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The Eiger () is a mountain of the Bernese Alps, overlooking Grindelwald and Lauterbrunnen in the Bernese Oberland of
Switzerland ). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...
, just north of the main watershed and border with
Valais Valais ( , , ; frp, Valês; german: Wallis ), more formally the Canton of Valais,; german: Kanton Wallis; in other official Swiss languages outside Valais: it, (Canton) Vallese ; rm, (Chantun) Vallais. is one of the 26 cantons forming the S ...
. It is the easternmost peak of a ridge crest that extends across the Mönch to the Jungfrau at , constituting one of the most emblematic sights of the
Swiss Alps The Alpine region of Switzerland, conventionally referred to as the Swiss Alps (german: Schweizer Alpen, french: Alpes suisses, it, Alpi svizzere, rm, Alps svizras), represents a major natural feature of the country and is, along with the Swis ...
. While the northern side of the mountain rises more than 3,000 m (10,000 ft) above the two valleys of Grindelwald and Lauterbrunnen, the southern side faces the large glaciers of the Jungfrau-Aletsch area, the most glaciated region in the
Alps The Alps () ; german: Alpen ; it, Alpi ; rm, Alps ; sl, Alpe . are the highest and most extensive mountain range system that lies entirely in Europe, stretching approximately across seven Alpine countries (from west to east): France, Sw ...
. The most notable feature of the Eiger is its nearly north face of rock and ice, named ''Eiger-Nordwand'', ''Eigerwand'' or just ''Nordwand'', which is the biggest north face in the Alps. This huge face towers over the resort of Kleine Scheidegg at its base, on the eponymous pass connecting the two valleys. The first ascent of the Eiger was made by Swiss guides
Christian Almer 220px, Christian Almer Christian Almer (29 March 1826 – 17 May 1898) was a Swiss mountain guide and the first ascentionist of many prominent mountains in the western Alps during the golden and silver ages of alpinism. Almer was born and died ...
and Peter Bohren and Irishman Charles Barrington, who climbed the west flank on August 11, 1858. The north face, the "last problem" of the Alps, considered amongst the most challenging and dangerous ascents, was first climbed in 1938 by an Austrian-German expedition. The Eiger has been highly publicized for the many tragedies involving climbing expeditions. Since 1935, at least sixty-four climbers have died attempting the north face, earning it the German nickname ''Mordwand'', literally "murder(ous) wall"—a pun on its correct title of Nordwand (North Wall). Although the summit of the Eiger can be reached by experienced climbers only, a railway tunnel runs inside the mountain, and two internal stations provide easy access to viewing-windows carved into the rock face. They are both part of the Jungfrau Railway line, running from Kleine Scheidegg to the Jungfraujoch, between the Mönch and the Jungfrau, at the highest railway station in Europe. The two stations within the Eiger are
Eigerwand The Eiger () is a mountain of the Bernese Alps, overlooking Grindelwald and Lauterbrunnen in the Bernese Oberland of Switzerland, just north of the main watershed and border with Valais. It is the easternmost peak of a ridge crest that extends a ...
(behind the north face) and Eismeer (behind the south face), at around 3,000 metres. Since 2016 the Eigerwand station is not regularly served any more.


Etymology

The first mention of Eiger, appearing as "mons Egere", was found in a property sale document of 1252, but there is no clear indication of how exactly the peak gained its name. The three mountains of the ridge are commonly referred to as the Virgin (German: ''Jungfrau'' – translates to "virgin" or "maiden"), the Monk (''Mönch''), and the Ogre (''Eiger''; the standard German word for ogre is ''Oger''). The name has been linked to the
Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through ...
term ''acer'', meaning "sharp" or "pointed".


