly inferred from the route facts
Safety
Sun and weather
South-facing granite between about 2800 m and 3000 m, climbable roughly from July to September while the hut and the chairlift are open. Snow patches can linger on the approach scree and in the descent gully early in the season. It is cold out of the sun and in wind even in August, and the rock dries quickly after rain but lichen stays slippery. The first pitch is in the shade in the morning; the rest gets the sun. The face is exposed to wind and dries fast.
Sun on the wall · SE-facing
Working out the sunlit hours for this month.
Sun on the wallDaylight, wall in shade● Usual season
Estimated from the wall's aspect only. Ignores surrounding terrain, gullies and the wall's exact shape. Clock times are local to the wall (Central European time), for the 15th of each month.
| Measure | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul (usual season) | Aug (usual season) | Sep (usual season) | Oct | Nov | Dec |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mean daily high °C | −11 | −9 | −5 | −2 | 2 | 7 | 10 | 10 | 6 | 2 | −5 | −10 |
| Mean daily low °C | −18 | −17 | −14 | −10 | −6 | −2 | 1 | 1 | −3 | −7 | −13 | −17 |
| Rain days 1 mm or more | 13 | 12 | 14 | 14 | 18 | 18 | 18 | 16 | 14 | 13 | 14 | 14 |
● marks the usual climbing season. Averages for 1991-2020 at about 2847 m. Area climate from Open-Meteo reanalysis. Temperatures are adjusted to the height of the crag; rain comes from a grid cell of about 10 to 25 km, and summer highs on sea cliffs can read a few degrees low. The wall and valley can differ. Data: Open-Meteo, CC BY 4.0.
What to carry
Quickdraws (no source gives a number; 10 are quoted for the neighbouring Tichodrome), a single 50 m rope and a helmet. Cams are not needed, though the cracks take them readily if you want to practise.
Derived from the route data; check it against a current topo
From climbers
Reader reports are not being collected yet. Until they are, check a current topo and the local club or guidebook publisher for recent changes to Bon accueil.
Worth knowing
Open questions
Provenance
Same area
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Nine pitches up a granite spur and the final tower of the Aiguille d'Orny to a 3150 m summit, on rough, cracked rock with superb friction. Two moves of 5b, the rest 4b and 4c, closely bolted since 2016 and easy enough to climb in boots. The three steep pitches on the summit tower are the highlight.
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Switzerland · Orny (Champex, Mont Blanc massif)
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Read the cautions
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Committing
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Compiled from published sources and last verified October 2026. Bolts, anchors and access change. Climbing is dangerous and you are responsible for your own decisions: check a current topo and read the disclaimer.