The White Spider: A captivating biography sports adventure memoir of mountaineering legends by Heinrich Harrer

The White Spider: A captivating biography sports adventure memoir of mountaineering legends Reviews

• 
  Raghu

  I have admired Heinrich Harrer ever since I came across his book 'Seven Years in Tibet' many years ago. In 2010, I even visited his home village of Huettenberg in Austria and visited the Harrer Museum there. In the Museum, I found old newspaper clippings from 1938 showing that he was also one of the party of four which made the first successful ascent of the Eiger North face. Having seen the immense vertical wall of the Eiger North Face when I had hiked the Bernese Alps some years before, I wanted to read Harrer's account of his climb.
  The book is actually an account of the drama, excitement and tragedies of the ascent of Eiger North Face in history - particularly from 1935 up to 1962. The North Face, being a vertical rock wall rising 6000 ft from the ground at Alpiglen, it had been a challenge to the mountaineers. Harrer captures the spirit of the times in the 1930s when every summer, the imagination of the European public and journalists was riveted on the North Face. The wall is completely exposed as it stood and so spectators and journalists could watch every attempt on the Face through telescopes in the train station or even in the comfort of their hotels. Only bad weather obstructed their visual entertainment. And the Eiger North Face was famous for extremely unpredictable and bad weather. Still, because of this ability to watch every climb from beginning to end, every layman and journalist who has never even stepped on a rock face, became an expert critic and commentator about the 'follies' and 'mistakes' of the climbers. Harrer writes about all this without grudges and with reticent Austrian humour. He writes about his own team's successful assault with clinical details and graphic descriptions of the various portions of the ascent on ice and rock and over waterfalls. The writng style is that of 60 years ago and also I read the translation in English from the original in German. Today's readers may find the style pedestrian and even a bit tedious, especially if one is used to the electrifying pace of Jon Krakauer in his book 'Into Thin Air', describing the 1996 Everest disaster. But anyone who is fascinated by Eiger would find it quite gripping and informative. For me, the maps showing the route on the North face in great detail along with Harrer's narrative made it all come alive.
  Harrer also describes the tragedies of 1957 and 1962 when the behavior of a couple of climbers - Italian and British - came under intense scrutiny for the deaths of their companions on the mountain. In fact, over the 25 years of climbing reported in the book, one could see acts of great courage, honesty, humility, selflessness as well as some doubtful acts of false pride and even dishonesty and untruthfulness. All in all, it is a microcosm of human life as it is lived.
  I found the book warm in its humanity and captivating in the narration of the events on the mountain. I would recommend it to anyone interested in the adventures on the high mountains, particularly the stunning Eiger North Face.
• 
  Eric_W

  While I have never understood the motivation of people who willingly place themselves in harm's way by doing all sorts of bizarre things like hanging from ropes above precipices
  with rocks falling on their heads and winter blizzards forcing snow down their necks, I must admit they make fascinating reading.
  
  The Eiger, a particularly nasty rock face, was not successfully climbed from the north until the author and his team succeeded (where many others had failed) in 1938. This astonishing book is the saga of the many who failed and the
  few who succeeded. Even today, with modern equipment, the north face of the Eiger represents an extraordinary challenge to even the best climbers. I must say, however, that Harrer is oftentimes defensive, rarely attributing anything but the best of motives to the climbers.
  Surely, some of them must have been climbing for the glory. Perhaps the most tragic of all the climbs was that, in 1936, of four climbers, two of whom were Mountain Rangers (the call from their commanding officer forbidding the attempt came after they had already left) who had made quite good progress until one of them was hit by a falling rock — a constant source of danger — and his colleagues decided to attempt a return down the face. They all perished on the return trip. What happened is not entirely clear. Harrer speculates that the most experienced of the four fell while trying to traverse back across a sheer face to install some pitons to make the way for the rest. They had hauled up their lines behind them, a necessity evidently to get across this particularly bad section. His fall dragged the injured
  man down with him and killed one of the others. The fourth man was left hanging 300 feet in the air, almost above the Jungfrau railway station that carries tourists up through the mountain to a ski resort on the other side. Even though
  alpine guide policy was to never attempt a rescue because of the danger — something helicopters managed to do only many years later — several guides tried to help. Despite a
  truly heroic attempt to splice together two ropes,
  a difficult task with two warm hands, the remaining
  climber, Toni Kurz, had only one free hand, was dangling in the air, and was almost frozen stiff. He might have made it, except that a knot became jammed in one of the snap rings that it traveled through and he lacked the energy to
  free it. His would-be rescuers heard him plead for help through most of the night before he died.
  
  After a while, the litany of cold, rock falls, and Harrer's unrelentingly hagiographic description of mountaineers wears a little thin. Only the Italian Claudio Corti comes in for some oblique criticism. He was attempting to climb the face
  with an older climber, another Italian. They clearly had not prepared and, after a false start that consumed several days, met up with two German climbers (who completed the climb of the face and died on the way down the west
  side) who went with them for some distance despite a language barrier. The Germans gave Corti their tent following a fall by Corti's partner whom he was not able to save and who died several days later hanging from a rope, despite tremendous efforts to save him. Corti himself was
  rescued only by winching a guide down from the summit on a steel cable. The guide then carried Corti on his back the remaining thousand feet up the face. Corti's confused and contradictory account of what had happened and where the Germans were — they had disappeared and their bodies
  were not located until several years later — made skeptics of many in the mountaineering community.
  
  The Germans' loan of their equipment to Corti probably sealed their doom. Harrer includes a route map of the face for those idiots willing to contemplate such an adventure.
  All sorts of security measures and new equipment have come on the market since Harrer's successful climb, but in spite of these new advantages, "the North Wall of the Eiger remains one of the most perilous in the Alps." Other climbs may be more difficult technically, "but nowhere else is
  there such appalling danger from the purely fortuitous hazards of avalanches, stone falls, and sudden deterioration of the weather as on the Eiger."
• 
  Kevin Weir

  This is the second time I've read this book, but I still find Harrer's arrogant and didactic style irritating. In fairness, I must admit that, reading a translation, one might not fully grasp the nuances of the original author's style.
  
