Paretone di Arnad / Corma di Machaby (Arnad) · Aosta Valley · Italy
Read the cautionsBail with caveatsBolting confidence: medium
This is the most-climbed route on the Paretone. It gives sustained, varied slab and crack climbing on good gneiss, and the hardest moves are a fine crack on P2, a slanting corner and a punchy wall. Queues are common on good days. The Mani Nude guidebook grades it stiffly; camptocamp's Italian page calls it sustained at 5b–5c+ with a single 6a.
Fully bolted, but bolts are spaced with ledge-fall potential on the polished start of P6 and a 5c obligatory grade.
The route
One of the oldest and the most-climbed route on the Paretone, the big gneiss face of the Corma di Machaby above Arnad. Ten pitches of slab, crack and corner lead to the top of the hill: a fine crack on P2, a smooth slanting corner on P5 and a strenuous start to P6 are the hard parts. Belays are on comfortable ledges. It is fully bolted and was rebolted, but the bolts are spaced in the Paretone style, the key pitches are polished, and the obligatory grade is about 5c. Italian sources grade it 5c or 5c+; French sources give three pitches of 6a.
The climbing
| Pitch | Grade | Length | Bolts | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| P1 | 5c | 40 m | 10 bolts | A wide corner and slab, then a traverse left under a small roof to an obvious crack that leads to a belay on a broad ledge. |
| P2 | 6a | 35 m | 10 bolts | Move left to a superb crack of about 20 m, thinner at the top, then exit right onto a terrace with the belay above the roof. 6a in French sources, 5c or 5c+ in Italian ones. Strenuous. |
| P3 | 5c | 25 m | 6 bolts | A horizontal traverse right (stay low), then a thin rising move rightwards and easier ground to a ledge. Bolts are more spaced here. Italian sources give 5a to 5+. |
| P4 | 4c | 40 m | 5 bolts | Easy, with one gymnastic move, to a wooded ledge. The belay is shared with Tike Saab. |
| P5 | 6a | 45 m | 11 bolts | The slanting corner. Stay in the right-hand line, then make a clear traverse right at the exit, level with a birch, to a comfortable terrace. Smooth, polished and shaded; hard when wet. 5c+ in Italian sources. |
| P6 | 6a | 42 m | 11 bolts | The first 10 m are powerful and polished, and the first bolt is hard to reach. Then trend well right through bushes to the belay. |
| P7 | 5b | 40 m | 6 bolts | A thin start, then easier to a terrace. Near the end take the slab on the left rather than the grassy corner on the right. |
| P8 | 5a | 20 m | 5 bolts | Go up behind a tree and follow the bolts left to an intermediate belay; stopping here avoids rope drag. The start is not trivial. |
| P9 | 5a | 30 m | 5 bolts | Straight up on pleasant slabs. From here the line is shared with Tike Saab. There are many bolt lines; do not drift too far left. |
| P10 | 3 | 45 m | 5 bolts | Very easy finish. Belay on a tree at the top. |
Getting there
Arnad, lower Aosta Valley. Leave the Torino to Aosta motorway at Pont-Saint-Martin and follow the main road towards Aosta. After the fort of Bard you reach Champagnolaz, the flat ground under the face, about 1 km east of Arnad. Turn right on a side road to the bar-restaurant and park there, or in the small lay-bys at the foot of the Paretone. Camptocamp rates public transport to Arnad as good. A second access is from the north, from the parking below the Machaby fort.
From below (20 to 30 min): from the small parking follow the path marked with red paint, signed 'Machaby' at the start. It is steep, with rock steps and some fixed ropes. The route starts exactly where this path reaches the base of the wall, at the lowest point of the face, below a wide corner. It is marked with a small plaque; other routes are to either side. From the north (about 30 min): from the Machaby parking cross the bridge, go up the cobbled mule track past the church to the agriturismo, take the dirt road and then the path past a ruin, keeping right at junctions. The path then drops steeply beside the wall (cables, some scrambling) to the base. Avoid this path after rain.
