Switzerland’s 4,357m Dent Blanche is a relatively remote peak with a shadowy north face. The wall includes a nearly vertical section known as The Eye where few have ventured. It was a perfect candidate for the fourth “forgotten north face” in Silvan Schupbach’s climbing project.
The Swiss climber aims to open a new route on what he calls “the 6 Forgotten North Faces” of the Alps. Previously, he opened lines on Nesthorn (with Peter Von Kanel and Carlos Molina), Punta Pioda (with Roger Schaeli and Filippo Sala) and Aiguille du Triolet (with Filippo Sala and Tom Livingstone).
The cold yet dry conditions at the end of 2025 encouraged Schupbach and regular partner Filippo Sala, along with Olivier Kolly, to try for number four: a new line right across the Eye to the 4,357m summit. They succeeded, and their new 850m route features difficulties up to M7, WI3. They called the line Le clin d’œil (“Blink of an Eye”).
White Tooth
The team describes Dent Blanche as possessing one of the most remote north faces in the Alps. The peak rises above Val d’Hérens in the canton of Valais, Switzerland. According to photographer Thomas Crauwels, it is the Queen of the Alps, an imposing, aesthetic mountain on all sides.
“Its rocky ridges, snow corridors, and faces create an almost supernatural geometry, making it one of the most beautiful summits in the Alps,” he writes.
For the three climbers, it was an opportunity to ring out the old year in style on a rare, untouched north face.
Partial new route
As usually happens with new routes in the Alps, they share some terrain with previous lines. In this case, the new line coincides with the Romain route (opened by Patrick Gabarrou and Christophe Jond in 1995) on easy terrain. However, it then swerves right, toward the steepest part of the face, known as The Eye.
“Climbing through The Eye was an excellent decision, with more or less good and steep rock up to M7 difficulty,” Schupbach told Planetmountain.com. “Right after that steep part, we finally reached the bivy, which was obviously very poor. There wasn’t enough space for the three of us, and the bitterly cold night didn’t allow us to sleep at all.”
On the upper 150m, the line joins previous routes again on a snow slope that leads to the summit.
The climbers on the summit of Dent Blanche. Photo: Filippo Sala
They did the climb in two days, on December 28 and 29, in full winter conditions.
“In some parts of the wall, even the ‘easy’ pitches consisted of actually very tricky slabs,” the team noted, adding that they also had to face very low temperatures and a lack of acclimatization.
So now four north faces down, two to go. Schupbach has not said what the other two are.