  Also, the fact that he did not recant his condemnation of Claudio Corti in the revised edition (1965), even though Corti had been vindicated, seems at odds with his supposed emphasis upon sportsmanship, honesty, and fair play. Perhaps it is a product of his anti-Italian bias, which is revealed in his comments about the first Italian ascent of the Eiger Nordwand, the way in which he speaks of Walter Bonatti, and at various other places in the narrative. Perhaps, given the zeitgeist of the nineteen fifties, one shouldn't be too surprised at the amount of prejudice expressed regarding nationality and language.
  
  Although, perhaps, acceptable in the fifties and sixties, his patronising comments about women were also an irritation.
  
  For all that, the book is worth reading for the sake of finding out about the history of the north face of the Eiger; its tragedies, as well as its triumphs. I guess that Heinrich Harrer, as a member of the first party to climb it, had a right to tell the story and therefore should, perhaps, be forgiven for seeming a bit proprietorial.
• 
  Ben House

  Real one detected. Henrich Harrer snaps and goes absolutely beast mode on the north face of the deadly Swiss Eiger. Harrer provides a detailed recap of the tragic history of failed attempts on the face prior to the first successful ascent by none other than Harrer and the boys in 1938. Harrer's recount of the ascent is epic but the book goes into a tailspin towards the second half. Following his successful ascent, Harrer describes further failed attempts by other climbing teams through a heavily critical lens and condemns them for errors that do not appear to be fully justified nor within their control.
  
  Regardless, Harrer is an absolute crusher. This book would best be enjoyed with a Clif Bar, a solid base layer and a Half and Half twisted Tea.
  
  
• 
  Kyle Anderson

  It depends on what edition you have of the book but it can run from 225 pages to 325 or more. The original edition ends at 225 pages with the 1957 disaster because the book was first released in 1958 on the 20th anniversary of Harrer, Heckmair, Vorg, and Kasparek's first ascent of the Eiger North Face. Now on with the review.
  
  This is an absolute classic of the genre. Harrer is well-known in many circles because of his more famous book "Seven Years in Tibet" about his imprisonment, escape, and exile in Lhasa during WWII and until the Communist invasion. But what brought him to prominence in the mountaineering world was his part in the first ascent of the Eiger North Face (i.e. Eiger Nordwand, Eigernordwand, Nordwand, or Mordwand). Strangely, the book does not focus that much time on the 1938 ascent. Much more time is devoted to the tragic events of 1936 when Tony Kurz, Andy Hinterstoisser and two others died attempting to save an injured member of their team. Harrer also spends time talking about the 1952 climb where the two greatest climbers of that time, Hermann Buhl and Gaston Rebuffat, met and joined ropes to create a nine person "European rope" that successfully summited despite all the challenges the Eiger could offer.
  
  The Eiger is a unique mountain in the history of climbing and there is a reason the term "The White Spider" holds such an allure to those familiar with its stories. The Eiger has a 6000 foot North Face that is a great assortment of mixed climbing, ice climbing, snowfields, traditional rock climbing, and more. Its height puts it into a community of only a few other peaks, namely the Grandes Jorasses North Face and the North Face of the Matterhorn (North Faces are so feared and respected because they consistently have worse weather than other faces on mountains in the Northern hemisphere, in part because they never or rarely are touched by the sun). The Eiger holds such a prominent place in mountaineering lore because, like Annapurna, it unleashes a constant torrent of stones and avalanches, which have been the cause of almost every death on the face. There is a famous picture in the book that shows the Second Ice Field (a feature about half-way up the face) that looks like the moon because it is covered in tiny rock craters. Until the late 1950's, climbers did not wear helmets, so there are plenty of stories of climbers being hit in the head and succumbing to the concussion (or in some cases, leading their partners to do dangerous things to save them like Kurz and Hinterstoisser). Arms are routinely broken from falling stones. Avalanches place incredible demands on lead climbers and belayers. Perhaps no other mountain is as dangerous because of the many projectiles it launches at those who seek to climb. And each avalanche and stone begins at the White Spider.
  
  The White Spider is near the very top of the face, so named because it is a near-vertical ice field with many legs that spread down and up. The upper legs of the Spider direct all avalanching snow onto its center ice field and its lower legs shoot it down across the face. Climbers who reach the Spider must cross it, knowing that a major avalanche occurs (at least according to those on the 1952 attempt) every 5 minutes. The Spider is therefore the metaphorical and quite real guardian of the face. You can climb in the early morning to avoid the avalanches and loose rocks caused by the warming of midday. However, there are very few places on the face where there exists and overhang that affords sufficient protection to avoid the streaming projectiles. One is Death Bivouac, a location about half-way up the face above the Second Ice Field so-named because the first two climbers who attempted the face in 1935 were caught in a storm and subsequently froze to death in that spot. The point being, there is no safe place here.
  
  Why does the Nordwand fascinate us so much? In short, as Harrer states, it is the ultimate test of a mountaineer. And this test is more than just a physical or psychological one. It is often a moral one. Many of the famous deaths on the mountain have occurred when a climber is injured or stranded due to a fall or avalanche and their partner must determine what to do. Fortunately, most climbers have turned around when their partner's injuries have proven a true handicap. Unfortunately, it is dangerous to down climb on this face, especially with an injured climber. But this mountain has often brought out the best in its climbers: bringing different teams together who depend on each other's confidence and motivation to get up, leading them to share food or gear. Perhaps that is why its stories are so gripping: Vorg staying up all night to keep still so that Heckmair could get sleep, Kurz turning the team around to save Willy Angerer, and the rescuer saving Claudio Corti after abseiling 300 meters from the summit on a wire.
  