Geographic setting and description

The Eiger is located above the
Lauterbrunnen Valley , neighboring_municipalities= Aeschi bei Spiez, Blatten (Lötschen) (VS), Fieschertal (VS), Grindelwald, Gündlischwand, Kandersteg, Lütschental, Reichenbach im Kandertal, Saxeten, Wilderswil , twintowns = } Lauterbrunnen is a village a ...
to the west and Grindelwald to the north in the Bernese Oberland region of the
canton of Bern The canton of Bern or Berne (german: Kanton Bern; rm, Chantun Berna; french: canton de Berne; it, Canton Berna) is one of the 26 cantons forming the Swiss Confederation. Its capital city, Bern, is also the ''de facto'' capital of Switzerland. ...
. It forms a renowned mountain range of the Bernese Alps together with its two companions: the Jungfrau () about southwest of it and the Mönch () about in the middle of them. The nearest settlements are Grindelwald, Lauterbrunnen () and Wengen (). The Eiger has three faces: north (or more precisely NNW), east (or more precisely ESE), and west (or more precisely WSW). The northeastern ridge from the summit to the Ostegg (lit.: ''eastern corner'', ), called ''Mittellegi'', is the longest on the Eiger. The north face overlooks the gently rising Alpine meadow between Grindelwald () and Kleine Scheidegg (), a mountain railways junction and a pass, which can be reached from both sides, Grindelwald and Lauterbrunnen/Wengen – by foot or train. Politically, the Eiger (and its summit) belongs to the
Bernese Bernese is the adjectival form for the canton of Bern or for Bern. Bernese may also refer to: * Bernese German, a Swiss German dialect of Alemannic origin generally spoken in the canton of Bern and its capital, and in some neighbouring regions * ...
municipalities of Grindelwald and Lauterbrunnen. The Kleine Scheidegg (literally, ''the small parting corner'') connects the
Männlichen The Männlichen is a mountain in the Swiss Alps located within the Canton of Berne. It can be reached from Wengen by the Wengen–Männlichen aerial cableway, or from the new (December 2019) Grindelwald Terminal stationBOB website - was to ha ...
- Tschuggen range with the western ridge of the Eiger. The Eiger does not properly form part of the main chain of the Bernese Alps, which borders the canton of
Valais Valais ( , , ; frp, Valês; german: Wallis ), more formally the Canton of Valais,; german: Kanton Wallis; in other official Swiss languages outside Valais: it, (Canton) Vallese ; rm, (Chantun) Vallais. is one of the 26 cantons forming the S ...
and forms the
watershed Watershed is a hydrological term, which has been adopted in other fields in a more or less figurative sense. It may refer to: Hydrology * Drainage divide, the line that separates neighbouring drainage basins * Drainage basin, called a "watershe ...
between the
Rhine ), Surselva, Graubünden, Switzerland , source1_coordinates= , source1_elevation = , source2 = Rein Posteriur/Hinterrhein , source2_location = Paradies Glacier, Graubünden, Switzerland , source2_coordinates= , source ...
and the
Rhône The Rhône ( , ; wae, Rotten ; frp, Rôno ; oc, Ròse ) is a major river in France and Switzerland, rising in the Alps and flowing west and south through Lake Geneva and southeastern France before discharging into the Mediterranean Sea. At Ar ...
, but constitutes a huge limestone buttress, projecting from the crystalline basement of the Mönch across the Eigerjoch. Consequently, all sides of the Eiger feed finally the same river, namely the
Lütschine The Lütschine is a river in the Bernese Oberland region of Switzerland. The Lütschine proper runs from Zweilütschinen, where its two tribututaries join, to Lake Brienz at Bönigen. The Schwarze Lütschine, or Black Lütschine, flows from Gr ...
. Eiger's water is connected through the ''Weisse Lütschine'' (the white one) in the Lauterbrunnen Valley on the west side (southwestern face of the Eiger), and through the ''Schwarze Lütschine'' (the black one) running through Grindelwald (northwestern face), which meet each other in Zweilütschinen (lit.: ''the two Lütschinen'') where they form the proper Lütschine. The east face is covered by the glacier called Ischmeer, ( Bernese German for ''Ice Sea''), which forms one upper part of the fast-retreating
Lower Grindelwald Glacier , photo = UntererGrindelwaldgletscher 01.jpg , photo_caption = Above the glacier lake the scrawny leftovers of the former much larger Lower Grindelwald Glacier (dark, polluted part) directly below of the blue-white ''Ischmeer'' (lit.: Ice Sea) and ...
. These glaciers' water forms a short creek, which is also confusingly called the ''Weisse Lütschine'', but enters the black one already in Grindelwald together with the water from the
Upper Grindelwald Glacier The Upper Grindelwald Glacier (German: ''Oberer Grindelwaldgletscher'') is one of the two valley glaciers near Grindelwald on the northern side of the Bernese Alps, in the Canton of Berne (the other being the Lower Grindelwald Glacier). It had a ...
. Therefore, all the water running down the Eiger converges at the northern foot of the Männlichen () in Zweilütschinen (), about northwest of the summit, where the Lütschine begins its northern course to Lake Brienz and the
Aare The Aare () or Aar () is a tributary of the High Rhine and the longest river that both rises and ends entirely within Switzerland. Its total length from its source to its junction with the Rhine comprises about , during which distance it descen ...
(). Although the north face of the Eiger is almost free of ice, significant glaciers lie at the other sides of the mountain. The
Eiger Glacier The Eiger Glacier (german: Eigergletscher) is a glacier situated on the north-west side of the Eiger in the Bernese Alps of Switzerland. The glacier is within the municipality of Lauterbrunnen in the canton of Bern. In 1973 it had an area of , an ...
flows on the southwestern side of the Eiger, from the crest connecting it to the Mönch down to , south of
Eigergletscher railway station Eigergletscher is a railway station in the municipality of Lauterbrunnen in the canton of Bern. The station is served by trains of the Jungfrau railway, which run to the Jungfraujoch from Kleine Scheidegg, where they connect with services from I ...
, and feeds the Weisse Lütschine through the Trümmelbach. On the east side, the Ischmeer–well visible from the windows of Eismeer railway station–flows eastwards from the same crest then turns to the north below the impressive wide ''Fiescherwand'', the north face of the Fiescherhörner triple summit () down to about of the Lower Grindelwald Glacier system. The massive composition of the Eiger, Mönch, and Jungfrau constitutes an emblematic sight of the
Swiss Alps The Alpine region of Switzerland, conventionally referred to as the Swiss Alps (german: Schweizer Alpen, french: Alpes suisses, it, Alpi svizzere, rm, Alps svizras), represents a major natural feature of the country and is, along with the Swis ...
and is visible from many places on the
Swiss Plateau The Swiss Plateau or Central Plateau (german: Schweizer Mittelland; french: plateau suisse; it, altopiano svizzero) is one of the three major landscapes in Switzerland, lying between the Jura Mountains and the Swiss Alps. It covers about 30% of ...
and the
Jura Mountains The Jura Mountains ( , , , ; french: Massif du Jura; german: Juragebirge; it, Massiccio del Giura, rm, Montagnas da Jura) are a sub-alpine mountain range a short distance north of the Western Alps and mainly demarcate a long part of the Fre ...
in the northwest. The higher Finsteraarhorn () and
Aletschhorn The Aletschhorn () is a mountain in the Alps in Switzerland, lying within the Jungfrau-Aletsch region, which has been designated a World Heritage Site by UNESCO. The mountain shares part of its name with the Aletsch Glacier lying at its foot ...
(), which are located about to the south, are generally less visible and situated in the middle of glaciers in less accessible areas. As opposed to the north side, the south and east sides of the range consist of large
valley glacier A valley is an elongated low area often running between hills or mountains, which will typically contain a river or stream running from one end to the other. Most valleys are formed by erosion of the land surface by rivers or streams ...
s extending for up to , the largest (beyond the Eiger
drainage basin A drainage basin is an area of land where all flowing surface water converges to a single point, such as a river mouth, or flows into another body of water, such as a lake or ocean. A basin is separated from adjacent basins by a perimeter, ...
) being those of Grand Aletsch,
Fiesch Fiesch is a municipality in the district of Goms in the canton of Valais in Switzerland. Nearby Fiescheralp is administered by Fiesch and is accessible by the Eggishorn lift. It has been designated a UNESCO World Heritage site for its view ...
, and Aar Glaciers, and is thus uninhabited. The whole area, the Jungfrau-Aletsch protected area, comprising the highest summits and largest glaciers of the Bernese Alps, was inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2001. In July 2006, a piece of the Eiger, amounting to approximately 700,000 cubic metres of rock, fell from the east face. As it had been noticeably cleaving for several weeks and fell into an uninhabited area, there were no injuries and no buildings were hit.


