NORTH FACE IN WINTER

by Hiebeler Toni ‧ RELEASE DATE: N/A

An hour by hour account of the first winter climb of Switzerland's Eiger Mountain (Jack Olsen recently recorded one of the more disastrous attempts- The imp Up To Hell- Harper & Row-1962-p.601) by the German who planned and led the successful four man expedition up the 13,000 foot peak in 1961. In an introduction which takes up nearly a quarter of the book, translator Hugh Merrick describes revolutionary mountaineering techniques and gives a history of continental schools of limbing He also summarizes the controversy which arose on discovery that the assault had been completed with a five day break due to bad weather, when the climbers retreated to their hotel, later returning to first base by way of the ungfrau tunnel. Non-climbing participants who see little pleasure in clinging for hours to a rock in the imminent presence of death may view the desperate search for fresh variations on a climb as yet another sad commentary on how our world has hrunk Nevertheless it is an awesome personal account of how four men stood in relationship to each other, how they thought, reacted and survived through the igors of the six day climb. Readers of all ages will find it exciting.

Pub Date: N/A

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: Lippincott

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 1963

Categories: NONFICTION