  This in the end is what makes these stories worth while. The bond that allows friends and strangers to save lives and to care for each other. This is the true test of mountaineering.
• 
  Raúl

  La historia del alpinismo nos ofrece muchos relatos dramáticos, testimonios de accidentes mortales en torno a la consecución de rutas y de cimas, marcas que no significan nada para las personas ajenas al mundo de la montaña. Los dramas humanos conforman una crónica negra, no exenta en ocasiones de épica y sacrificio, aunque también de errores más o menos evitables. Frente a ello, es natural la indignación de tantas voces que hablan en nombre de esa cosa llamada ''sentido común'': ¿Merece la pena arriesgarse por subir una montaña? Algo aparentemente tan absurdo e inútil. Poco puede decirse para convencer de lo contrario al que eso cree, pero una de las posibles respuestas se encuentra en este libro, 'La araña blanca'.
  
  Hablamos de una crónica sobre las ascensiones clave a la temida Cara Norte del Eiger (''Ogro''), escrita por el montañero y escritor Heinrich Harrer, que fuera miembro del primer grupo que la ascendió con éxito. Pero para mi es mucho más que eso, considero este libro como un alegato acerca de la verdadera esencia del alpinismo. Y es que hacía falta que alguien escribiera estas reflexiones sobre el papel, basándose en experiencias de primera mano. Hay aquí pasión y también honestidad sin florituras; es éste un libro clave para todo aquel que sienta curiosidad por saber qué ha significado el montañismo para tanta gente, y por qué tantos jóvenes con porvenir han arriesgado sus vidas en empresas tan peligrosas y con premios a veces tan intangibles como la mera satisfacción personal o el reconocimiento de unos pocos colegas.
  
  Era la reafirmación de un hecho: se había abandonado ya la visión decimonónica del alpinismo, dedicado a la conquista de cumbres, en sintonía con el ansia aventurera y colonial del Imperio británico, para contemplar las montañas de otra forma, igualmente romántica, pero donde la hazaña debía ir en sintonía con una actitud y un determinado carácter. 'Sincero, noble y discreto', las cualidades del auténtico alpinista'. Pues bien, así es Anderl' (...) ¿Es realmente necesario dejarse utilizar como instrumento publicitario de gente que solo quiere hacer negocio? Deseo repetir aquí nuevamente las palabras de Julius Kugy, explorador de los Alpes Julianos, refiriéndose a cómo, según él, debe ser el alpinista: ''genuino, bien educado y discreto''. A este modelo de los practicantes hay que sumar la concepción de la propia práctica alpina: la ruta es ahora lo importante, y no la cima; se valora la dificultad, la experiencia y la responsabilidad. Si hablamos de cimas, las metas del futuro quedaban ahora en el Himalaya, y allí acudirían las expediciones de los diferentes países para tomar el legado de los viejos aventureros.
• 
  Murray

  I had started into this book but then set it aside for a time. Upon watching the film Everest released in 2015 I went looking for it on the shelves in the studio because I hungered for more about the mountains, as tragic as the Everest film is.
  
  The author of The White Spider is the man portrayed by Brad Pitt in the movie Seven Years in Tibet.
  
  Harrer has recounted a number of climbing stories that deal with ascents of the north face of the Eiger. All are exciting to read. Some of the climbs are successful, some are withdrawals, some are tragic. Each of the stories is well-written. If you like the mountains and you climb or like reading about climbing then you will enjoy this book, including all its technical mountaineering and equipment detail.
  
  The highest I have achieved is 18,500. I was so excited at 20 I sent a telegram home to my parents to tell them. Ah .. my poor mother refused to open it, certain it brought news of my death. When her and dad finally opened it they were able to celebrate with me.
  
  Mountains, sea, and sky. Forests, deserts, and fields. Outer space. All hold their own special power and beauty. But mountaintops, ah! Mountaintops! There you soar without wings and without a plane. You ascend on your own two feet and with the pounding and aching of your own heart and lungs and the fire in your own muscles. There the effort to arrive, and the high arrival itself, helps you see what is and is not simply and clearly.
  
  There is a purity in the climbing of mountains.
  
  pureza de montaña ….. montaña pura
  
  
• 
  Nick Davies

  As far as an objective assessment of this book is concerned, I'd recommend it heartily - Harrer speaks from a position of great expertise, having been involved in the first successful conquest of the North Face of the Eiger.. and here he examines numerous other attempts (successful and unsuccessful) to scale this massively challenging alpine feat. Well researched, beautifully described (though a number of slightly strange choices of phrase, due probably to the Austrian author not writing in his mother tongue) and incredibly thorough - for fans of adventure, outdoors and modern heroism(ish) this is a very important and interesting work.
  
  I was slightly wearied by the nature of the book, however, not being a big mountain climber myself. There's only a certain number of times you can describe a very similar process, with the associated necessary technical language, without losing the reader's interest a little. In addition, the final quarter of the book contains a certain amount of bitterness associated with criticising the Italian survivor of a climbing disaster which killed three others. Despite a later-added postscript addressing this, it does feel a bit bitter and draws attention to the author's keenness to make sweeping statements about different European nationalities in the immediately post-WWII historical context.
• 
  Jan vanTilburg

  The history of the ascent of the Eiger North Face. As told by Harrer, part of the 4 man party who were the first to climb this face in 1938. The last of the classic North Faces in the Alps to be climbed. Sheer vertical. Craziness. Ice, rock, snow, cascading water, avalanches, freezing temperatures and falling stones. Relentless rocks, Many a climber got injured by them. Bivouacs, very uncomfortable, mostly standing, sitting, secured by pitons. Plus treacherous weather. Many a climbing party had to climb in blizzard conditions. Especially the last parts. Merciless...
  
  p.29, about the motivation of mountaineering: "the great adventure, the eternal longing of every truly creative man to push on into unexplored country, to discover something entirely new - if only about himself. In that lies the detonating spark, the secret source of strength..." Because climbing, especially long vertical faces, requires indescribable labours and difficulties, which demand the very uttermost ounce of physical, spiritual and mental resistance.
  Having read multiple other moutaineering books I understand how much excercise and training is needed for such climbs. A superb condition, skill, route finding ability, spiritual mentality and stamina.
  Of course there is no real use for climbing, besides ones satisfaction and enjoyment. The same can be said about marathon runners and many other sports.
  