North face

The ''Nordwand'',
German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ge ...
for "north wall" or "north face," is the north face of the Eiger (also known as the ''Eigernordwand'': "Eiger north wall" or ''Eigerwand''). It is one of the three great north faces of the Alps, along with the north faces of the
Matterhorn The (, ; it, Cervino, ; french: Cervin, ; rm, Matterhorn) is a mountain of the Alps, straddling the main watershed and border between Switzerland and Italy. It is a large, near-symmetric pyramidal peak in the extended Monte Rosa area of the ...
and the
Grandes Jorasses The Grandes Jorasses (4,208 m; 13,806 ft) is a mountain in the Mont Blanc massif, on the boundary between Haute-Savoie in France and Aosta Valley in Italy. The first ascent of the highest peak of the mountain (''Pointe Walker'') was by ...
(known as 'the Trilogy') and also one of the biggest sheer faces in Europe, between 1,600 m and 1,800 m (over a mile) high. The face overlooks Kleine Scheidegg and the valley of Grindelwald. At 2,866 metres inside the mountain lies the Eigerwand railway station. The station is connected to the north face by a tunnel opening at the face, which has sometimes been used to rescue climbers. The Eiger Trail, at the base of the north face, runs from Eigergletscher to
Alpiglen , neighboring_municipalities = Brienz, Brienzwiler, Fieschertal (VS), Guttannen, Innertkirchen, Iseltwald, Lauterbrunnen, Lütschental, Meiringen, Schattenhalb , twintowns = Azumi, now Matsumoto (Japan) Grindelwald is a village and mun ...
railway stations. The approach hike to the base of the face takes less than an hour from Eigergletscher. Some of the notable features on the north face are (from the bottom): First Pillar, Eigerwand Station, First Ice-field, Hinterstoisser Traverse, Swallow's Nest, Ice Hose, Second Ice-field, Death Bivouac, Ramp, Traverse of the Gods, Spider and Exit Cracks. In 1938, ''
Alpine Journal The ''Alpine Journal'' (''AJ'') is an annual publication by the Alpine Club of London. It is the oldest mountaineering journal in the world. History The magazine was first published on 2 March 1863 by the publishing house of Longman in London ...
'' editor
Edward Lisle Strutt Lieutenant-Colonel Edward Lisle Strutt, CBE, DSO (8 February 1874 – 7 July 1948) was a British soldier and mountaineer, and President of the Alpine Club from 1935 to 1938. After a distinguished military career he defended classical mountainee ...
calls the face "an obsession for the mentally deranged" and "the most imbecile variant since mountaineering first began." In the same year, however, the north face was finally climbed on 24 July by Andreas Heckmair, Ludwig Vörg, Heinrich Harrer and Fritz Kasparek, a German–Austrian group. A portion of the upper face is called "The White Spider", as snow-filled cracks radiating from an ice-field resemble the legs of a
spider Spiders (order Araneae) are air-breathing arthropods that have eight legs, chelicerae with fangs generally able to inject venom, and spinnerets that extrude silk. They are the largest order of arachnids and rank seventh in total species ...
. Harrer used this name for the title of his book about his successful climb, ''Die Weisse Spinne'' (translated into English as '' The White Spider: The Classic Account of the Ascent of the Eiger''). During the first successful ascent, the four men were caught in an avalanche as they climbed the Spider, but all had enough strength to resist being swept off the face. Since then, the north face has been climbed many times. Today it is regarded as a formidable challenge, not only because of its technical difficulties, exceeding those of some of the 8,000 m peaks in the
Himalaya The Himalayas, or Himalaya (; ; ), is a mountain range in Asia, separating the plains of the Indian subcontinent from the Tibetan Plateau. The range has some of the planet's highest peaks, including the very highest, Mount Everest. Over 10 ...
and
Karakoram The Karakoram is a mountain range in Kashmir region spanning the borders of Pakistan, China, and India, with the northwest extremity of the range extending to Afghanistan and Tajikistan. Most of the Karakoram mountain range falls under the ...
, but also because of the increased rockfall and diminishing ice-fields. Climbers are increasingly electing to challenge the Eiger in winter, when the crumbling face is strengthened by ice. Since 1935, at least sixty-four climbers have died attempting the north face, earning it the German nickname, ''Mordwand'', or "murderous wall", a play on the face's German name ''Nordwand''.


