Romolo Nottaris

Romolo Nottaris (born July 9, 1946, in Lugano, Switzerland) is a Swiss rock climber, mountaineer and documentary filmmaker. He was the first Swiss to climb an eight-thousander in alpine style, without supplementary oxygen, sherpas or fixed ropes.

Background

Nottaris was born in Lugano in 1946, the third of four children of a warehouse worker and housewife. His family loved the mountains and outdoors, and was introduced to the mountains at the age of six. and later was a professional poker player in Geneva.

In the 1970s, Nottaris began collaborating with Radiotelevisione svizzera to create climbing documentaries. He would go on to make over twenty documentary films, covering expeditions to the Himalayas, Patagonia, Alaska and Antarctica.

In 1971 he was the only survivor of an avalanche on Mont Blanc, an experience which seriously affected him. when he summited Gasherbrum II alongside Tiziano Zünd in 1981.

In 1984, he summited Makalu in alpine style.

Apart from the Himalayas, Nottaris has organized expeditions in Alaska, Patagonia, and Antarctica. In 2007, he led an expedition to the virgin peak, Mount Stanley in South Georgia.

In 2006, he was part of a rescue operation to find Swiss mountaineer Franco Dellatorre, who went missing while climbing in Patagonia.

In 2021, the camera was turned on the documentary filmmaker, as Nottaris filmed Walking on the Peaks/In cammino sulle creste, a thirteen episode documentary where he guided eight young people on a 140 km alpine trek.

In 2024, he was part of another documentary series, Da Paese che vai alla Via Crio highlighting over twenty years of mountaineering public broadcasting.

Main expeditions

Nottaris has completed the following expeditions:

Aconcagua (6962 m), 1977 Pumori (7161 m) 1978 Makalu (8462 m), 1981 Gasherbrum II (8035 m), 1981 Makalu (8462 m), 1982 with Jean Troillet (Could not reach the summit because of bad weather) Mount McKinley (6194 m), 1982 Mount Everest (8848 m), 1983 with Jean Troillet (Could not reach the summit because of bad weather) Makalu (8462 m), 1984 Mount Epperly (4359 m), 1995 Antarctica with Erhard Loretan Pumori (7161 m), 2002 with Erhard Loretan Cerro Torre Cumbre (3128 m), 2006. Cumbre is a documentary film with Erhard Loretan Mount Vinson (4892 m) Antarctica Monte Sarmiento (2246 m) 2010

Businesses In 1978, he founded "New Rock", a trading company for mountain equipment. He was the first in Switzerland to secure the exclusive distribution of Scarpa mountain boots. His partnership with Scarpa turned into a collaboration, with Nottaris developing new designs for the company, including footwear for paragliding, and ski touring. With the profits of this company, Nottaris financed his expeditions and sponsored other mountaineers like Ueli Steck and the Anthamatten brothers.

In 2023, Nottaris launched Uvarara, a wine company.

Books

Pumori: ticinesi in Himalaya del Nepal, Agno, 1980 Fascino dell'Himalaya: Makalu 8478 m, 1 tentativo invernale: Gasherbrum 2 8035 m, Agno, 1981 (mit T. Zünd) Antartide: ancora una leggenda, ADV, 1993 (Text von Gianni Caverzasio, Fhoto von Romolo Nottaris)

Filmography

Cerro Torre Cumbre (Interview with Marco Pedrini, Film with Fulvio Mariani) 1986 El Futre Mountain bike: Aconcagua (7035 m ) (Film with Fulvio Mariani) 1989 White-Out (Mount Epperly with Erhard Loretan) 1996 La danza della foca leopardo Tre passi nel regno del fantastico (with Gianluigi Quarti), 2005 Romolo senza frontiere, 2012 La magia del continente bianco (Film with Fulvio Mariani), 2013 Romulus Nottaris, 2014 Walking on the Peaks (Thirteen episode documentary)