  And then the history of the Eiger North Face begins! Heroic attemps are described. Done by outstanding climbers. 1935, 1936 and 1937.
  Harrowing and courageous ascends. It gives for very exciting reading. Why is that? Because they died? Why are books about WWI so popular? That horrendous useless trench war!
  
  Before the description of the first climb, Harrer spends quite some time on how the general public thought about the Eiger North Face climb. He though them sensation seekers and the news covered the various attemps very sceptical. People should not risk their life is the general belief. But, as we know, people always do. Exploring and challenges is in people's nature. He defends the mountaineers as exceptional strong, capable and fearless people. They don't seek glory but the freedom of the hills.
  
  But there you go. I read it anxiously. Hoping beyond hope. Untill the year 1938. When the first succesful ascend finally succeeded.
  
  Heinrich Harrer and Fritz Kasparek set out together. 1 rope. On the second day they were joined by Anderl Heckmair and Ludwig Vörg. Also on 1 rope. Together they went further. Reading, it seems to me that without Heckmair and Vörg, they would not have made it. Especially Heckmair was instrumental for their succes. He was leading most of the time. These days this first ascend is called the Heckmair or 1938 route. An appropriate name.
  (Harrer did acknowledge that Heckmair was the best of them all and gives him due praise)
  Harrer did not bring crampons, a necessity for climbing the many ice climbs. He as much acknowledged that himself. I followed their ascent by constantly looking at the pictures of the Northface provided in the book. That way I knew where they were. I looked at some YouTube videos of crucial pitches. Like the Hinterstoisser traverse, the Spider ascent and the top "stroll". It made for very exciting reading! Harrer and Kasparek had three bivouacs. Heckmair and Vörg two. An indication how quick they were.
  Harrer wrote compelling. Philosophical at times. Full of praise for his companions, his rope mates. He writes apt about the dangers of the face, the avalanches, the foul weather, the continious rockfall, the melt water and in the end the blizzard conditions when they finally reached the top.
  
  After the account of this first ascent, follows several chapters of the history of subsequent ascents. The successes and the failures. All on the same Eiger North Face. Now well known. Especially the tragedy of 1957 gets much attention. (Which was well observed from below). 1 chapter of the tragic climb. 1 chapter about the rescue. With the records of the sole survivor shedding only confusion on what actually happened. For instance; the incredible slow pace with which they ascended. Inexplicable, for it was well known that two of them were very well versed in rock and ice climbing. (Harrer is very critical of Corti, the only survivor)
  I'll leave it at that. It is fascinating to read. Again, a disaster, a tragedy, people were fighting for their lives. And I kept on reading. It's like the news. It seems only bad things that happen is news. (besides sports, that is always news...)
  
  Harrer defends all mountaineers as courageous and honorable people. Always ready to rescue one another. Mountain comradeship. While Lionel Terray in his book, Conquistadors of the Useless, points out that: "the majority of climbers are complete individualists. Dislikes and rivalries are common among them and comparatively few go on climbing together year after year."
  However that may be, Harrer paints an optimistic view of the hardcore mountaineer. It's an upbeat book in that respect. But he dislikes very much all the commentators and thrill seekers with their comments when yet another tragedy unfolds.
  
  And I read it all. And enjoyed it.
  
  For 3 weeks I was on the Eiger Northwand. And almost every day I went a bit higher. Now I'm done and the Eiger goes on.
  
  written: 1959
  Heinrich Harrer: 1912 - 2006
  
  ==================================
  
  To give some perspective on the first ascend, below an excerpt from an interview with Heckmair, published in Outside Climbing
  
  My Dinner with Anderl Heckmair-Leader of Eiger North Face<\b>
  For Heckmair, the Eiger climb was only the prelude to a lifetime of extreme journeys among mountains, deserts, jungles—as well as to the poles of humanity: over the course of nine decades he has crossed paths with personalities ranging from Hitler to the Dalai Lama.
  Published Apr 11, 2023 DAVE PAGEL
  
  
  When he (Heckmair) and Wiggerl (Vörg) met the others on the Second Icefield, he immediately told them, ‘You must go down now, because if you continue, you will surely be killed.’”
  
  It was a valid observation, because although the Austrians were prepared to tackle any rock pitches the Eiger might throw at them, they were poorly equipped for ice and snow. The reason the Germans caught up with them so quickly on the traverse of the Second Icefield is because without an ice axe or even adequate crampons, Kasparek was forced to chop steps for hundreds of feet using only a small hammer. Heckmair and Vörg, outfitted with the most sophisticated ice gear of the day, including 12-point crampons, literally ran across the same ground.
  “Anderl is convinced,” his wife informs us, “that the reason he was successful where so many others failed is because the others prepared for the Eiger as a rock climb with just a little ice and snow. But Anderl saw that the Eiger was mainly an ice and snow climb, with only a little rock. This is what made the difference.”
  
  Anderl is also determined to give credit where it is due by making the point that the Eiger ascent was a team effort, and, despite his initial misgivings, he feels the Austrians played a crucial role. “Heini and Kasparek knew the way down,” he says. “They had already climbed the Mittellegi Ridge and gone down the west flank as part of their preparations for the north face.” And so, when Heckmair and his exhausted companions finally crawled onto the Eiger’s summit—at night and in a raging blizzard—it was the Austrians who led them all to safety.
  “It was a lucky thing when Wiggerl suggested they should all climb together,” Trudl remarks, and Anderl chuckles his agreement.
  
