Le Brévent (Aiguilles Rouges) · Chamonix valley · France
Bail not documentedBolting confidence: high
Five long, steep and technical pitches up the south face of the Brévent, finishing beside the cable-car station. Sustained 6a+ to 6b wall climbing on small edges where reading the line is the main difficulty, with one short 6c+ traverse that has a fixed rope. Parties call it one of the best routes of its grade in the Aiguilles Rouges.
The route
Poème à Lou takes the steep south face directly below the Brévent summit station, right of La Fin de Babylone. You walk down the Couloir Bellin from the top and climb back to the lift. Four of the five pitches are long and continuous: a slab with a small overhang, a superb vertical wall on edges that arcs leftwards, a steep pitch through small roofs, and the traverse into a corner with the route's one hard move. The last pitch is easier, along a slabby crest. The grades are firm, and camptocamp recommends a margin because the 6a+ pitches are fully earned.
The climbing
| Pitch | Grade | Length | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| P1 | 6a+ | 45 m | A slab on small, varied holds with a small overhang, technical and sustained. Two threads, then the first bolt 10 to 15 m above the plaque on easy ground (about grade 3). It is 49 m from the plaque to the belay on the ledge below the big slab, so start from the upper thread. Allow for rope drag with two extended quickdraws. One 2026 party graded it 6b. |
| P2 | 6a+ | 40 m | A superb vertical wall on small edges, continuous and technical, climbed in a wide arc. Traverse left at the end to a bolt belay on a comfortable ledge. The chained glue-in belay higher up, and another chained belay half-way up the slab, belong to other routes. A 2026 party noted a hollow-sounding flake. |
| P3 | 6b | 30 m | A steep pitch: turn the first small roof, easier ground, then a harder finish over a bulge. Use the lower belay; the upper chained one is La Fin de Babylone. |
| P4 | 6c+ | 50 m | Traverse left to reach a corner. One technical move of 6c+, or use the fixed rope over 4 m (6a+ and A0). A few moves of 6b follow, then the rest is sustained 6a, similar to pitch 2. Shorter climbers step down to find edges. |
| P5 | 5c | 50 m | Easier slabs along the line of a crest, with a little lichen and three or four loose stones. A new route, Soleil levant, arrives from the left here with belays side by side; a 2025 party nearly followed it. |
Getting there
From Chamonix take the Planpraz gondola and the Brévent cable car to the top (pay car park at the lower station above the church; shuttle bus from the centre). The first cabin reached the top at about 8:35 in September 2026.
From the summit go down into the Couloir Bellin, passing the start of the Voie Frison-Roche and following the foot of the Brévent face. The path is steep and exposed in places. Lower down, a traversing track leads to fixed ropes on the right; the first is worn. Do not stop at the first route you meet on the right (a ring at its foot): continue to a large metal plaque with the route name. The first belay is a little higher, on a thread with a green cord. Parties took 25 minutes; the Thivierge topo says 30.
Loading map
The point marks the crag, not the exact start of the route.
Point from camptocamp waypoint 39717 (Le Brévent summit)
Contains the route point. 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: 45.93393, 6.83783 (crag)
Getting down
From the top of the last pitch a path reaches the Brévent cable car in 3 to 5 minutes.
Retreat
Bail not documented
Retreat is not documented. The belays are bolted but not chained, the pitches are 30 to 50 m, and pitches 2 and 4 traverse leftwards, so abseiling would need two ropes and gear left behind. The foot of the route is at the bottom of the Couloir Bellin, which you would have to climb back up to reach the lift.
Partly inferred from the route facts
Safety
Sun and weather
South facing between about 2300 m and 2525 m; it can be hot, but the altitude helps. Early in the season snow can linger in the Couloir Bellin and make the approach delicate. The route depends on the Brévent lifts, so the season is the summer lift season. A September 2026 party climbed above a sea of cloud that started below the face.
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.
| 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
14 quickdraws, two of them extendable for pitch 1. A 50 m rope is only just long enough. Camptocamp suggests carrying 5 m of 9 mm cord to replace the fixed rope on pitch 4 if it is worn and you need it. 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 Poème à Lou.
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.