The winter climbing season in the Alps is off to a roaring start! We are excited to report that a strong Swiss-Italian trio has established a significant new line on the imposing North-Northwest Face of the Dent Blanche (4357m) in the Valais Alps.
The team, consisting of Olivier Kolly, Filippo Sala, and Silvan Schüpbach, completed the ascent over two freezing days on December 28–29, 2025.
The Route: "Le Clin d’œil"
The new route, named Le Clin d’œil (French for "The Wink"), checks in at 850m with difficulties up to M7, WI3.
The line focuses on a specific feature that caught the team's attention during the approach: a steep, eye-shaped rock formation in the center of the wall that remained unclimbed.
- Start: The team began by following the initial slopes of the Gabarrou-Jond route.
- The Crux: When the wall steepened, they broke right to aim directly for the "eye." This section provided the technical crux of the route, offering sustained mixed climbing on steep (and surprisingly good) rock.
- Conditions: The team reported demanding winter conditions that turned even "easy" terrain into delicate, slabby climbing.
A Cold Bivouac
This was not a sprint ascent. The team spent a night on the face about two-thirds of the way up. According to Filippo Sala, the bivouac left much to be desired:
"Just after the steep part we finally reached a bivouac spot, which obviously was bad, not big enough for all three of us. We settled in uncomfortably, but the worst was yet to come: the very cold night did not allow us to sleep." — Filippo Sala
Despite the lack of sleep and extreme cold, they pushed through the remaining difficulties the next morning, reaching the summit around 2:00 PM.
Part of a Bigger Project
For Silvan Schüpbach, this ascent marks the 4th addition to his ongoing project, "The 6 Forgotten North Faces." The project aims to establish or repeat neglected lines on major alpine north faces, bringing a modern mixed-climbing approach to these historic walls.