  ==================================
  
  (The fastest ascent of the Eiger North Face.
  Ueli Steck has set a new solo speed for the Eiger north face, reaching the summit in two hours, 22 minutes and 50 seconds. He beat the previous record held by compatriot Dani Arnold by over five minutes. “Good conditions on the Eiger. Nov 18, 2015)
• 
  Javier Casado

  Un magnífico trabajo sobre la historia del alpinismo en la cara norte del Eiger, una de las paredes icónicas del montañismo, que se ha cobrado innumerables víctimas.
  
  Le pongo 4 estrellas por el trabajo que tiene detrás y porque consigue hacer llegar, incluso para los que somos meros aficionados y no alpinistas, lo que supone escalar una pared de estas características, donde de forma sorpresiva te atrapa una tormenta de nieve en verano a plena tarde mientras estás colgado de la pared, o donde te ves de repente atacado por una lluvia de piedras. También por su ambición como tratado sobre el Eiger, con una detallada descripción de todas las expediciones a la cara norte desde los primeros intentos en los años 30 hasta mediados de los 60; a partir de ahí solo menciona lo más relevante para no extenderse y resultar aburrido, pero termina completándolo con un apéndice donde sí recoge, de forma resumida, todas las expediciones más relevantes hasta comienzos del s. XXI.
  
  Harrer formó parte de la primera cordada que en 1938 consiguió alcanzar la cima por la cara norte. Algo que hoy aún supone riesgos, a pesar de las ventajas que ofrece el material moderno, el hecho de conocer ya todas las vías de ascenso, e incluso el hecho de encontrar por el camino clavos y cuerdas de anteriores expediciones que sirven de ayuda durante la ascensión. En 1938 no había nada de esto: sin cascos para protegerse de las piedras que constantemente caen de la parte superior del Eiger, con cuerdas cortas y pesadas, con crampones primitivos... o incluso sin ellos, como subió Harrer... sin saber por dónde tirar, encontrándose con vías sin salida por las que tocaba retroceder y buscar otra vía de ascenso... Durmiendo mal equipados y mal protegidos, atados a la pared sobre una cornisa de pocos centímetros con temperaturas bajo cero... Toda una aventura.
  
  Sin duda, no obstante, éste es un libro para escaladores o, como mínimo, amantes de la montaña, como es mi caso. Porque si bien el primer tercio se lee de forma ágil y con interés, a partir de los primeros éxitos en la conquista de la cara norte, todo empieza a ser ya demasiado repetitivo para quien no tenga un interés especial en conocer todas las rutas, todas las dificultades, los nombres de todos los pioneros y quienes les siguieron...
  
  Pero si te gusta la montaña, si eres, como yo, de los que se emocionan ante los grandes picos y la naturaleza salvaje... seguramente te gustará darle una oportunidad a este libro.
• 
  KiRsten

  Herrlich, im warmen Bett zu liegen und zu lesen, wie Menschen im gefrierenden Biwak sitzen, total durchnässt und mit erfrorenen Zehen. Wenn sie überhaupt noch da sitzen und nicht schon abgestürzt sind... Eine ganze Litanei von Eiger-Nordwand-Besteigungen laufen an meinem inneren Auge vorbei: nächstes Kapitel, nächstes Jahr, wieder neue Anwärter. Es werden im Lauf der Zeit immer mehr, die es probieren; mehr oder weniger gut vorbereitet, mit mehr oder weniger Glück mit dem Wetter oder dem Steinschlag. Wenn man nicht mehr der erste sein kann, der die schattige, steile Wand hochkraxelt, kann man ja versuchen, die schnellste Tour zu machen, oder die erste Frau sein, oder der am besten Singende, auf einem Bein Hinkende, ein Angehöriger einer in der Schweizer Bergwelt weniger bekannten Nation.
  
  Harrer beschreibt, was gleich geblieben ist über die 60 Jahre nach der Erstbesteigung: die Abhängigkeit vom Wetter; die Faszination für die Berge; die Suche nach der Herausforderung und der Freundschaft. Die Selbverständlichkeit der Rettungseinsätze. Die Tatsache, daß die Jugend andere Einschätzungen macht als das Alter. Daß Erfahrung entarten kann in Routine und Leichtsinn. Und Selbstüberschätzung in Katastrophen.
  
  Aber er macht sich auch Gedanken darüber, was sich seit 1938 geändert hat: die leichtere und bessere Ausrüstung, die Erfahrung der Vorangegangenen; die Fortschritte in der gefährlichen Helikopterrettung, das Festhaltenwollen des spektakulären Moments in einer immer kurzlebigeren Welt mit immer besserer Technik; der Massentourismus; der Müll und die Zerstörungen, welche sie da alle am Eiger, in Grindelwald oder am Mount Everest hinterlassen, muss ja schrecklich sein. Ich kann mir auch vorstellen, warum Harrer begeistert ist von japanischen Bergsteigern. Wer einmal im respektvollen, sauberen, pünktlichen Japan keinen Mülleimer finden konnte und dann nach Europa den Schock der dreckigen Züge in Holland miterlebt hat, weiß, wovon ich rede. Und ich glaube, auch die Erderwärmung zu erkennen in diesem Buch; was früher vereist war, war später felsig.
  
  Man kann Harrer vorwerfen, egozentrisch zu berichten, Vorurteile gegenüber Frauen zu haben, und als reicher Abenteurer wenig psychologische Einsichten zu haben. Immerhin berichtet er voll Bewunderung von den armen Schluckern im Gebirge. Er kommt auch zur Einsicht, daß sogar eine Ehe eine Art guter Seilschaft sein kann, und daß das Beherrschen der Atomkraft und das Bewältigen des Atommülls ähnliche Herausforderungen an die Menschheit stellen wie das Besteigen der Eigernordwand an ihn, und daß man sein ganzes Leben wächst und an unerwartet tückischen Gefahrenstellen vorbeilavieren muß, auf die man sich zwar durch Literatur vorbereiten kann, zu denen man aber doch immer wieder seine eigene Intuition braucht. Jeder Mensch durchlebt sein eigenes Leben als Erster.
  
