Silvan Schüpbach, Filippo Sala and Olivier Kolly made the first ascent of a new route on the northwest face of the Dent Blanche (4.357 m) in Valais at the turn of the year. They named the 850-meter-long line "Le clin d'œil" and graded it M7 WI3.
Schüpbach collects "forgotten north faces"
For his long-term project "The Six Forgotten North Faces," Swiss alpinist Silvan Schüpbach has set his sights on challenging Alpine north faces far from the classic peaks. He has already completed three: in 2025, he established a new north route on the Nesthorn (3.820 m), was the first to climb the north face of Punta Pioda (3.237 m), and climbed a variation through the central face of the Aiguille de Triolet (3.870 m) in the Mont Blanc massif.
Two very cold days on one of the most remote north faces in the Alps. The goal: to establish a new route here.
Schüpbach, Sala & Kolly
The fourth north face in the group is located in a shady and remote spot on the Dent Blanche (4.357 m) in the canton of Valais. There, on December 28th and 29th, Schüpbach, along with Filippo Sala and Olivier Kolly, achieved the first ascent of an 850-meter mixed route. Sala had previously accompanied Schüpbach on two of his three north faces. With a difficulty rating of M7 WI3, the team also points to the challenging conditions during their winter first ascent.
Ambitious first ascent in winter
The north face of the Dent Blanche is considered one of the most remote in the Alps and impresses not only with its striking appearance. Its central feature is known as "The Eye"—an almost vertical and as yet unclimbed section. For Schüpbach, this was not an obstacle, but an absolute selection criterion for his north face project.
The new route by Schüpbach, Sala, and Kolly shares its starting point with "Romain" by Patrick Gabarrou and Christophe Jond. The line then traverses rightwards through the steepest section of the north face. Finally, "Le clin d'œil" shares the last 150 meters before the summit with another established route.
The challenging conditions turned even the "easy" pitches into quite difficult slabs. A real adventure!
Filippo Sala
"We were simply not acclimatized enough."
Why does the first ascent of a difficult and remote north face have to take place under the most wintry conditions? Opposite Planetmountain Filippo Sala describes the challenges posed by freezing temperatures and snowfall: “The approach was probably one of the longest in the Alps because the road is closed in winter. […] After we had climbed ‘The Eye’, the night in the bivouac was extremely cramped, bitterly cold, and sleepless.”
Although the weather window was good and the route fantastic, they simply weren't sufficiently acclimatized to the cold, Sala explained. Nevertheless, on the afternoon of December 29th, the three alpinists stood – tired and freezing – on the 4.357-meter summit of the Dent Blanche. The route name "Le clin d'œil" ("the wink") is a tribute to the crux, which Schüpbach, Sala, and Kolly were the first team to climb.
For Silvan Schüpbach, this means four out of six "forgotten North Faces" have been ticked off. It remains to be seen which two more north faces the 43-year-old will tackle for his project.
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Credits cover photo: Filippo Sala