Le Ponteil (Champcella) · Briançonnais · France
Bail with caveatsBolting confidence: medium
The gentlest way up the big limestone wall of Le Ponteil: short walls and slabs that slant leftwards across the south-west facet, with a ledge walk in the middle. Most of it is 4b to 5c on very featured rock; one well-bolted move round a block gives the 6a. It gets better as it goes, and pitches 4 and 6 are the ones people remember.
The route
Le Ponteil is the orange and grey limestone wall above the hamlet of the same name, on the Champcella side of the Durance valley south of L'Argentière-la-Bessée. La diagonale de gauche, opened in 1980, takes a rising line leftwards across its south-west facet and is the usual first route here. The climbing is discontinuous: two pillars, a ramp, slabs, a ledge traverse and then the crux pitch, where a single 6a move round a big block is well protected and can be aided. The rock is not polished, unlike some of the wall's other easy classics. You finish on a ledge system and abseil the Tour des Anges line.
The climbing
| Pitch | Grade | Bolts | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| P1 | 5b+ | – | A slightly strenuous pillar, an easier second one, then a succession of small slabs to the belay. Gulliver grades it 5c. |
| P2 | 4b | – | Another pillar, left by its right-hand side to a belay on the ground. A steeper, well-bolted wall can be climbed instead at about 5c. Do not stop at the first belay of the route to the left. |
| P3 | 4b | – | A ramp slanting left on very featured rock. Do not be drawn into the bolted cracks straight above, which are other routes at 6a+ and 7a. |
| P4 | 5c | – | Successive slabs trending left, with one move in the middle that can be avoided on the left and another before the belay, left of a tree. Airy. |
| P5 | 2 | 1 bolts | Walk left along the ledge, with one bolt half-way, to a two-bolt belay at the foot of the crux pitch. Do not skip this belay or the drag on the next pitch becomes severe. |
| P6 | 6a | – | Slant up left to a boulder-problem move round a big block, well protected and aidable. Continue along the slanting ledge and leave it before a bush to climb a steep grey slab straight up to the belay. |
| P7 | 5b | – | A small corner on the left leads to an optional belay; continue through vegetation and junipers to the final belay. |
Getting there
From L'Argentière-la-Bessée or La Roche-de-Rame drive up to Champcella and on towards Le Ponteil. Park before the hamlet at the bridge over the Tramouillon stream; there is more room at the upper hamlet, 15 minutes from the route. L'Argentière-la-Bessée has a railway station on the Briançon line, but there is no public transport to Champcella.
10 to 15 minutes. The path starts just before the bridge over the Tramouillon. Follow it to the bed of a small dry stream and, just before crossing it, take a path on the right that climbs to the wall and arrives 15 m right of the route. The start is between 'L'affaire r'tourne au sol' and 'Le Clos Tramouillon', with 'DG' scratched at the foot; Le Clos Tramouillon takes the corner on the right and has its name painted at the base.
Loading map
The point marks the crag, not the exact start of the route.
Parking
Le Ponteil, parking by the Tramouillon bridge (camptocamp waypoint 150597)
Point from camptocamp waypoint 42395 (Le Ponteil)
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: 44.71271, 6.56447 (crag) · Parking: 44.70972, 6.56917
Getting down
Follow the ledge leftwards (facing in) for 100 to 200 m on a faint path to the obvious abseil station of the Tour des Anges. Two abseils reach the ground: a 2016 party measured 50 m and 35 m, gulliver gives 30 m and 35 m, and camptocamp says they can be joined in one with 60 m ropes. The second abseil hangs free below a big overhang. Then go down the ledge and along the foot of the wall, with some fixed ropes, back to the start.
Retreat
Bail with caveats
No source describes retreating down the route, and its leftward diagonal line makes abseiling the upper pitches awkward. Belays are bolted, and the first three pitches go more or less straight up short pillars, so a retreat from there on two ropes is reasonable. From the ledge of pitch 5 you are on the terrace system that leads left towards the abseils.
Partly inferred from the route facts
Safety
Sun and weather
South-west facing at about 1450 to 1740 m, climbable from April to November and on fine winter days: one camptocamp ascent is dated 23 February. It is hot on summer afternoons. Allow 2 to 3 hours on the route and about 45 minutes for the descent.
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 Briançonnais are not available yet
What to carry
12 quickdraws and a 50 m abseil rope according to camptocamp, which in practice means two 50 m ropes; gulliver did it on a 70 m single with two abseils. Medium cams (about 0.75 to 2) can supplement the lower pitches but are not required. Helmet.
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 La diagonale de gauche.
Worth knowing
Open questions
Provenance
Same area
France · Briançonnais
One of the most admired lines on the Tête d'Aval: eleven sustained pitches, first up steep cracks and walls, then across orange limestone studded with small spikes. The grade is 6c with a 6c+ passage that has a fixed sling for aid, and 6b is obligatory. Parties advise being comfortable at 6c, because the bolting is sound but not generous.
6c+11 pitches300 m
Read the cautions
France · Briançonnais
A beginner's multipitch on a limestone spur above the Fonts de Cervières road, five minutes from the car. The first four pitches give real climbing at 3c to 4c on slabs and short walls; above that the route is mostly walking and scrambling on earthy, stony ground to the crest. Follow the expansion bolts, not the army glue-ins, for the better rock and less rope drag.
4c8 pitches250 m
France · Briançonnais
Twelve short pitches up three separate quartzite steps on the west side of the Rocher Baron, ten minutes from the road in the Durance valley south of Briançon. It starts very easy and steepens as it goes: the top step has the 5a bulge and the best climbing. A first multipitch, low and quick to reach, with road noise on the lower part.
5a12 pitches210 m
France · Briançonnais
The popular modern route of the Tenailles de Montbrison, a group of pale limestone towers high above the Durance. The lower pitches are slabby and beginning to polish; from the fifth pitch on it steepens into a 35 m crack, a thin slab and a final pitch with a leftward traverse, all at 6a+ to 6b. Grades are firm and you climb between the bolts.
6b9 pitches280 m
Around 6a · about 7 pitches
Spain · Riglos & Agüero (Mallos)
This is the gentlest way to sample Riglos. Polished pockets and two bulging 'panzas' lead to a 6a crux that can be pulled through on the bolts (A0). The upper spur is easy, and the Pisón towers loom close by.
6a7 pitches175 m
Read the cautions
Austria · Zillertal
A granite slab route beside a washed-out stream bed and a small waterfall, described as the new slab classic of the Zillertal. Mostly around UIAA 5 on fine slabs, with short harder passages and a 6/6+ exit. Never very exposed, with a view of the 3000 m peaks.
6a7 pitches255 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
Greece · Kalymnos & Telendos
A mountain-style outing high above Masouri, with a delicate traversing 6a on P4 and a lovely final corner. Most pitches feel easy for their grade, but the route is loose in places, so wear a helmet.
6a7 pitches170 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.