Massive Everest as photographed by little Dölf Reist
Base Camp with a view of the dangerous Khumbu Icefall, the way in to the Valley of Silence.
Dölf Reist/Alpines Museum der Schweiz
Camp in the Valley of Silence. The Khumbu Icefall as a way in had been crossed for the first time by the Swiss expedition in 1952.
Dölf Reist/Alpines Museum der Schweiz
Sherpas in the Valley of Silence. They were supplied with the same equipment as the Swiss.
Dölf Reist/Alpines Museum der Schweiz
Dölf Reist (left) and Hansruedi von Gunten after their successful ascent of Everest, back in their tent on the South Col.
Ernst Reiss
Rope partner Hansruedi von Gunten kits himself out on the South Col for the climb to the summit of Everest, the third ever.
Dölf Reist/Alpines Museum der Schweiz
A sherpa uses a tree-trunk bridge to cross the dangerous Khumbu Icefall. Towers of ice can collapse at any time.
Dölf Reist/Alpines Museum der Schweiz
Sherpas in Camp 3 on Everest at 6,400 metres, where it can be hot in the sun but bitterly cold in the shade.
Dölf Reist/Alpines Museum der Schweiz
A Swiss climber on the summit ridge of Everest.
Dölf Reist/Alpines Museum der Schweiz
A historic moment: On May 18, 1956, Fritz Luchsinger (pictured) and Ernst Reiss (who took the picture) became the first to stand on the Lhotse, the fourth-highest mountain in the world at 8,516 metres. Luchsinger has the flags of Switzerland and Nepal fastened to his ice pick.
Ernst Reiss/Alpines Museum der Schweiz und SSAF
The return in 1956 of the "Swiss heroes" from Everest at Zurich airport, where they were welcomed by their families, political and military dignitaries and a brass band. Dölf Reist is the small figure left of centre holding a bouquet of flowers.
unbekannt/Alpines Museum der Schweiz
Dölf Reist was a member of the successful Swiss quartet who made it to the top of Mount Everest in 1956. He also documented the expedition with photographs. These images were the foundation of a successful parallel career as a public speaker and mountain photographer whose images were published in photography books.
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Studied history and politics at University of Bern. Worked at Reuters, the newspapers Der Bund and Berner Zeitung, and the Förderband radio station. I am concerned with the Swiss practice of modern direct democracy in all its aspects and at all levels, my constant focus being the citizen.
Reist, who was born in Bern and died in 2000 aged 79, might have been of small stature but was a man of many talents. Not only did he embody post-war alpine mountaineering and mountain photography, he also published countless books of photographs and shone as a gifted storyteller.
On his tours throughout Switzerland, audiences – young and old – packed into halls to see his slideshows and hear his stories first hand. These lectures formed a significant part of his income.
As a result, Reist was one of the first elite mountaineers with star appeal, and inspired today’s hi-tech multimedia presentations that are staged as events and platforms for sponsors.
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