Climbing history

While the summit was reached without much difficulty in 1858 by a complex route on the west flank, the battle to climb the north face has captivated the interest of climbers and non-climbers alike. Before it was successfully climbed, most of the attempts on the face ended tragically and the Bernese authorities even banned climbing it and threatened to fine any party that should attempt it again. But the enthusiasm which animated the young talented climbers from Austria and Germany finally vanquished its reputation of unclimbability when a party of four climbers successfully reached the summit in 1938 by what is known as the "1938" or "Heckmair" route. The climbers that attempted the north face could be easily watched through the telescopes from the Kleine Scheidegg, a pass between Grindelwald and Lauterbrunnen, connected by rail. The contrast between the comfort and civilization of the railway station and the agonies of the young men slowly dying a short yet uncrossable distance away led to intensive coverage by the international media. After World War II, the north face was climbed twice in 1947, first by a party of two French guides, Louis Lachenal and Lionel Terray, then by a Swiss party consisting of H. Germann, with Hans and Karl Schlunegger.


First ascent

In 1857, a first recorded attempt was made by
Christian Almer 220px, Christian Almer Christian Almer (29 March 1826 – 17 May 1898) was a Swiss mountain guide and the first ascentionist of many prominent mountains in the western Alps during the golden and silver ages of alpinism. Almer was born and died ...
, Christian Kaufmann, Ulrich Kaufmann guiding the Austrian alpinist Sigismund Porges. They did manage the first ascent of neighboring Mönch instead. Porges, however, successfully made the second ascent of the Eiger in July 1861 with the guides Christian Michel, Hans and Peter Baumann.Daniel Anker and Rainer Rettner
Chronology of the Eiger from 1252 to 2013
/ref> The first ascent was made by the western flank on August 11, 1858 by Charles Barrington with guides
Christian Almer 220px, Christian Almer Christian Almer (29 March 1826 – 17 May 1898) was a Swiss mountain guide and the first ascentionist of many prominent mountains in the western Alps during the golden and silver ages of alpinism. Almer was born and died ...
and Peter Bohren. On the previous afternoon, the party walked up to the
Wengernalp The Wengernalp is an alpine meadow at an elevation of 1874 m, above Wengen in the Bernese Oberland of Switzerland. It lies on the southern slopes of the Lauberhorn, just below Kleine Scheidegg, a mountain pass connecting the valleys of Lauterbr ...
hotel. From there they started the ascent of the Eiger at 3:30 a.m. Barrington describes the route much as it is followed today, staying close to the edge of the north face much of the way. They reached the summit at about noon, planted a flag, stayed for some 10 minutes and descended in about four hours. Barrington describes the reaching of the top, saying, "the two guides kindly gave me the place of first man up." After the descent, the party was escorted to the Kleine Scheidegg hotel, where their ascent was confirmed by observation of the flag left on the summit. The owner of the hotel then fired a cannon to celebrate the first ascent. According to Harrer's ''
The White Spider ''The White Spider'' (1959; with chapters added in 1964; original title: ''Die Weisse Spinne'') is a non-fiction book by Heinrich Harrer that describes the first successful ascent of the infamous north face (''Nordwand'') of the Eiger, a mounta ...
'', Barrington was originally planning to make the first ascent of the
Matterhorn The (, ; it, Cervino, ; french: Cervin, ; rm, Matterhorn) is a mountain of the Alps, straddling the main watershed and border between Switzerland and Italy. It is a large, near-symmetric pyramidal peak in the extended Monte Rosa area of the ...
, but his finances did not allow him to travel there as he was already staying in the Eiger region.


