Tour Termier – south-west face · Cerces · France
Read the cautionsBail with caveatsBolting confidence: high
The most popular route on the Tour Termier, a 3070 m limestone tower near the Col du Galibier. Sustained and varied at 5c to 6a+ on rough, sculpted rock, with several traverses that add length and a much-photographed 6a+ finish. It is the easier neighbour of Feu Sacré but still a mountain route: cold, often windy, and you climb between the bolts.
Sound bolts and belays, but spaced on the easier ground with one obligatory move above the bolt, at 3000 m with a mountain descent; some parties add a few cams.
The route
Ponant Neuf climbs the south-west face of the Tour Termier, starting just left of Feu Sacré, left of the big corner that splits the wall. Cambon created it in 1999 by reworking his 1974 route Ponant, keeping only the traverse of pitch 5 and the direct finish. It gives ten pitches of sustained 5c to 6a+ on excellent abrasive limestone, with a terrace after pitch 3, a long traverse on pitch 5 and a choice of two exits to the summit of the tower. The wall is at 2800 to 3070 m and faces south-west, so it is in shade until late morning. It is one of the busiest routes in the Cerces: on fine August days parties queue from 9:00.
The climbing
| Pitch | Grade | Length | Bolts | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| P1 | 4b | 15 m | 2 bolts | A short easy pitch, numbered L0 on camptocamp. It can be linked with the next (45 m) but the drag is heavy. |
| P2 | 6a | 30 m | 8 bolts | An athletic finish. On the vertical section a loose block of about 15 kg sits on the right; it is not needed as a hold. |
| P3 | 6a+ | 30 m | 8 bolts | Mostly 5c with one harder move near the end, harder for the short. Parties in 2026 found the first part committing. |
| P4 | 5b/c | 35 m | 7 bolts | Not easy at 5c if you follow the two bolts straight up; 5a/b by going left and clipping one bolt. Then steps to a large terrace. Belay on the left at the foot of a small knoll, left of a grassy gully; do not use the belay 10 m to the right, which is Feu Sacré's. |
| P5 | 6a+ | 40 m | 10 bolts | Cross the gully (one bolt), climb a slab with delicate moves and a harder one to reach a ledge, and follow the ledge right. One slab move is obligatory and well above the bolt. The belay is shared with Feu Sacré's fifth. |
| P6 | 5c/6a | 25 m | 6 bolts | Traverse left, rising slightly and then horizontally. Awkward clips. |
| P7 | 6a | 50 m | 12 bolts | Straight up a vague runnel that becomes a corner and gully. An optional belay after 15 to 20 m is recommended; do not take the Boucs en stock belay just to the left. Continue 10 to 15 m in the gully, then pull out right. If you reach a belay on two pegs and a sling you have gone too high: traverse right. |
| P8 | 5c | 45 m | 9 bolts | A grassy gully to an abseil station (4c, 25 m, 3 bolts), then on up the gully and a wall with two layback cracks (5c, 20 m, 5 bolts). Do not stop at the abseil station. |
| P9 | 6a+ | 40 m | 12 bolts | Straight up a wall to an abseil station (6a/+, 25 m, 7 bolts), then a rising traverse right (6a+, 15 m, 4 bolts) which holds the crux. Extend or skip the abseil station to limit drag. |
| P10 | 6a | 35 m | 8 bolts | Right-hand exit: traverse 5 m right (6a), then a corner and chimney (5c) to a belay 3 m below the top of the tower. The left-hand exit, shared with Boucs en stocks, is 6a+: traverse left and up a few metres (5a, optional belay), then a delicate, airy traverse right and an athletic move right of the big roof to the very top. |
Getting there
From Briançon drive up the Guisane valley to the Col du Lautaret and take the Col du Galibier road. Park inside the hairpin 600 m before the memorial and the Galibier tunnel; in early season part of it is occupied by a snow drift. The road is closed by snow outside summer. The Briançon to Grenoble coach (ZOU 55) stops at the Col du Lautaret, from where parties cycle up.
A little over 1 hour, with about 300 m of ascent. Take the well-marked level path heading east from the hairpin, cross several streams and continue to the combe below the Tour Termier. Climb the combe and its scree to the bottom of the face. The route starts on the wall left of the big corner, just left of Feu Sacré and right of a horizontal band of whitish rock; the first bolt is high but on easy ground. Gold bolts.
Loading map
The point marks the crag, not the exact start of the route.
