White Spider: The Classic Account of the Ascent of the Eiger

by Heinrich Harrer, Hugh Merrick

Release Date: October, 1998

Edition: Paperback

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I've had to wrestle it away from other readers...

even non-climbers. Once people get going on this book, they won't want to let it go. I've passed it around to friends - climbers and non-climbers alike - and always get the same reaction: riveting reading. Harrer does a great job of describing the early attempts on the Eiger Nordwand, and he does it with great insight, skill and compassion; and that's all well and good. What really made this book stand out in my mind was the way he tied the subject matter into the historical context of the times. I was able to understand that climbing, for these people, was a very different kind of activity than it is for me and my generation. Fascinating stuff.

Facing down the North Face of the Eiger

This book details Heinrich Harrer's participation in the first successful ascent of the North Face of the Eiger in the Alps. Harrer goes far beyond simply recounting the story of their 3-day ascent and describes the earlier unsuccessful and often fatal efforts that helped pave the way for their ultimate ascent and several of the subsequent successful and tragic ascents as well. Although written in a somewhat dispassionate manner that may be due to the translation from original German, this book is a very comprehensive description of the story behind the climbs of the Eiger. Worth reading.