Mittellegi ridge

Although the Mittellegi ridge had already been descended by climbers (since 1885) with the use of ropes in the difficult sections, it remained unclimbed until 1921. On the 10th of September of that year, Japanese climber Yuko Maki, along with Swiss guides Fritz Amatter, Samuel Brawand and
Fritz Steuri Fritz Steuri (born 25 July 1879 in Grindelwald, Switzerland, died 5 September 1950 in Grindelwald, Switzerland) was a Swiss mountain climber and Nordic and alpine skier. He was a three-time Swiss champion in cross-country skiing. In 1921, he too ...
made the first successful ascent of the ridge. The previous day, the party approached the ridge from the Eismeer railway station of the Jungfrau Railway and bivouacked for the night. They started the climb at about 6:00 a.m. and reached the summit of the Eiger at about 7:15 p.m., after an over 13 hours gruelling ascent. Shortly after, they descended the west flank. They finally reached
Eigergletscher railway station Eigergletscher is a railway station in the municipality of Lauterbrunnen in the canton of Bern. The station is served by trains of the Jungfrau railway, which run to the Jungfraujoch from Kleine Scheidegg, where they connect with services from I ...
at about 3:00 a.m. the next day.


Attempts on the north face


1935

In 1935, two young German climbers from Bavaria, Karl Mehringer and Max Sedlmeyer, arrived at Grindelwald to attempt the ascent of the north face. After waiting some time for the weather to improve, they set off, reaching the height of the Eigerwand station before stopping for their first bivouac. The following day, facing greater difficulties, they gained little height. On the third day, they made hardly any vertical gain. That night, the weather deteriorated, bringing snow and low cloud that shrouded the mountain from the observers below. Avalanches began to sweep the face. Two days later, the weather briefly cleared, and the two men were glimpsed a little higher and about to bivouac for the fifth night, before clouds descended again. A few days later, the weather finally cleared, revealing a completely white north face. Weeks later, the German World War I ace
Ernst Udet Ernst Udet (26 April 1896 – 17 November 1941) was a German Reich, German pilot during World War I and a ''Luftwaffe'' Colonel-General (''Generaloberst'') during World War II. Udet joined the Deutsche Luftstreitkräfte, Imperial German Ai ...
went searching for the missing men with his aircraft, eventually spotting one of them frozen to death in what became known as the "Death Bivouac". Sedlmeyer's body was found at the foot of the face the following year by his brothers Heinrich and Martin Meier, who were part of a group looking for the victims of the 1936 climbing disaster. Mehringer's remains were found in 1962 by Swiss climbers below the "Flat Iron" (''Bügeleisen'') at the lefthand end of the second ice field.


1936

The next year ten young climbers from Austria and Germany came to Grindelwald and camped at the foot of the mountain. Before their attempts started one of them was killed during a training climb, and the weather was so bad during that summer that, after waiting for a change and seeing none on the way, several members of the party gave up. Of the four that remained, two were Bavarians, Andreas Hinterstoisser and
Toni Kurz Toni Kurz (13 January 1913 – 22 July 1936) was a German mountain climber active in the 1930s. He died in 1936 during an attempt to climb the then-unclimbed north face of the Eiger with his partner Andreas Hinterstoisser. Biography Toni Kurz ...
, and two were Austrians, Willy Angerer and Edi Rainer. When the weather improved they made a preliminary exploration of the lowest part of the face. Hinterstoisser fell but was not injured. A few days later the four men finally began the ascent of the face. They climbed quickly, but on the next day, after their first bivouac, the weather changed; clouds came down and hid the group to the observers. They did not resume the climb until the following day, when, during a break, the party was seen descending, but the climbers could be seen only intermittently from the ground. The group had no choice but to retreat, since Angerer had suffered serious injuries from falling rock. The party became stuck on the face when they could not recross the difficult Hinterstoisser Traverse, from which they had taken the rope they had first used to climb it. The weather then deteriorated for two days. They were ultimately swept away by an avalanche, which only Kurz survived, hanging on a rope. Three guides started on an extremely perilous rescue attempt. They failed to reach him but came within shouting distance and learned what had happened. Kurz explained the fate of his companions: one had fallen down the face, another was frozen above him, and the third had fractured his skull in falling and was hanging dead on the rope. In the morning the three guides came back, traversing the face from a hole near the Eigerwand station and risking their lives under incessant avalanches. Toni Kurz was still alive but almost helpless, with one hand and one arm completely frozen. Kurz hauled himself off the cliff after cutting loose the rope that bound him to his dead teammate below and climbed back onto the face. The guides were not able to pass an unclimbable overhang that separated them from Kurz. They managed to give him a rope long enough to reach them by tying two ropes together. While descending, Kurz could not get the knot to pass through his
carabiner A carabiner or karabiner () is a specialized type of shackle, a metal loop with a spring-loaded gate used to quickly and reversibly connect components, most notably in safety-critical systems. The word is a shortened form of ''Karabinerhaken'' ...
. He tried for hours to reach his rescuers who were only a few metres below him. Then he began to lose consciousness. One of the guides, climbing on another's shoulders, was able to touch the tip of Kurz's crampons with his ice-axe but could not reach higher. Kurz was unable to descend further and, completely exhausted, died slowly.