Loading map
The point marks the crag, not the exact start of the route.
Parking
Arnad (camptocamp access point)
Point from camptocamp waypoint 39748
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: 45.63498, 7.73580 (crag) · Parking: 45.63457, 7.72929
Getting down
Walk off, 40 to 60 min. From the top go over the summit of the Corma and down the far side to the half-abandoned hamlet of Machaby. Then either (1) turn sharply right at the yellow sign for the parking (not the stony track going left down the valley) and follow the steep red-marked path beside the wall back to the base and the lower parking; it has cables, fixed ropes, rungs and easy rock steps, and a September 2026 report says it has been equipped via-ferrata style; or (2) take the good path round the north side of the hill to upper Arnad and the parking. If you came from the Machaby fort side, the agriturismo and fort are a few minutes from the top. Abseiling the face is possible but sources call it awkward.
Retreat
Bail with caveats
You can abseil off, but it is awkward. Belays are two bolts with chain and abseil ring, and sources say abseiling the face is possible but not convenient. Several pitches are 40 to 45 m, so the single 50 m rope the route is climbed on will not reach belay to belay. The line also traverses on P1, P3, P5 and P6.
Partly inferred from the route facts
Safety
Sun and weather
South to south-west facing at low altitude (base about 500 m), climbable most of the year. In winter the sun arrives mid-morning and stays until late. The P5 corner is shaded and stays greasy or muddy after rain. Very busy at weekends in spring and autumn: several parties on the route at once is normal. Allow 3 to 4 h.
Sun on the wall · SW-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.
Climate figures for Aosta Valley are not available yet
What to carry
Single 50 m rope and 12 quickdraws (one English note says 14). Helmet. One Italian club description suggests a couple of small to medium cams as an option. With a 60 m rope P9 and P10 can be linked.
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 Bucce d'Arancia.
Worth knowing
Open questions
Provenance
Same area
Italy · Aosta Valley
Along with Bucce d'Arancia this is the Paretone's other great classic (first ascent 1977, later retro-bolted). It climbs big, juggy, non-athletic slabs on beautiful rock up the centre of the wall to near the summit. Expect a few metres above the last bolt in places.
5c+9 pitches250 m
Read the cautions
Italy · Aosta Valley
A long, easy-angled outing up the full height of the Paretone. A steeper lower half with an exposed pillar on P5 leads to sculpted slabs and broken steps higher up. It's a good first big multipitch.
5c13 pitches400 m
Italy · Aosta Valley
Rated 'great' on camptocamp: a wild setting with a short, easy approach from Lavachey. It climbs edgy granite slabs and a pillar crest, with a three-star exposed slab on P9.
6a+11 pitches350 m
Italy · Aosta Valley
A pretty plaisir route on edgy, quartz-studded granite slabs beneath the Mont Blanc massif. The crux is a short bulge and steep juggy wall on P4. Camptocamp rates it 'great'.
6a7 pitches180 m
Around 6a · about 10 pitches
Spain · Escales (Ribagorça Pyrenees)
A modern two-tier line above the Escales dam. Six pitches of slab and a well-protected 6a gully lead to the big ledge, and four more pitches of 5b wall reach the ridge.
6a10 pitches295 m
Spain · Riglos & Agüero (Mallos)
Starts past the huge roof on the west face and climbs to the Punta Blanca. A superb short 6a corner on pitch 3, then a long run of grade 4 and 5. In shade in the morning.
6a10 pitches250 m
Spain · El Chorro
The absolute El Chorro classic: a physical, sustained line that feels tough for the grade, with a 6a traverse right under the roof. Polished in places from heavy traffic.
6a9 pitches182 m
Greece · Kalymnos & Telendos
A sustained, varied line on sculpted limestone. It starts with an easy slab and builds to slightly overhanging jugs with huge exposure on the top pitch. Mountain Project and camptocamp grade the crux 6a+ (Rockfax says 6a). With a 70 m rope you can link several pairs of pitches.
6a9 pitches265 m
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.