Point from camptocamp waypoint 39495 (Tour Termier 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: 45.05927, 6.43720 (crag)
Getting down
On foot, the usual choice: from the summit descend the north-east side, trending left, into the south-east combe of the Grand Galibier and follow it down to about 2900 m. Cross into the west gully of the Col Termier and descend its steps, mostly on the true left, to the scree below the face. Camptocamp gives 30 minutes to the foot of the Roc Termier; parties report 1.5 to 2 hours back to the car. Gulliver describes a short abseil or down-climb off the summit onto a slope that often holds snow. By abseil: seven abseils down the route from the left-hand exit, or seven by the Feu Sacré stations from the right-hand exit (40, 45, 45, 30, 45, 30 and 50 m). Despite its steepness the wall has many flakes and spikes that snag ropes, and ledges that shed stones and can cut ropes.
Retreat
Bail with caveats
Equipped abseil stations exist down the line, some of them in the middle of pitches, and the Feu Sacré stations are alongside, so retreat by abseil is possible from most of the route with two 50 m ropes. Camptocamp warns that the wall snags ropes on flakes and spikes and that the ledges shed stones.
Partly inferred from the route facts
Safety
Sun and weather
South-west facing at 2800 to 3070 m. The sun arrives at about 11:30 in July; a 2026 party reached the sixth belay as it came into the sun around noon, and it is cold before 10:00. There is nearly always wind, whether weather or thermal. The season is set by the Galibier road, roughly mid-June to September, with ascents recorded into early November in dry autumns. Early in the season the descent on the north-east side holds snow. Allow 4 to 6 hours on the route.
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 Cerces are not available yet
What to carry
2×50 m ropes and 12 quickdraws. Optionally a few nuts or two or three medium cams for the easier, more spaced sections. Helmet. Warm and windproof clothing even in August.
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 Ponant Neuf.
Worth knowing
Open questions
Provenance
Same area
France · Cerces
The classic hard route of the Tour Termier: ten steep, technical pitches on superb compact limestone at 3000 m, a short walk from the Col du Galibier road. It is never athletic but sustained at 6a+ to 6b, with a 7a pitch and a 6c move that both go at 6a A0. Cold, wind and thin footwork make it feel bigger than the numbers.
7a10 pitches320 m
France · Cerces
A friendly six-pitch route on the lower buttress of Roche Robert, half an hour above the Lautaret road. Sustained grade 4 on good limestone, with slabs, a chimney and two steeper steps of 5a to 5b near the top. Stances are big ledges and there is little exposure, so it suits a first multipitch.
5b6 pitches180 m
France · Cerces
A long, easy mountain route above the Chardonnet hut in the upper Clarée valley: ten pitches of slabs, a chimney, grooved grey rock and a crest, linked by ledges and one 75 m walk. It is never sustained, with the 5c on a slabby traverse, and the best pitches are near the top. The setting is the attraction; the descent gully is the price.
5c10 pitches300 m
France · Cerces
A short, varied route on the first tower of the Queyrellin ridge above the Chardonnet hut: a slabby ramp, a traverse across a grey slab and an exposed pillar on exceptional rough limestone. Continuous 5c to 6a with one aidable 6b+ step on poorer yellow rock and a thin 6b move on the pillar. The last three pitches are airy.
6b+5 pitches170 m
Around 6a+ · about 10 pitches
Italy · Aosta Valley
One of the most approachable lines on the Paretone and one of its best: ten pitches of sculpted gneiss slab, sustained at about 5c, with two steeper passages. The third pitch has one 6a move out of a slot and the sixth climbs two small overhangs at 6a+. Both are closely bolted and go at about 5c with a pull on a quickdraw.
6a+10 pitches280 m
Spain · Vega Baja (Orihuela & Callosa)
The classic of Redován: ten pitches and 300 m of steady grade 5 with three steeper pitches on red rock. The eighth pitch, a traverse right into an overhanging corner above the orange cliffs, is the one people remember. Closed from January to June for nesting eagles.
6a+10 pitches300 m
Austria · Grazer Bergland
A modern plaisir line on the south-east spur of the Röthelstein, finished in 2018 by linking three old, forgotten pitches with six newly cleaned ones. The fifth and sixth pitches are rated among the best on the Röthelstein. UIAA 6+ at the hardest, with only 5 obligatory.
6a+10 pitches315 m
Germany · Berchtesgaden & Bad Reichenhall
A long-day alpine-flavoured plaisir route on the Untersberg's summit wall. Pitches range from UIAA 5+ to 6+ (≈5b–6b), with 5+ obligatory.
6a+10 pitches250 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.