The ascent of the Wetterhorn by Wills and his party during 1854, which Wills mistakenly believed was the first (it was actually first climbed by the Grindelwald guides Melchior Bannholzer and Hans Jaun on 31 August 1844) is considered the beginning of the so-called golden age of alpinism.
In the following year, he exhibited a large alpine landscape, "Wetterhorn from Hasliberg", which caused a minor scandal as it did not meet the public's and critics’ expectations of smooth, highly finished, heroic alpine views.
He was in a guided party on the first ascent of the Lauteraarhorn on 8 August 1842 and of the Rosenhorn summit of the Wetterhorn on 28 August 1844.
Brawand, who came from a modest background, lost his father, a mountain guide, at the age of four when he was killed by lightning at the top of the Wetterhorn.
The 24-year old English mountaineer William Penhall and his Meiringen guide Andreas Maurer were killed by an avalanche high up on the Wetterhorn on 3 August 1882.
As a result, Whymper hired the services of Christian Almer, who had been with Alfred Wills on the Wetterhorn in 1854.