  Ich habe aus diesem Grund "Die weiße Spinne", die ich durchaus weiterempfehlen würde, in meine Kategorie 'Psychologie' gesteckt. Harrer würde sich wahrscheinlich im Grabe umdrehen, wenn er das erführe. Wenn er könnte. Siegmund Freud und CGJung sind da ja auch drin, und deren Einsichten in die Psyche kann man heute auch altmodisch und abenteuerlich nennen. Beide sind auch enorme Selbstverherrlicher, und viel von ihren Seilschaften mit ihren Ehefrauen erzählen die auch nicht.
• 
  Nigel Kotani

  Harrer had a remarkable life. Aside from spending 'Seven Years in Tibet' (which I read about 30 years ago) and becoming close friends with the Dalai Lama, he was a member of the first party to climb the North Face of the Eiger, was selected to represent Austria in the 1936 Winter Olympics (only to be withdrawn because being a ski instructor deemed him to be professional) and was twice Austrian golf champion.
  
  This book had some masterful sections, such as the story of the Sedlmayer/Mehringer disaster, the Toni Kurz tragedy and Harrer's own 'Heckmair' ascent. Unfortunately, after that first success, it descends into what is effectively a series of vignettes and critiques of further climbs, some successful, some unsuccessful, and some disastrous. This is particularly so in respect of the final third of the book, which was added after the book's original publication in 1958, to update on the attempts between 1959 and 1964.
  
  Far superior to the White Spider as the story of the North Face of the Eiger, in my view, is the Beckoning Silence by Joe Simpson (of Touching the Void fame). This is despite Simpson's book having itself been inspired by Harrer's, and Harrer's book indeed having been the original inspiration that prompted Simpson to start climbing. Harrer's book largely comprises "And then in 1948 two young Viennese men arrived at Klein Scheidegg determined to......". Simpson's book is more about the mystique of the mountain, what it feels like to have most of your friends die in mountaineering accidents, and what drives people to risk their lives for nothing more than the satisfaction of climbing a mountain.
  
  Perhaps Harrer's book suffers because of my comparing it to the Beckoning Silence, and objectively deserves more than the two stars I have given it. Subjectively though, if you want to read an excellent book about the North Face, and a book that is generally excellent irrespective of being about the North Face and mountaineering in general, go with the Simpson book instead.
• 
  Randal

  It's more interesting as a historical artifact than as a read. Modern writers have learned from and eclipsed this for general mountaineering books.
  
  The pluses: Harrer writes climbing well. This is widely considered a seminal text on climbing.
  
  Other parts were less appealing:
  The lists of such-and-so famous climber who surmounted the East Wall of Mount Something or other were written for climbing fans who could use them to judge whether a given party had sufficient chops to take on the Eiger. Eighty years later and me not being an Alpinist junkie, they didn't mean much.
  
  The reports of a couple of fit young men sleeping in a hayloft or pitching a tent on the Alpiglen in advance of an attempt at the climb were at first picturesque but eventually numbingly repetitive, and the technical analyses of the later climbs lacked variety ... instead of choosing to focus on different parts of the climb with each attempt, he tends to re-emphasize the trickier bits over and over.
  
  The last part, Harrer's attempt to suss out who did what, when, and why, on a particularly notorious fatal climb was jingoistic (he casually dismisses Italians as lacking the "right mentality" for this most Germanic of mountains), and he spends too much time fussing and fretting before ultimately accusing the one survivor of various failures of spirit and will. It does neither Harrer nor the book any credit.
  
  Harrer is frequently scathing of those who look on and critique climbers but -- aside from the fact he had climbed the Eiger -- that's what this book does. Somehow the irony is lost on the author. 2.5 stars
• 
  Rhiannon Mason

  If you had asked me whilst I was reading the first few chapters of this book what I thought my rating would be I would definitely have said three stars, maybe even four. But as the book went on I found the attitude of the author more and more infuriating until I couldn't wait to finish it.
  
  I understand it must be difficult for climbers to hear criticism and have people call them crazy but Harrer needs to get over it. Every story is punctuated with rants and rebuttals against 'nay-sayers' and 'know-it-alls' who have dared to suggest that any of the protagonists are rash or glory-seeking. I'm reading the book- I'm already on your side!
  
  It also becomes quite galling hearing almost every climber described as 'courageous', 'sensible', 'noble', 'humble' etc. (apart from Claudio Corti, he hates that guy.) And I'm sorry but- 'no climber embarks on a difficult climb in order to test himself.' Nonsense. The constant assertions that there was never any sense of competition between climbers, only brotherly comradeship also had me rolling my eyes- I don't mean to say he's wrong in every case it just started to feel so biased and repetitive that it detracted from the truely amazing stories. It would be more human if they weren't all portrayed as heroes.
  There are some very dated remarks about a couple of female climbers near the end too.
  
  That all said, there are some excellent adventures and tense moments in there and the story of Toni Kurz will never cease to haunt me- I'd highly recommend watching the documentary The Beckoning Silence.
• 
  Corrina

  Wow! Just re-read this. The last time I read it was probably 10 years ago, and I loved it then, but now that I've read much more on mountaineering and the Nordwand of the Eiger in particular, I loved it even more!! Harrer not only tells his own story of his group's first successful ascent of the Nordwand (or Mordwand, depending on your point of view), he traces the history of the mountain, recreating in careful detail the other successful attempts as well as the myriad disasters. Harrer of course was in an enviable position to be able to do this, and his book is fascinating reading for a cozy armchair. In fact, even though he makes no attempt to hide his disdain for the throngs of "armchair" mountaineers who collect at the Kleine Scheidegg to watch the acrobatics on the wall - and sometimes the wall spitting people off - he still makes me want to be there...
  
  but I have to add - do your homework on Claudio Corti!!! Harrer makes him out to be an incompetent villain, but subsequent discovery of Nothdurft and Mayer's bodies has shown that they were swept away by an avalanche before they could call for a rescue, but after they reached the summit and were headed down. They were found to have Corti's equipment on them, which further exonerated Corti. Just so ya know... Harrer had some weird thing going there, and he refused to retract himself even after this discovery, which is just stubborn-headed. What a great movie that would make.
• 
  Allyson Shaw

  A quick read, though unsatisfying either due to Harrer's wooden and often hackneyed prose or the translation, maybe both. (What's with all the ellipses?) The book is weighted down with a bizarre defensiveness. What would be most interesting-- the texture of life on the mountain face-- is left out completely, replaced with logistic discussions which become repetitive. Though, I suppose in wanting the vicariousness of a sensory narrative I'm one of the "rubberneckers" he seems to have such disdain for.
  
