[205]∎ Libro Free The White Spider The Classic Account of the Ascent of the Eiger Heinrich Harrer 9780874779400 Books

The White Spider The Classic Account of the Ascent of the Eiger Heinrich Harrer 9780874779400 Books

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The White Spider The Classic Account of the Ascent of the Eiger Heinrich Harrer 9780874779400 Books

In the 1930s the Eiger Nordwand (North Wall) was considered the last and greatest of Alpine problems left in the world. The White Spider is a portion of the upper face where snow-filled cracks radiate from an ice-field resembling the legs of a spider.

The book begins by describing the early attempts to climb the Nordwand, including the harrowing stories of Max Sedlmayer and Karl Mehringer who froze to death in 1935, and Toni Kurz, Andreas Hinterstoisser, Edi Rainer and Willy Angerer who died in 1936.

Harrer then tells his first-hand story of the first ascent. Harrer and Fritz Kasparek started their climb on July 21, 1938. A day later, Anderl Heckmair and Ludwig Vörg started their attempt and quickly caught up to them. They combined into one team of four, led by Heckmair. 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.

"We were all on a single rope. ... One hundred feet above me stood Vorg, safeguarding Heckmair, as he grappled with icy rock, treacherous ice gullies, and snowslides high above us in the mists and driving snow." Heckmair fell as he led the difficult Exit Cracks, but was caught by Vorg, his crampons piercing Vorg's hand in the process. On July 24, 1938 Heckmair, Vörg, Kasparek, and Harrar completed the first ascent of the Eiger Nordwand.

Harrer then continues the Eiger story, including the dramatic rescue of Claudio Corti trapped high on the face near the Exit Cracks in 1957. Harrer added a few more chapters in 1964, including the story of Adolf Mayr who fell to his death in 1961 trying for the first solo ascent. After reaching the Second Icefield in 1962 Barry Brewster was struck by a falling rock. His partner Brian Nally tried to care for the dying man, but eventually Brewster fell from the face. Famed British mountaineers Chris Bonington and Don Whillans stopped their attempt to rescue the now disoriented Nally.

The stories of the tragic attempts are chilling, the first ascent riveting, the entire book spellbinding. This book is a great history of the Eiger Nordwand. The appendix is better in later editions because Harrer corrects some of the ascents, given more information like finding the bodies of Nothdurft and Mayer in 1961, and includes the list of ascents up to the 1970s. The photos are very good.


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The White Spider The Classic Account of the Ascent of the Eiger Heinrich Harrer 9780874779400 Books Reviews

Very good book if you follow the North Face. Very detailed. Truly a delight for mountaineering enthusiasts.
I like adventure, survival stories.

Heinrich Harrier, one of four men, who were the first to climb the famous, extremely difficult and many times lethal north face of the famous Eiger mountain 13041 ft to summit. There are many mountains much higher and much more difficult to climb ( ex. K2, Everest, Annapurna and more) but the very difficult north face had stopped climbers for years. The book is called The White Spider because part of the north face climb is over an extremely difficult and dangerous section called the Spider. Here is snow and ice climbing with falling rocks that kill men, and avalanches that swept men away to their deaths. Also we see the difficult Transverse of the Gods and more.

Harrier writes about previous attempts and successes of climbing the north face as well as later attempts. He writes about women climbers, solo attempts and more. Very exciting and well done.

My only concern was he tried to write about so many of the attempts trying to show how or why this attempt failed and this attempt succeeded. You can tell he had super respect for them all. Heroes all, even the few survivors that had shaky conflicting stories of what happened, losing their team mates. I think it would of been a slightly better read if he would of concentrated his writing to his 1938 expedition and maybe 3 more expeditions. There were so many attempts and successes, as the north face was such an important difficult climb. This is partial offset as the reader learns more about different teams, the Eiger and how difficult the north face is to climb. So dangerous with falling rock, avalanches and slippery conditions causing the death of many.

4 1/3 stars and proudly added to our family library. I liked this book so much I'm buying Heinrich Harrier's NY Times bestseller Seven Years in Tibet and his Return to Tibet. Harrier a good author, just spread himself a little thin covering so many expeditions.
I don’t think I stopped reading this until I finished in 2 days! The true, gut wrenching accounts of amazing men trying to conquer the last great problem of the Alps. The North Face of the Eiger.
Mr. Harrer reflects the discretion and unselfish character that I have found more often in the accounts given by those prior to approximately 1970. As a product of the 1970s, I am humbled and impressed by his detailed accuracy that is without the slightest hint of self exaltation and reflects a fairness to others that is not often seen today. He sticks to the facts, amazing as they are, and tells a story that has no part in the petty squabbles that occur many times in the accounts of today.
I read this book after it was recommended by Joe Simpson in his book. It would have been nice to see some illustrations so I could imagine where various parts were that were discussed although I did end up googling The Eiger I was so curious. The White Spider is a story about some very brave, humble heros who respected and climbed what must be one of the hardest mountains of the lot.
It did drag on a bit from the middle onwards, but still worth the read.
In the 1930s the Eiger Nordwand (North Wall) was considered the last and greatest of Alpine problems left in the world. The White Spider is a portion of the upper face where snow-filled cracks radiate from an ice-field resembling the legs of a spider.

The book begins by describing the early attempts to climb the Nordwand, including the harrowing stories of Max Sedlmayer and Karl Mehringer who froze to death in 1935, and Toni Kurz, Andreas Hinterstoisser, Edi Rainer and Willy Angerer who died in 1936.

Harrer then tells his first-hand story of the first ascent. Harrer and Fritz Kasparek started their climb on July 21, 1938. A day later, Anderl Heckmair and Ludwig Vörg started their attempt and quickly caught up to them. They combined into one team of four, led by Heckmair. 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.

"We were all on a single rope. ... One hundred feet above me stood Vorg, safeguarding Heckmair, as he grappled with icy rock, treacherous ice gullies, and snowslides high above us in the mists and driving snow." Heckmair fell as he led the difficult Exit Cracks, but was caught by Vorg, his crampons piercing Vorg's hand in the process. On July 24, 1938 Heckmair, Vörg, Kasparek, and Harrar completed the first ascent of the Eiger Nordwand.

Harrer then continues the Eiger story, including the dramatic rescue of Claudio Corti trapped high on the face near the Exit Cracks in 1957. Harrer added a few more chapters in 1964, including the story of Adolf Mayr who fell to his death in 1961 trying for the first solo ascent. After reaching the Second Icefield in 1962 Barry Brewster was struck by a falling rock. His partner Brian Nally tried to care for the dying man, but eventually Brewster fell from the face. Famed British mountaineers Chris Bonington and Don Whillans stopped their attempt to rescue the now disoriented Nally.

The stories of the tragic attempts are chilling, the first ascent riveting, the entire book spellbinding. This book is a great history of the Eiger Nordwand. The appendix is better in later editions because Harrer corrects some of the ascents, given more information like finding the bodies of Nothdurft and Mayer in 1961, and includes the list of ascents up to the 1970s. The photos are very good.