Petite Aiguille de l'Arcelin – south face (Pralognan) · Vanoise (Grand Bec) · France
Read the cautionsEasy to bailBolting confidence: high
A short, wild, modern route on the grey limestone of the Petite Aiguille de l'Arcelin, in two halves: thin, technical slab low down, including a sustained 6b+ with obligatory moves, then steep walls with a very sustained 7a pitch of two bouldery cruxes. Seldom climbed for its quality.
Very well bolted where it is hard, but the crux may be harder than 7a, the 6b+ slab is obligatory and the first pitch has a high first bolt.
The route
Stop ou Encore starts up a grey slab 100 m right of the Voie Vion and joins that route's eighth belay on the summit ridge after six pitches. Camptocamp grades it 7a with 6b obligatory, but the 7a is marked as unconfirmed for a free ascent in one go, and the two parties that have logged it since 2023 both found that pitch very hard: one proposes 7a+. The 6b+ slab below it has obligatory moves well above the bolts for the grade. The rock is adherent grey limestone, good on the whole, with fragile flakes on the first and last pitches. It is equipped for an abseil descent, which makes it the most convenient route on the face.
The climbing
| Pitch | Grade | Length | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| P1 | 5c | 30 m | The first bolt is rather high: go slightly left of it to reach it. Climb a slab with a hook to the left to a comfortable ledge. A 2026 party felt this pitch as 6a and warns of several flakes that could come off. |
| P2 | 6a | 30 m | Straight up, harder at the start. Felt more like 5c in 2026. |
| P3 | 6b+ | 30 m | A technical, sustained slab. The crux comes at the end, with a thin change of feet, and the moves are obligatory. |
| P4 | 7a | 30 m | A very sustained technical wall with two bouldery cruxes. Do not stop at the intermediate station, which is there for the abseil. The grade is unconfirmed for a continuous free ascent: a 2026 party proposes 7a+ and reports several very hard moves. The bolting on this pitch is described as very good. |
| P5 | 6a+ | 45 m | Traverse right for 7 m, climb a corner and come back up and left across a magnificent slab. Sustained; watch the rope drag. |
| P6 | 5c | 25 m | Over a small roof and on to the summit ridge, at the eighth belay of the Voie Vion. Rock of average quality. |
Getting there
Drive up the Tarentaise to Moûtiers, then the Bozel valley to Pralognan-la-Vanoise, and take the Fontanettes road to the car park at its end (1640 m), at the foot of the Génépi lift. Camptocamp notes that this car park has been pay parking since 2025 (10 euros for 24 hours). Without a car: train to Moûtiers, bus to Pralognan, then a half-hour path from the tourist office to the car park; free summer shuttles run in July and August.
About 1 h 30. From Les Fontanettes walk up into the Cirque de l'Arcelin. At 1881 m bear right towards the Col du Grand Marchet, and at about 2250 m traverse horizontally to the foot of the south face. The route starts in the middle of a grey slab, 100 m right of the Voie Vion. A footbridge on the approach was washed away on 13 August 2023; a party that month found the torrent can be forded about 15 m above the old crossing.
Loading map
The point marks the crag, not the exact start of the route.
Parking
Les Fontanettes car park above Pralognan, 1640 m (camptocamp access waypoint 104461); pay parking since 2025
Point from camptocamp waypoint 40569 (Petite Aiguille de l'Arcelin summit; the route climbs the south face below it)
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: 45.37596, 6.76194 (crag) · Parking: 45.38213, 6.73687
Getting down
Either abseil the route: 25 m from the fifth belay, 40 m to the station in the middle of pitch 4, 45 m to the second belay and 50 m to the ground. Or continue to the summit by the last two pitches of the Voie Vion (6a+) or by the west ridge (IV), and descend as for the Voie Vion along the ridge, with one short abseil. A 2026 party took the ridge and calls it superb; they belayed on a rock spike at the top of the Vion pitch.
Retreat
Easy to bail
Abseiling the route is one of the two normal descents and the stations are in place: 25 m from the fifth belay, 40 m to a station in the middle of pitch 4, 45 m to the second belay and 50 m to the ground. A 2023 party descended this way without comment. You can therefore turn round below or above the 7a pitch.
