Heinrich Harrer - Eiger North Face

Eiger North Face

Mountain climbing was Harrer's true passion. Knowing an extraordinary feat of climbing could win him a place on a Himalayan expedition, Harrer and a friend, Fritz Kasparek, resolved to be the first to climb the North Face of the Eiger (3,970 m, 13,025 ft) in the Bernese Alps of Switzerland. The near vertical wall with its ice-field known as The White Spider, had claimed several lives, and the Bernese authorities even banned climbing it. Following his university finals in July 1938, Harrer and Kasparek traveled to Kleine Scheidegg at the foot of the Eiger, and set out on their climb. Halfway up the mountain, Harrer and Kasparek encountered another team making the attempt, Ludwig Vörg and Anderl Heckmair from Germany. The four decided to make the rest of the climb as a single team, with the experienced Heckmair leading.

Throughout the climb, the four men were constantly threatened by snow avalanches and rock falls. They were caught in an avalanche as they climbed the White Spider on the upper face, but all possessed sufficient strength to resist being swept off the face. The members successfully reached the summit at four o'clock in the afternoon 24 July 1938. This first ascent of the Eiger North Face was described by Reinhold Messner as "a glorious moment in the history of mountaineering and a great sensation, since several climbers had previously perished on the Face", made headlines around the world, and is recounted in Harrer's book The White Spider, published in 1959.

Read more about this topic:  Heinrich Harrer

Famous quotes containing the words north and/or face:

    In England if something goes wrong—say, if one finds a skunk in the garden—he writes to the family solicitor, who proceeds to take the proper measures; whereas in America, you telephone the fire department. Each satisfies a characteristic need; in the English, love of order and legalistic procedure; and here in America, what you like is something vivid, and red, and swift.
    —Alfred North Whitehead (1861–1947)

    The ordinary man—we have to face it: it is every bit as true of the ordinary Englishman as of the ordinary American—is an Anarchist. He wants to do as he likes. He may want his neighbor to be governed, but he himself doesn’t want to be governed.
    George Bernard Shaw (1856–1950)