1937

An attempt was made in 1937 by and Ludwig Vörg. Although the attempt was unsuccessful, they were nonetheless the first climbers who returned alive from a serious attempt on the face. They started the climb on 11 August and reached a high point of a few rope lengths above Death Bivouac. A storm then broke and after three days on the wall they had to retreat. This was the first successful withdrawal from a significant height on the wall.


First ascent of the north face

The north face was first climbed on July 24, 1938 by Anderl Heckmair, Ludwig Vörg, Heinrich Harrer and Fritz Kasparek in a
German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ge ...
Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...
n party. The party had originally consisted of two independent teams: Harrer (who did not have a pair of
crampons A crampon is a traction device that is attached to footwear to improve mobility on snow and ice during ice climbing. Besides ice climbing, crampons are also used for secure travel on snow and ice, such as crossing glaciers, snowfields and ice ...
on the climb) and Kasparek were joined on the face by Heckmair and Vörg, who had started their ascent a day later and had been helped by the fixed rope that the lead team had left across the Hinterstoisser Traverse. The two groups, led by the experienced Heckmair, decided to join their forces and roped together as a single group of four. Heckmair later wrote: "We, the sons of the older Reich, united with our companions from the Eastern Border to march together to victory." The expedition was constantly threatened by snow avalanches and climbed as quickly as possible between the falls. On the third day a storm broke and the cold was intense. The four men were caught in an avalanche as they climbed "the Spider," the snow-filled cracks radiating from an ice-field 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. They were so exhausted that they only just had the strength to descend by the normal route through a raging blizzard.


Other notable events

* 1864 (Jul 27): Fourth ascent, and first ascent by a woman, Lucy Walker, who was part of a group of six guides (including Christian Almer and
Melchior Anderegg Melchior Anderegg (28 March 1828 – 8 December 1914), from Zaun, Meiringen, was a Swiss mountain guide and the first ascensionist of many prominent mountains in the western Alps during the golden and silver ages of alpinism. His clients were m ...
) and five clients, including her brother
Horace Walker Horace Walker (1838–1908) was an English mountaineer who made many notable first ascents, including Mount Elbrus and the Grandes Jorasses. Alpinism Born in 1838, Walker was the son of Liverpool lead merchant and mountaineer Francis Walker ...
* 1871: First ascent by the southwest ridge, 14 July (Christian Almer, Christian Bohren, and Ulrich Almer guiding
W. A. B. Coolidge William Augustus Brevoort Coolidge (August 28, 1850 – May 8, 1926) was an American historian, theologian and mountaineer. Life Coolidge was born in New York City as the son of Frederic William Skinner Coolidge, a Boston merchant, and E ...
and
Meta Brevoort Marguerite "Meta" Claudia Brevoort (November 8, 1825 – December 19, 1876) was an American mountain climber. Brevoort was born on November 8, 1825, and spent her early years in a Paris convent school. She made a number of important ascents in t ...
). * 1890: First ascent in winter, Ulrich Kaufmann and Christian Jossi guiding C. W. Mead and G. F. Woodroffe. * 1924: First ski ascent and descent via the Eiger glacier by Englishman Arnold Lunn and the Swiss Fritz Amacher, Walter Amstutz and Willy Richardet. * 1932: First ascent of the northeast face ("Lauper route") by Hans Lauper, Alfred Zürcher, Alexander Graven and
Josef Knubel Josef Knubel (2 March 1881 – 31 May 1961) was a Swiss mountaineer and mountain guide. He made many first ascents and other climbs in the Alps during his career. He is best known for his ascents as a guide for Geoffrey Winthrop Young. Early life ...
* 1970: First ski descent over the west flank, by Sylvain Saudan. * 1986: Welshman Eric Jones becomes the first person to BASE jump from the Eiger. * 1988: Original Route (ED2), north face, Eiger (3970m), Alps, Switzerland, first American solo (nine and a half hours) by
Mark Wilford Mark Wilford (born January 27, 1959, Boulder, Colorado) is an American rock climber and alpinist known for his bold, traditional style. Biography Wilford graduated from Poudre High School in Fort Collins, Colorado in 1977 and attended the Univers ...
. * 1991: First ascent, Metanoia Route, North Face, solo, winter, without bolts,
Jeff Lowe Jeff Lowe (September 13, 1950 - August 24, 2018) was a famed American alpinist from Ogden, Utah who was known for his visionary climbs and first ascents established in the US and Canadian Rockies, Alps and Himalayas. He was a proponent of the ...
. * 1992 (18 July): Three BMG/UIAGM/IFMGA clients died in a fall down the West Flank: Willie Dunnachie; Douglas Gaines; and Phillip Davies. They had ascended the mountain via the Mittellegi Ridge. * 2006 (14 June): François Bon and Antoine Montant make the first speedflying descent of the Eiger. * 2006 (15 July): Approximately 700,000 cubic metres (20 million cubic feet) of rock from the east side collapses. No injuries or damage were reported. * 2015 (23 July): A team of British Para-Climbers reached the summit via the West Flank Route. The team included John Churcher, the world's first blind climber to summit the Eiger, sight guided by the team leader Mark McGowan. Colin Gourlay enabled the ascent of other team members, including Al Taylor who has multiple sclerosis, and the young autistic climber Jamie Owen from North Wales. The ascent was filmed by the adventure filmmakers Euan Ryan & Willis Morris of Finalcrux Films.