  Being a brave adventurer doesn't exactly make one a natural storyteller- this book is proof of that.
  
  Also, the passages on the women climbers are deeply sexist, which sealed my dislike.
• 
  Carlos Miguel

  This was a very interesting book.
  
  First, it goes into detail about the climb of the North Face of the Eiger, the hardest climb of the alps. The mystic of the climb is definitely presented in the text and the ready easily graps how hard the climb really is. The book is full of happy and sad (very sad) stories, but with a love for climbing that is contagious. It really makes me want to go out and try it for myself. One thing that was a bummer was the name of the chapters; they usually told half of the story... I would have preferred more suspense. Also, the stories in the epilogue didn't have as much of an impact with me as the ones in the first part of the book.
  
  Second, the author had a very curious life, to say the least. Harrer was part of the first succesful attempt to the Eiger in 1935, before WW2. Notes are not very clear, but he, as Austrian, ended up getting married while wearing a SS uniform, so he was definitely a sympatizer of the Nazis. However, ended up fleeing to India and got captured by the British, where he escaped and moved to Lhasa and became best buddies with the Dalai Lama for 7 years. So YES, he is Brad Pitt in the '7 years in Tibet'!!! All of this is NOT included in the book, but adds up to the story and his character.
  
  I would recommend this book, especially if the reader goes to the Jungfrau region in Switzerland!
• 
  Jenifer

  Harrer writes a detailed accounting of the first 50 climbs of the imposing and deadly Eiger Mountain in the Swiss Alps. He is especially qualified to speak, as he was in the first party to successfully summit the north face of the Eiger.
  
  He writes of the bravery, skill and expertise of the famous climbers and recounts the heroism and tragedy that have been a part of the mountain's history since the 1930's. I thought the writing was compelling; descriptive, technical and emotional at times. His passion drew me into this world completely. He was knowledgeable and factual, and he also acknowledged the illogical nature of the desire to enter into such a dangerous aspiration, describing the driving forces that make men and few women want to try.
  
  Harrer was committed to a gentlemanly code of conduct with humility and honor not to be abandoned for the sake of competition and certainly not for fame. He held in highest regard those who worked to rescue others and the comradeship of the sport.
  
  After the first publication he was able to briefly enumerate some of the more notable climbs that came in the years following. There is some discussion of improved gear and advances in climbing techniques and rescue abilities.
  
  I loved that there was a synopsis of the major timestamps at the end of the book. I just ate it up.
  
  Physical copy from our library. This is one of Wayne's favorite books.
• 
  Anjo

  Gdyby ktoś mnie kiedyś zapytał, gdzie w Europie znaleźć Ścianę, ale taką naprawdę z wielkiej litery, pomyślałabym właśnie o Eigerze. Historia jej szturmowania obfituje w tragedie i obrosła legendą ze względu na swoją słynną północną ścianę, 1800 - metrowego bastionu lodu, skał, schodzących bez końca śnieżnych lawin, spadających kamieni, bez okien pogodowych bo na tej ścianie one nie istnieją - góra ma własną pogodę i wydaje się poza całkowitym zasięgiem ludzkich możliwości. Po dziś dzień stanowi wyzwanie dla alpinistów z całego świata.
  
  Niesamowita książka, od samego początku przyprawiała mnie o szybsze bicie serca i trzymała w stanie emocjonalnego napięcia - jestem nią po prostu zachwycona. Dobrze, że w ogóle udało mi się ją dostać bo z dostępnością bardzo ciężko a i tak zdobyłam ją po dopiero bardzo długich poszukiwaniach.
  
  Perełka literatury wysokogórskiej, obowiązkowy klasyk i biblia dla wszystkich, którzy mają cokolwiek wspólnego z górami.
  
  Bardzo polecam!
• 
  Aaron

  Fairly detailed account of attempts on the Eiger North Face in the twentieth century. Can't believe what people were climbing with only hemp ropes, hobnail boots and wool knickers.
• 
  Bradhernandez

  Amazing story of the early climbs of the Eiger by a guy who a actually did it. Also, good accounts of some amazing mountain rescues. Authors writing style is a bit dated. Book came out in late 50's. Has since been expanded and revised.
• 
  Matthew

  I started reading this book before making a skiing trip to Wengen/Grindelwald, in the shadow of the Eiger's north face. I enjoyed the early chapters immensely and the stories of the Kurtz tragedy and Harrer's own ascent gave me a real sense of the history of the famous peak. The writing style is antiquated and the translation needs tightening a little, but this actually helps give you a good picture of the time. I had read no other material on the Eiger, which is an important factor; as a starting point, I would recommend some of these chapters. However, the reason I am here is because of what comes after. I read the later chapters on returning from seeing the Eiger and I can't ignore what they contain, nor can I remain silent (I finished the book last night and have been consumed with thoughts of it since).
  
