After Golden Gate on El Capitan, Le Voyage at Annot and a solo ascent of The Nose, Soline Kentzel has added another historic line to her résumé. The French climber has just completed La Darbellay on the north face of the Petit Clocher du Portalet, on the Swiss side of the Mont Blanc massif. First climbed in 1962 by Michel and Daniel Darbellay and freed in 1989 by Philippe Steulet, the route features two excellent trad pitches graded 8a (5.13b) and 7c+ (5.13a). Soline Kentzel has now made the first female ascent. Here is her story.
In 2022, Soline Kentzel burst onto the top end of the climbing scene with an ascent of Golden Gate, 1,000 metres of climbing up to 8a (5.13b) on El Capitan, which she freed at just 21. Two years later, she climbed Le Voyage — a single 8b+ (5.14a) pitch — at Annot,