Vallon de Bérard (Vallorcine) · Chamonix valley · France
Easy to bailBolting confidence: high
A long, friendly slab route in the quiet Vallon de Bérard: twelve pitches that follow a chain of cracks and flakes across a compact gneiss slab, with two sustained 5c pitches low down. It stays in the shade until about midday, which makes it a summer route, and it dries slowly. Many parties stop after pitch 7 or 8 and abseil.
The route
L'île aux Razmokets climbs a big north-west-facing gneiss slab above the Bérard torrent, between Le Buet and the Pierre à Bérard hut. The line links fractures across otherwise blank rock: stepped chimneys, a long rising traverse on friction and side-pulls, flakes and easy slabs. The main wall is eight pitches; after a short walk four more pitches lead to the top. It is well bolted with comfortable belays, so it suits a first long route, as long as you are happy on 5c slab with traverses. The setting is green and damp, and the upper part is often wet.
The climbing
| Pitch | Grade | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| P1 | 4b | Easy stepped chimneys to reach a rock horn on the left. |
| P2 | 5c | A long rising traverse along a system of cracks, with friction moves and side-pulls. Parties find it thin and the best pitch; it climbs hard for the grade when cold. |
| P3 | 5c | Straight up, then a traverse right. Chipped holds just below the belay; without them the move is about 6a. A 2026 party notes you can avoid them by stepping a metre right at the same grade. |
| P4 | 4b | Easy linking pitch. |
| P5 | 5b+ | Straight up, then step onto the slab on the left. Chipped holds again below the belay; a 2026 party passes a metre to the left at about 5c+. The English camptocamp text and the Thivierge topo grade this pitch 5c and 6a. |
| P6 | 4c | Easy slab. |
| P7 | 5a | A succession of flakes, very enjoyable. Camptocamp advises stopping here if the rock is not perfectly dry. |
| P8 | 4a | Easy pitch to the top of the main wall. A September 2026 party found the friction slab damp and awkward. From the belay, walk left and then right along the foot of the next cliff; one party describes this transition as boggy. |
| P9 | 4c | First pitch of the upper section. |
| P10 | 5b | No description published. |
| P11 | 4c | No description published. |
| P12 | 5b | Last pitch. |
Getting there
From Chamonix drive over the Col des Montets towards Vallorcine. About 500 m before the hamlet of Le Buet, turn left onto a track and park, or park along the road or at Le Buet station (pay). The Mont-Blanc Express train (Saint-Gervais to Martigny) stops at Le Buet on request. The Col des Montets can be closed for avalanche risk outside summer.
Follow the track to the Cascade de Bérard, then the path up the valley on the true right bank of the torrent. Pass the bridge at the buvette and another small bridge that branches off, and continue to the newer bridge where the main path crosses to the left bank. Do not cross: stay on the right bank and take a faint path on the left that runs level through tall vegetation and then climbs to the foot of the slab. The English camptocamp text says the turn-off is marked by a rock with a red '16'. At the slab, ignore the first route you meet (its first bolt is near the ground and the rest are spaced) and go 15 m further right up an easy stepped ramp, right of a big slab, to a bolted crack-chimney. Allow 40 to 50 minutes.
Loading map
The point marks the crag, not the exact start of the route.
Parking
Le Buet (camptocamp waypoint 104355); roadside and station parking
Point from camptocamp waypoint 43205 (Vallon de Bérard)
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: 46.01222, 6.90028 (crag) · Parking: 46.01861, 6.91917
Getting down
Abseil the route. On a single 50 m rope it takes 10 abseils. With 2×50 m you skip three belays: from R12 to R10, from R6 to R4 and from R2 to the ground (this last one can be split at an anchor right of the first-pitch chimney). The first and last abseils use the whole 50 m. A June 2026 party took an hour to abseil from R8.
Retreat
Easy to bail
Abseiling the route is the normal descent and every belay is two linked bolts, so you can turn round at any belay. Many parties plan to stop at R7 or R8. With a single 50 m rope you abseil pitch by pitch; pitches 2 and 3 traverse, so stay on the abseil line shown in the topo.
Safety
Sun and weather
North-west facing, with the base at about 1600 m according to the Thivierge topo. The slab is in shade until about 12:00 to 13:00 in summer, which is ideal in hot weather and chilly by late September (a party climbed in a down jacket on 27 September 2026). The area is damp and the rock dries slowly: avoid it after rain or storms. The ground above the eighth belay is often wet.
Sun on the wall · NW-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 (usual season) | Jul (usual season) | Aug (usual season) | Sep (usual season) | Oct | Nov | Dec |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mean daily high °C | −4 | −3 | 1 | 4 | 8 | 13 | 15 | 15 | 12 | 8 | 1 | −4 |
| Mean daily low °C | −12 | −11 | −8 | −5 | −0 | 4 | 6 | 6 | 3 | −1 | −7 | −11 |
| Rain days 1 mm or more | 13 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 19 | 19 | 18 | 17 | 15 | 13 | 14 | 14 |
● marks the usual climbing season. Averages for 1991-2020 at about 2011 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
13 quickdraws, 2×50 m ropes and a helmet. Nothing else is needed.
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 L'île aux Razmokets.
Worth knowing
Open questions
Provenance
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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.