  His treatment of the Corti incident is malicious and prejudiced. He slanders the Italian climber with no evidence of any impropriety on Corti's part other than speculation from a journalist (who's motives we of course are told are pure, and nothing to do with creating a story in which he is at the heart) and the fact that Corti's account was confused and in parts contradictory (Harrer is obsessed with Corti's inability to recall all the names of all the sections of the wall - a bizarre test for a man who has just spent a fatal week there). Harrer then proposes some wild theories as to what happened which all seemed to indicate he believed Corti was negligent, unqualified, selfish, disloyal and and even murderous! I read this with growing unease and incredulity, which prompted me to research outside of the work; I found out that Harrer's maligning of Corti's character did the Italian great harm, and he spent the rest of his life under an unwarranted cloud of suspicion. This is all despite the fact that evidence to corroborate Corti's account was uncovered, namely the bodies of Nothdurft and Meyer, and the general climbing fraternity had come to believe his account. I read the extra chapters (added after 5 years) hoping for an apology from Harrer, but none was forthcoming. What there was however were wildly contradictory passages from Harrer, which seemed to excuse the actions of other climbers where he was scathing of Corti. He excused Brian Nally's confusion and contradictory statements after the tragic death of Brewster on exertion and shock; no such leniency on Corti, who he implied was simply lying. He implied Corti's rope must have been deliberately blocking the Germans, as no overtaking is possible, while later praising another German rope for proving that overtaking is possible anywhere on the wall. These two contradictions were glaring; there were many more passages where ill prepared Germanic climbers were praised for being poor but tough, and willing to have a go. While others who may not have been as well prepared as the very best were 'not fit to be on the wall.'
  
  In the end, the impression one gets is of a man besotted with the long-faded supremacy of the Teutonic Alpine tradition, and with an unhealthy dose of prejudice against an Italian who mourned the events of his climb as long as he lived.
  
  There may be darker forces at work here, but to go down that road would leave me open to charges of hypocrisy. I will not slander a man I have never met; I wish Harrer hadn't done so either.
• 
  Michael

  There seems to be a lot of cronyism among Harrer and his fellow German climbers: Every climber who dies was the brightest young German mind to have ever graced the valley from which he came, only to fall at the face of the great Eiger, while every success is a testament to certain indefatigable greatness in the eyes of mankind immemorial. He waits until the end of the novel to finally accuse an Italian of being the first to mistake his ambitions and strength are adequate for the climbing, though at least eight died before Harrer's parties first ascent. Superlatives and backslapping aside, he does a great job of explaining how dangerous and unpredictable the climbing of the Eiger proved to be, and only makes a small mention of the rumor a young politician with a very small mustache and a crisp 45 degree salute encouraged his achievement, before some other country could lay claim to the First Ascent. This edition could probably have used a little polishing as well, the translation is rough and choppy.
• 
  Silviu Reuț

  Una dintre cărțile obligatorii pentru iubitorii de munte și alpinism. Heinrich Harrer, celebrul protagonist al evenimentul din "Șapte ani în Tibet", povestește istoria feței nordice a Eiger-ului, cea mai periculoasă ascensiune din lume. Harrer a făcut parte din echipa care a reușit, pentru prima dată, escaladarea feței nordice a Eiger-ului. Înainte de asta, dar și după, numeroși alpiniști și-au pierdut viața pe Eiger. Aici intră și dramatica moarte a tânărului german Toni Kurz.
  
  
  https://silviureut.ro/2019/02/10/paia...
• 
  Hywel Owen

  The best book on the realities of climbing that I have read. You will finish it maybe convinced of the insanity of mountaineering, but certainly with a better understanding of what it is to climb. Harrer is indisputably one of the all-time greats of mountaineering.
• 
  James Corson

  The White Spider relates the history of attempts to climb the notoriously difficult North Face of the Eiger in Switzerland, including author Heinrich Harrer's own participation in its first successful climb in 1938. I myself am no mountaineer -- being afraid of heights kind of precludes climbing up 6,000-foot walls of rock and ice -- but I have been fascinated by the people who choose to risk their lives climbing ever since I read
  Jon Krakauer's classic
  Into Thin Air back when it first came out in paperback. More recently, the outstanding documentary Free Solo rekindled my interest in all things climbing, so I decided to pick up Harrer's book based on its comparisons with Into Thin Air. (This may be due to the fact that Krakauer's first book also deals with the Eiger and its impact on modern mountaineering.)
  
  For the most part, I really enjoyed this book. The chapter covering Harrer's own successful first climb was particularly riveting; I was on the edge of my seat for that entire section. The rest of the book is quite interesting as well for Harrer's thoughts on the men -- and surprise surprise, a book written in the 1950s about mountaineering is almost entirely about men and manly deeds -- who choose to risk their lives to climb the Eiger's North Face. (But never to conquer it: Harrer argues quite passionately that humans can never truly conquer a mountain because nature will always get the last laugh.) He is not shy about criticizing some of the men who tried to climb the North Face and died in the attempt, but I generally found his criticisms to be fair, and he almost always pays tribute to those who died. (His biggest -- and perhaps harshest -- criticisms are for Claudio Corti, who was the lone survivor of a party of four that attempted the climb in 1957. Subsequent discoveries of two of his travelling companions shows that Harrer may have treated Corti too harshly, though Harrer stubbornly sticks to his points in chapters added to later editions of the book, even as he back-handedly acknowledges that Corti may have mostly told the truth in his testimony.)
  
  My biggest problem with the book is its prose. Part of the problem is the time period in which it was written. I remember some of the same stilted attempts at heroic prose from
  Barbara Tuchman's otherwise excellent
  The Guns of August, which was written around the same time period. (On the other hand, I just read another late-50's nonfiction classic tale of Shackleton's expedition to Antarctica,
  Endurance, and its prose is much more thrilling. Perhaps that is because
  Alfred Lansing was a journalist by trade). But it also comes across as an imitation of a
  Hermann Hesse novel, which is not surprising given Harrer's interest in Buddhism after his years in Tibet. There are also the occasional reminders that Harrer is writing primarily for elite male mountaineers who display their manliness on mountains, which is a bit off-putting. Again, this may be due in part to its 50's origins, and perhaps as a result of Harrer's early mountaineering experience in Austria during the Anschluss with Nazi Germany.
  
  Still, the book is an insightful look at the fascinating world of mountaineering from one of its my famous exponents. It is well worth a read for anyone who loved Into Thin Air or Free Solo.