Tête aux Chamois (Cabane des Diablerets) · Vaud Alps · Switzerland
Bail with caveatsBolting confidence: high
Five short, varied pitches on compact limestone directly under the Glacier 3000 cable car, reached by a section of via ferrata. Not strenuous, generously bolted and friendly in grade. It tops out beside the cable-car station and the Diablerets hut.
The route
The Tête aux Chamois is the limestone bastion above the Col du Pillon that carries the middle station of the Glacier 3000 cable car and the Cabane des Diablerets. Bertrand Lador equipped the via ferrata here in 1998 and this route a year later, and there are more than seventy routes around the hut. La diagonale du fou is the showpiece at a moderate grade: five pitches of 20 to 35 m, 6a with 5b obligatory, on glue-in bolts a couple of metres apart. You start from the via ferrata, climb just left of a big corner and finish two minutes from the station. It faces north-west and stays cold until mid-afternoon.
The climbing
| Pitch | Grade | Length | Bolts | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| P1 | 6a | 30 m | 13 bolts | Apart from the first 10 m the route keeps left of the big corner. Small holds; cold and sometimes wet at the start, which matters little given how close the bolts are. Length and bolt count from a 2018 report. |
| P2 | 5a | – | – | An easier pitch. |
| P3 | 5b | – | – | Called a marvel by one party. |
| P4 | 5b | – | – | More varied climbing at the same grade. |
| P5 | 6a | – | – | The last pitch; the rock is less sound here but has been cleaned. Take care not to knock stones off the ledges. |
Getting there
Drive from Aigle through Le Sépey and Les Diablerets to the Col du Pillon (1546 m), or come from Gstaad via Gsteig. There is a large car park at the pass by the Glacier 3000 cable-car station and a restaurant. By public transport take the train from Aigle to Les Diablerets, then the postbus or shuttle to the pass. The Glacier 3000 cable car runs from the pass to the middle station 'Cabane des Diablerets'; a return cost 56 CHF (28 CHF with a half-fare card) when the camptocamp page was written.
On foot from the Col du Pillon follow the hut path; it is wide and good from the old Pierres Pointes station and suits anyone not prone to vertigo. Allow 1.5 to 2 hours and about 800 m of ascent to the ferrata. From the cable-car middle station, take instead the path that descends towards the Col du Pillon to about 2300 m (awkward in bad conditions) and follow the ledge system down to join the via ferrata by a ladder shortly before you are directly under the cable car. In both cases climb one section of the via ferrata, which has an athletic step where it is wise to belay: a 2014 party describes starting at the ferrata's escape point, climbing the first set of rungs, moving 10 m left and taking a second set of rungs to the start. The belay is at the foot of a big corner (Dièdre Garin) and the name is painted in red, just left of 'L'écho du diable'.
Loading map
The point marks the crag, not the exact start of the route.
Parking
Col du Pillon car park and bus stop (camptocamp access waypoint 120212)
Point from camptocamp waypoint 142283 (Tête aux Chamois, cable-car middle station at the top of the route)
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: 46.33866, 7.21550 (crag) · Parking: 46.35382, 7.20546
Getting down
From the top the cable-car middle station and the Cabane des Diablerets are two minutes away. Ride down, or walk down the hut path to the Col du Pillon (about 50 minutes for a fit party in 2018).
Retreat
Bail with caveats
The belays are all chained and the pitches are short, so abseiling back to the via ferrata from part-way up looks feasible with one 50 m rope, and the close bolts make pulling through to the top easy. No source describes anyone retreating, and abseiling onto the ferrata and path risks knocking stones on people.
Partly inferred from the route facts
Safety
Sun and weather
North-west facing limestone between about 2300 m and 2525 m. It gets little sun, only from mid-afternoon in summer, so it is a hot-weather route and can be icy cold in the shade; in August 2018 after storms the first pitch was wet and the rock freezing until the sun arrived at the third belay. Snow lies late on the ledges of the approach. July to September is the realistic season.
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 | Jul (usual season) | Aug (usual season) | Sep (usual season) | Oct | Nov | Dec |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mean daily high °C | −6 | −4 | −1 | 2 | 6 | 11 | 13 | 13 | 10 | 6 | −1 | −6 |
| Mean daily low °C | −15 | −14 | −10 | −7 | −3 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 0 | −4 | −10 | −15 |
| Rain days 1 mm or more | 13 | 12 | 14 | 14 | 19 | 19 | 19 | 17 | 15 | 13 | 13 | 13 |
● marks the usual climbing season. Averages for 1991-2020 at about 2182 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 and a single rope of 45 to 50 m. Via ferrata lanyards or a short rope for the ferrata section on the approach. Helmet. A small pack rather than hauling: a 2014 party found hauling awkward and climbed with sacks on.
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 du fou.
Worth knowing
Open questions
Provenance
Same area
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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.