Heinrich Harrer was an Austrian SS sergeant, mountaineer, explorer, writer, sportsman, and geographer. He was a member of the four-man climbing team that made the first ascent of the North Face of the Eiger, the "last problem" of the Alps, in July 1938. Harrer and the team flew the Nazi flag atop the mountain. Harrer had joined the Nazi party shortly after the annexation of Austria in March 1938, and was personally received by Hitler after the climb. A year later in 1939, he and the climbing team went on an expedition to the Indian Himalayas, where they were arrested by British forces because of the outbreak of World War II. He eventually escaped to Tibet, staying there until 1951 and never seeing active combat from that point onwards. He wrote the books Seven Years in Tibet (1952) and The White Spider (1959).
The Eiger is a 3,967-metre (13,015 ft) 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 across the Mönch to the Jungfrau at 4,158 m (13,642 ft), constituting one of the most emblematic sights of the Swiss Alps. 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 most notable feature of the Eiger is its nearly 1,800-metre-high (5,900 ft) 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.
Touching the Void is a 1988 book by Joe Simpson, recounting his and Simon Yates's near fatal descent after climbing the 6,344-metre (20,814 ft) peak Siula Grande in the Peruvian Andes. Approximately 15% of the book is written by Yates. It has sold over a million copies and has been translated into over 20 languages.
Simon Yates is an English mountaineer. He has described himself as 'an adventurer'. Yates is most well known as being one of two British mountaineers that conquered the previously unclimbed West Face of Siula Grande in the Huayhuash mountain range in the Peruvian Andes in 1985. He and Joe Simpson completed the difficult climb, at times enduring extreme weather conditions. They subsequently survived a dramatic series of events on the descent. Simpson recounted the story in the book Touching the Void, which was later adapted into a film.
The Boardman Tasker Prize for Mountain Literature is an annual prize of £3,000 awarded by the Boardman Tasker Charitable Trust to an author or authors for "an original work which has made an outstanding contribution to mountain literature". The prize was established in 1983 in memory of British climbers Peter Boardman and Joe Tasker, both of whom wrote books about their mountaineering expeditions, after their deaths on the northeast ridge of Mount Everest in 1982. It can be awarded for a piece of fiction or non-fiction, poetry or drama, although the work must have been written in English. The prize is announced at the annual Kendal Mountain Festival.
Siula Grande is a mountain in the Huayhuash mountain range in the Peruvian Andes. It is 6,344 metres (20,814 ft) high and has a subpeak, Siula Chico, 6,260 m (20,540 ft) high.
The White Spider is a non-fiction book by Heinrich Harrer that describes the first successful ascent of the infamous north face (Nordwand) of the Eiger, a mountain in the Berner Oberland of the Swiss Alps, with sections devoted to the history of mountaineering in the area.
Donald Desbrow Whillans was an English rock climber and mountaineer. He climbed with Joe Brown and Chris Bonington on many new routes, and was considered the technical equal of both.
Andreas "Anderl" Heckmair was a German mountain climber and guide who led the first successful ascent of the Eiger north face in July 1938.
Toni Kurz 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.
Claudio Corti was a mountain climber from Olginate, Italy. He is most famous for his 1957 effort to climb the 1938 route on the North Face of the Eiger, during which his party was stranded and a massive rescue operation was organized. Corti became the first person to be successfully rescued from the Face from above, but his partner, Stefano Longhi, died on the Face before rescuers could reach him.
Touching the Void is a 2003 survival documentary film directed by Kevin Macdonald and starring Brendan Mackey, Nicholas Aaron, and Ollie Ryall. The plot concerns Joe Simpson and Simon Yates' near-fatal descent after making the first successful ascent of the West Face of Siula Grande in the Cordillera Huayhuash in the Peruvian Andes, in 1985. It is based on Simpson's 1988 book of the same name.
Fritz Kasparek was an Austrian mountaineer who was on the team that made the first successful ascent of the Eiger north face.
Andreas Hinterstoisser was a German mountain climber active in the 1930s. He was killed in the 1936 Eiger north face climbing disaster during an attempted summit via that route with his partner Toni Kurz. A section of the north face was later named the "Hinterstoisser Traverse" in his honor. The 2008 film North Face was based on his experience climbing the Eiger.
Andy Cave is a British mountaineer, mountain guide, and motivational speaker. He was nominated for the Piolet d'Or for his first ascent of the North Face of Changabang in 1997, and won the Boardman Tasker Prize for Mountain Literature in 2005.
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 film features climber Joe Simpson, whose book of the same name inspired the film.
Willy Angerer was an Austrian mountaineer. He was one of four mountaineers who died in the 1936 Eiger north face climbing disaster, along with Toni Kurz, Andreas Hinterstoisser and Eduard Rainer. At thirty-one Angerer was the oldest of the four climbers who died.
Touching the Void is a play written by David Greig, based on the book of the same name by Joe Simpson. It made its world premiere at the Bristol Old Vic in September 2018, before embarking on a short UK and international tour. The play centres on the true story of Joe Simpson and Simon Yates, climb of the 6,344-metre west face of the Siula Grande in the Peruvian Andes in 1985.
The recorded history of climbing of the Eiger mountain in Switzerland starts in the 1800s. It is split between the pre-north face era, when the main summits and easier ridges and faces were climbed, and the post-north face era, when it became one of the greatest prizes in mountaineering. At least sixty-four climbers have died while attempting the ascent.
Eduard Rainer was an Austrian mountaineer. He was one of the four climbers who died in the 1936 Eiger north face climbing disaster, along with Toni Kurz, Andreas Hinterstoisser and Willy Angerer.
