The first ascent of Mont Blanc in 1786 is considered the birth of alpinism. Since then, the history of mountaineering has been a chronicle of the first climbers and their struggles with the highest peaks. However, alongside this official history, there is another one – for before the first climbers, others were there: farmers, smugglers, escape helpers, shepherds. This other history is not about records, but about the people in the mountains, nature, and the changing world. Martin Krauss retells the cultural history of alpinism "from below" – exciting, knowledgeable, and with surprising findings from Switzerland.