Books and films

* The 1959 book ''
The White Spider ''The White Spider'' (1959; with chapters added in 1964; original title: ''Die Weisse Spinne'') is a non-fiction book by Heinrich Harrer that describes the first successful ascent of the infamous north face (''Nordwand'') of the Eiger, a mounta ...
'' by Heinrich Harrer describes the first successful ascent of the Eiger north face. * ''The Climb Up To Hell'', 1962, by Jack Olson, an account of the ill-fated 1957 attempted climb of the north face by an Italian four-man team and the dramatic rescue of the sole survivor mounted by an international all-volunteer group of rescuers. * ''Eiger Direct'', 1966, by
Dougal Haston Duncan "''Dougal"'' Curdy MacSporran Haston (19 April 1940 – 17 January 1977) was a Scottish mountaineer noted for his exploits in the British Isles, Alps, and the Himalayas. From 1967 he was the director of the International School of Mountai ...
and Peter Gillman, London: Collins, also known as ''Direttissima; the Eiger Assault'' * The 1971 novel ''The Ice Mirror'' by Charles MacHardy describes the second attempted ascent of the Eiger north face by the main character. * The 1972 novel '' The Eiger Sanction'' is an action/thriller novel by Rodney William Whitaker (writing under the pseudonym
Trevanian Rodney William Whitaker (June 12, 1931 – December 14, 2005) was an American film scholar and writer who wrote several novels under the pen name Trevanian. Whitaker wrote in a wide variety of genres, achieved bestseller status, and publishe ...
), based around the climbing of the Eiger. This was then made into the 1975 film '' The Eiger Sanction'' starring
Clint Eastwood Clinton Eastwood Jr. (born May 31, 1930) is an American actor and film director. After achieving success in the Western TV series '' Rawhide'', he rose to international fame with his role as the " Man with No Name" in Sergio Leone's "'' Do ...
and
George Kennedy George Harris Kennedy Jr. (February 18, 1925 – February 28, 2016) was an American actor who appeared in more than 100 film and television productions. He played "Dragline" opposite Paul Newman in ''Cool Hand Luke'' (1967), winning the Academ ...
. The ''Eiger Sanction'' film crew included very experienced mountaineers (e.g., Mike Hoover,
Dougal Haston Duncan "''Dougal"'' Curdy MacSporran Haston (19 April 1940 – 17 January 1977) was a Scottish mountaineer noted for his exploits in the British Isles, Alps, and the Himalayas. From 1967 he was the director of the International School of Mountai ...
, and
Hamish MacInnes Hamish MacInnes (7 July 1930 – 22 November 2020) was a Scottish mountaineer, explorer, mountain search and rescuer, and author. He has been described as the "father of modern mountain rescue in Scotland". He is credited with inventing t ...
, see ''Summit'', 52, Spring 2010) as consultants, to ensure accuracy in the climbing footage, equipment and techniques. * ''The Eiger'', 1974, by
Dougal Haston Duncan "''Dougal"'' Curdy MacSporran Haston (19 April 1940 – 17 January 1977) was a Scottish mountaineer noted for his exploits in the British Isles, Alps, and the Himalayas. From 1967 he was the director of the International School of Mountai ...
, London: Cassell * The 1982 book '' Eiger, Wall of Death'' by Arthur Roth is an historical account of first ascents of the north face.Roth, Arthur (1982) " Eiger, wall of death". Norton. and (2000) Adventure Library. . * The 1982 book '' Traverse of The Gods'' by Bob Langley is a World War II spy thriller where a group escaping from Nazi Germany is trapped and the only possible exit route is via the Nordwand. * ''Eiger'', 1983, a documentary film by Leo Dickinson of Eric Jones' 1981 solo ascent of the north face. * '' Eiger Dreams'', 1990, a collection of essays by Jon Krakauer, begins with an account of Krakauer's own attempt to climb the north face. * ''Eiger: The Vertical Arena'' (German edition, 1998; English edition, 2000), edited by Daniel Anker, a comprehensive climbing history of the north face authored by 17 climbers, with numerous photographs and illustrations. * The IMAX film ''
The Alps The Alps () ; german: Alpen ; it, Alpi ; rm, Alps ; sl, Alpe . are the highest and most extensive mountain range system that lies entirely in Europe, stretching approximately across seven Alpine countries (from west to east): France, S ...
'' features John Harlin III's climb up the north face in September 2005. Harlin's father, John Harlin II, set out 40 years earlier to attempt a direct route (the ''direttissima'') up the face, the so-called "John Harlin route". At 1300 m, his rope broke, and he fell to his death. Composer
James Swearingen James Swearingen (born 1947) is an American composer and arranger. He holds a Master’s Degree from the Ohio State University and a Bachelor's degree from Bowling Green State University and is Professor of Music Emeritus, Department Chair ...
created a piece named ''Eiger: Journey to the Summit'' in his memory. * The 2007 docu/drama film ''
The Beckoning Silence ''The Beckoning Silence'' is a 2007 British television film that follows and retraces the 1936 Eiger north face climbing disaster where five climbers perished while attempting to scale the north face of the Eiger mountain in Switzerland. The f ...
'' featuring mountaineer Joe Simpson, recounting—with filmed reconstructions—the ill-fated 1936 expedition up the north face of the Eiger and how Heinrich Harrer's book ''The White Spider'' inspired him to take up climbing. The film followed Simpson's eponymous 2003 book. Those playing the parts of the original climbing team were Swiss mountain guides Roger Schäli (Toni Kurz), Simon Anthamatten (Andreas Hinterstoisser), Dres Abegglen (Willy Angerer) and Cyrille Berthod (Edi Rainer). The documentary won an
Emmy Award The Emmy Awards, or Emmys, are an extensive range of awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international television industry. A number of annual Emmy Award ceremonies are held throughout the calendar year, each with the ...
the subsequent year. * The 2008 German historical fiction film ''
Nordwand The Eiger () is a mountain of the Bernese Alps, overlooking Grindelwald and Lauterbrunnen in the Bernese Oberland of Switzerland, just north of the main watershed and border with Valais. It is the easternmost peak of a ridge crest that extend ...
'' is based on the 1936 attempt to climb the Eiger north face. The film is about the two German climbers,
Toni Kurz Toni Kurz (13 January 1913 – 22 July 1936) was a German mountain climber active in the 1930s. He died in 1936 during an attempt to climb the then-unclimbed north face of the Eiger with his partner Andreas Hinterstoisser. Biography Toni Kurz ...
and Andreas Hinterstoisser, involved in a competition with an Austrian duo to be the first to scale the north face of Eiger. * The 2010 documentary ''Eiger: Wall of Death'' by Steve Robinson.


