Pilier Franco Salluard (Val Ferret, Courmayeur) · Aosta Valley · Italy
Read the cautionsBail with caveatsBolting confidence: high
Technical granite slabs and short steep walls in two tiers, in a quiet corner of the Val Ferret below the Mont Blanc range. The 6b+ pitch builds through three hard moves, the last very thin. Obligatory climbing and some spaced bolts make it more serious than its neighbour Il Gatto e la Volpe.
Sound modern bolts, but spaced in places with obligatory moves and an awkward first abseil.
The route
A recent sport route about 100 m left of Il Gatto e la Volpe on the granite buttresses above Lavachey in the Italian Val Ferret. Five pitches up the lower tier are followed by a walk left across grass to a large slab, where the three best pitches lie. Camptocamp describes it as never banal and sustained, in a wild and isolated setting. The moves between bolts are obligatory in places (6a+), and gulliver.it notes that some pitches still carry earth.
The climbing
| Pitch | Grade | Length | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| P1 | 5a | 30 m | A short wall on good holds that becomes a small corner with a slightly overhanging exit, then an earthy section. |
| P2 | 6a | – | A slab climbed entirely on the feet. |
| P3 | 6a+ | – | A hard, obligatory move at the start, then a traverse left to pass a small step. Gulliver.it combines this with the previous pitch as one 35 m pitch of 6a+. |
| P4 | 5c | – | A slab that feels a little bold. |
| P5 | 4c | – | A very short slab. From its top walk left across grass to the second part of the route, aiming for the obvious huge slab. Camptocamp gives the walk as 300 m; gulliver.it simply calls it a transfer on grass. |
| P6 | 6b+ | – | The best pitch: friction to start, then a technical vertical wall with three hard moves of increasing difficulty. Stay well left for the last one. |
| P7 | 6a+ | – | A technical slab with a steeper move in the middle; gulliver.it found it a little dirty. |
| P8 | 4a | – | A straightforward traverse; gulliver.it describes it as another grass transfer and the photo-topo marks it grade III. |
| P9 | 6a | – | An easy overhang to start, then a rising traverse right across a slab of good rock. Gulliver.it gives 6a+. |
Getting there
From Courmayeur drive up the Val Ferret. Park at the car park just after the large Planpincieux car park, by the bridge over the torrent at Lavachey (gulliver.it: on the left before the bridge).
As for Il Gatto e la Volpe; no time is published, and gulliver.it gives 200 m of ascent. From the parking continue along the gravel road beside the river for 300 to 400 m to a turning on the left towards a concrete water intake. Go up onto it; 50 m on, a cairn on a large boulder shows the direction. Follow cairns and the track towards the Frébouze slabs to about half-way up the slope, cross the dry stream bed leftwards (cairns) and continue over unpleasant scree to the start of Il Gatto e la Volpe. Lockdown is about 100 m further left, at a bolt with a white sling, at roughly 1800 m.
Loading map
The point marks the crag, not the exact start of the route.
Parking
Lavachey / Pont de Frébouze (camptocamp access point)
Point from camptocamp waypoint 790072
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: 45.85327, 7.01323 (crag) · Parking: 45.85304, 7.02517
Getting down
By abseil down the route. The first abseil does not reach the next belay: you have to down-climb about 2 m (easy) to get to it.
Retreat
Bail with caveats
Abseiling the route is the normal descent, so every belay is rigged for it. The caveats are the walking section between the two tiers and the first abseil from the top, which stops about 2 m above the next belay and needs a short down-climb.
Safety
Sun and weather
South facing between about 1800 and 2000 m. A party at the end of June 2025 found it very fine and very hot. Gulliver.it's 2026 revision says some pitches are still rather dirty with earth; pitches 5 and 8 in its numbering (the 6b+ and the last pitch) are the cleanest and best.
Sun on the wall · S-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
13 quickdraws and two 60 m ropes (camptocamp lists '60 m ropes' and an abseil descent). 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 Lockdown.
Worth knowing
Open questions
Provenance
Same area
Italy · Aosta Valley
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.
6a10 pitches290 m
Read the cautions
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
Around 6b+ · about 9 pitches
Morocco · Taghia
One of the easiest long routes in the Taghia cirque: nine sustained pitches of 6a to 6b+ on compact slabs and steep pocketed walls, starting from the bed of a canyon. The bolts are sound but airy, the obligatory grade is 6a+ and the day is long.
6b+9 pitches320 m
Read the cautions
Spain · Montanejos
Eight pitches up a vertical prow deep in the Maimona canyon, on orange rock full of pockets (agujeros means holes). Sustained at 6a+ to 6b and physical throughout, with a huge roof start to the crux pitch and a bench to sit on at the third belay. Closed from January to June.
6b+8 pitches235 m
Read the cautions
Austria · Gastein (Hohe Tauern)
Ten pitches of varied climbing on good rock, mostly slabs with some cracks and steeper passages. Largely UIAA 5 with a few moves of 6 and three spots of 7 that go at 6+ A0. A short walk-in and a rigged abseil line.
6b+10 pitches350 m
France · Aravis
A ten-pitch line to the summit of the Pointe Percée, the high point of the Aravis, following green hangers up the cool north-west face. Seven long pitches, mostly easy with a 6a+ wall, reach the notch of the Arête du Doigt; three independent pitches finish it, including a memorable slab traverse of 6b+ that can be aided on the bolts.
6b+10 pitches400 m
Read the cautions
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.