Extreme Mountaineering And Rock Climbing

Over 37 years and seven continents, Robert Bosch has travelled to the some of the highest peaks on Earth as one of the world's premier mountain photographers. Sharing in mountaineers' trials and exertions by scaling the heights, Robert has captured stunning images that pay tribute to climbers and nature.

Climber Annatina Schultz climbing The Fall on Klettern in Meiringen, Switzerland

Robert, 57, has travelled to the summit of Everest, the icy Alps of Europe, and even to the frozen desert wastes of Antarctica, in pursuit of adventure and the perfect shot.

Climber Pesche Wuthrich on the 800ft high artificial climbing wall on the Diga di Luzzone dam in Tessin, Switzerland

"Climbing Mount Everest is relatively straightforward for an experienced climber," explained Robert. "I had previously attempted to ascend the notoriously difficult west ridge route but that had defeated me. So in 2001 I succeeded climbing the north face, but I must tell you that to climb Everest up the commercially popular route is easy. Everyone travels to the top and thinks they can write a book about it, but the majority of these people are not mountaineers, they are relying on the incredible work of the Sherpas in Nepal. It is not all that it is cracked up to be"

As an experienced and seasoned climber, Robert has scaled over 100 different peaks across the world. "My passion was born when my parents would take me to visit the Alps when I was boy," said Robert, who lives near Zurich in Switzerland. "My climbing became serious when I hit my twenties, I got to know the guides who work on the mountains in the Alps like Mont Blanc."

Robert Bosch taking a picture on the 800ft high artificial climbing wall on the Diga di Luzzone dam in Tessin, Switzerland

Climbers on the artificial climbing wall on the Diga di Luzzone dam in Tessin, Switzerland

Climbers on the artificial climbing wall on the Diga di Luzzone dam in Tessin, Switzerland

In almost 40 years of climbing Robert has had some close shaves. "I was working in the Swiss Alps working on my photography, hanging from a rope and using my crampons digging into the rock face to balance myself," said Robert. "Unfortunately I had a momentary lapse of balance and I turned 180 degrees upside down to face a sheer 3,000 feet drop...

Climber Pesche Wuthrich climbing on the border between Italy and Switzerland

...my heart skipped and luckily for me my rope held and I managed to right myself, but that incident haunts me every day because I came so close to falling down head first"

Photographing the greats of the climbing world such as 34-year old Ueli Steck, Robert has witnessed his skill during perilous ice climbs in Switzerland

Climber Ueli Steck

Climber Ueli Steck

"Ueli (above) is a wonderful climber, an exceptional mountaineer, we climb a lot together looking for that perfect shot that sums up the strength and balance and fitness that climbers need," explained Robert. "We go out of our way to make the photographs as difficult as possible, like in our ice-climbing route in Graubunden in Switzerland and Berner Oberland, which is also in Switzerland. His free climbing abilities are what most impresses me, he is a good friend and it is a pleasure to work with him"

Climber Robert Jasper iceclimbing by Oeschinen in Bern, Switzerland

"Cerro Torre (above), the 3102m peak in Patagonia, Argentina is actually considered to be one of the hardest ascents to make in the world, although it is a mountain that no one has really heard of," explained Robert. "It is all about the changeable weather there, it can turn on you in minutes. In recent years with improved weather prediction technology that mountain has decreased in danger, but like all mountains must never be underestimated"

A self-proclaimed mountaineering addict, Robert feels lucky to follow his childhood passion. "Shots like the ice climbing in Karakorum in Pakistan sum up what I want to do," said Robert. "That is a beautiful shot."

Iceclimbing on the Godwin Austen Glacier with K2 in the background in Karakorum, Pakistan

Climbers hang off Salbitnadel on Salbitschijen in Uri, Switzerland