See also

* 1936 Eiger climbing disaster * Eigerwand railway station *
List of deaths on eight-thousanders The eight-thousanders are the 14 mountains that rise more than above sea level; they are all in the Himalayas, Himalayan and Karakoram mountain ranges. This is a list of Mountaineering, mountaineers who have died on these mountains. Mount Ev ...
*
List of mountains of the canton of Bern This is a list of mountains of the Swiss canton of Bern. Bern is one of the three cantons (with Valais and Graubünden) having summits above 4,000 metres. It is also one of the two cantons (with Vaud) extending over both the Alps and Jura. Topo ...
*
List of highest mountains of Switzerland This is a list of the highest mountains of Switzerland. This list only includes summits above with a topographic prominence of at least 30 metres. Note that this list includes many secondary summits that are typically not considered mountains (i ...
*
List of mountains of Switzerland This article contains a sortable table of many of the major mountains and hills of Switzerland. The table only includes those summits that have a topographic prominence of at least above other points, and ranks them by height and prominence. T ...
* List of mountains of Switzerland above 3000 m


References


Works cited

* * * *


External links


The Eiger on Summitpost
* - photos
The Eiger on Hikr

The Eiger on Flickr

Live webcam view of the Eiger north face

New and Old Explorations of the Eiger, Photos & Video

Ueli Steck wins inaugural Eiger Award 2008
by Charles Sherwood.


West face of Eiger
{{Authority control Alpine three-thousanders Bernese Alps Great north faces of the Alps Mountains of the Alps Mountains of the canton of Bern Mountains of Switzerland Three-thousanders of Switzerland