Our Alpine Heritage

Born in the foothills of the Swiss Alps, the mountains have served as a continuous inspiration for Bally’s campaigns and collections over the past century. With hiking shoes dating back to the 1920’s, Bally’s early expedition history begins in 1930, even reaching the top of Everest in 1953 with the first-ever successful ascent by Sir Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay, the latter of whom wore our Reindeer boots with Sparta sole.

In 1956, Bally provided the Swiss Mt. Everest-Lhotse expedition team led by Albert Eggler with four custom-designed Bally footwear styles, which were donned by Fritz Luchsinger and Ernst Reiss in the landmark summiting of Lhotse. Bally also journeyed to South America with Lionel Terray in 1956, as well as Raymond Lambert in 1957, to discover the Cordillera Blanca and the Andes of Peru, respectively. Both of these rich, variegated landscapes served as foundational colors for Bally’s Autumn/Winter 2021 collection.

Our iconic Curling boots, reimagined each year in new streamlined interpretations, were favored by Olympians, such as the 1956 Swiss Winter Olympics team in Cortina d'Ampezzo, Italy. Innovations in today's consummate Bally hiking boot, inspired by the recreated Grip sole from the 1940's further merges city style with functional, outdoor inspirations.