Safety
Sun and weather
South-facing between about 2250 and 2450 m. It gets hot in fine weather: an August 2023 party found it too warm. Logged ascents are from mid-July to the end of August. A July 2026 party climbed in strong wind.
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 | Jul (usual season) | Aug (usual season) | Sep (usual season) | Oct | Nov | Dec |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mean daily high °C | −9 | −8 | −5 | −2 | 2 | 8 | 11 | 11 | 7 | 2 | −5 | −9 |
| Mean daily low °C | −16 | −16 | −13 | −9 | −6 | −1 | 2 | 2 | −2 | −6 | −12 | −16 |
| Rain days 1 mm or more | 13 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 16 | 18 | 16 | 14 | 13 | 13 | 13 | 13 |
● marks the usual climbing season. Averages for 1991-2020 at about 2779 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
2×50 m abseil ropes, 14 quickdraws (for pitch 4), helmet. No source mentions cams or nuts.
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 Stop ou Encore.
Worth knowing
Open questions
Provenance
Same area
France · Vanoise (Grand Bec)
A short, sunny high-mountain route at 2800 m in the Vanoise: five 25 to 30 m pitches of 4b to 5b with one or two moves of 5c that can be pulled through, then an easy scramble. The bolting is generous enough that parties with little experience enjoy it. The setting, below the south-west face of the Grand Bec, is the reason to walk up.
5c6 pitches180 m
France · Vanoise (Grand Bec)
A long, easy mountain route up the shady north face of the Pointe de la Vuzelle, finishing at a summit cross above the Refuge du Grand Bec. The climbing is in the first two pitches and the seventh; the rest is short steps of 3b to 5a linked by walking pitches over grass and unstable scree. Go for the outing and the summit, not for sustained rock.
5c12 pitches300 m
Read the cautions
France · Vanoise (Grand Bec)
The leftmost route on the steep south-east face of the Grand Marchet, in the Cirque du Dard above Pralognan. Short but varied limestone climbing with a lot of air for the grade: slabs, steps, a superb corner, an old-style chimney and a vertical wall, getting harder as you go. The two 6a pitches are closely bolted and go at about 5c with a pull.
6a7 pitches180 m
France · Vanoise (Grand Bec)
The classic hard line of the south face of the Petite Aiguille de l'Arcelin, in a high cirque above Pralognan. Nine varied pitches on good grey limestone: corners, slabs, short overhangs and a technical 6c crux pitch with at least one obligatory move of 6b. Every pitch climbs, and the descent is a small mountain trip of its own.
6c9 pitches220 m
Read the cautions
Around 7a · about 6 pitches
Greece · Leonidio & Kyparissi
The route that opened Kokkinovrachos to sport multi-pitch climbing: six long pitches up the centre-right of the red wall, sustained at 6b+ to 6c with one technical 7a crux that can be aided on two bolts. Rated three stars locally and more sustained than Aramis.
7a6 pitches180 m
Morocco · Todra Gorge (Todgha)
Steep, fingery wall climbing that starts with your feet almost in the stream at the gorge entrance. The 7a second pitch is hard for only 2 to 3 metres and can be swapped for a 6b pitch on the neighbouring route, after which three pitches of 6b+ to 6c+ on pocketed and edgy rock lead to the top. Abseil descent.
7a6 pitches200 m
Read the cautions
France · Baou de Saint-Jeannet
A modern bolted line up the left side of the Baou, starting beside the Péril Jaune cave: six varied pitches on unpolished rock, with a steep 6c wall and a fine crack and corner finishing with one hard move (7a on the topo, 6c or 6c+ to most parties). Two walking transitions through scrub break the climbing, so it has less exposure than the routes on the main face.
7a6 pitches230 m
Italy · Sardinia
Two pitches of bridging up a 60 m corner hung with tufas and stalactites (6c+, 6c), then grey water-drop walls and a short roof at 7a that goes in three moves of aid. Seven pitches of varied climbing on perfect, unpolished rock.
7a7 pitches220 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.