«Emil Zopfi, born in 1943 in Wald, Switzerland, grew up in a textile worker’s family in the Zurich Oberland. He studied electrical engineering and information technology. As a young man he began extreme climbing. The mountains became the basis of his widespread work as a writer, which includes novels, short stories, children’s books, radio plays, essays and monographs.

As few other mountain authors have done, Emil Zopfi reaches with his work a wide audience, beyond simply his fellow mountaineers. With his book «Dichter am Berg – Alpine Literatur aus der Schweiz» (2009) he tackled, on both a personal and scientific level, an important and previously barely explored area of Switzerland and its identity. In addition, by organising the biannual event «Bergfahrt – Begegnung für alpine Literatur» since 2004, Emil Zopfi has and continues to actively spread an awareness of alpine literature and history from the past to the present.»

Albert Mountain Award 2010