Discussion Topic |
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Chris McNamara
SuperTopo staff member
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Topic Author's Original Post - Dec 19, 2009 - 11:13am PT
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Just got this email about the "North Face" movie. Worth checking out the trailer, just to see the eiger footage (looks like they actually shot it on the Eiger).
*Coming to Movie Theaters FRIDAY, JANUARY 29th*
NORTH FACE
Based on a true story
NORTH FACE is a gripping adventure drama about a competition to climb the most dangerous rock face in the Alps. It’s 1936, and Nazi propaganda urges German Alpinists to conquer the unclimbed north face of the Swiss massif, the Eiger North Face – aka “Murder Wall” – before the Olympic Games begin. The legendary 1800-meter-high wall of stone and ice has been casting its spell for decades, and two young hot-shot Bavarian climbers, Toni Kurz (BENNO FÜRMANN) and Andi Hinterstoisser (FLORIAN LUKAS), are finally lured into the challenge.
Beginning their ascent, the German rope team initially makes good headway, followed closely by two Austrians. But after that auspicious start, the climbers lose their advantage over the mountain, and the race against time and the forces of nature begins. Realistically shot, NORTH FACE reveals the brutal struggle to survive on the mountain. Director/screenwriter Philipp Stölzl keeps viewers as breathless as if they were climbing the mountain themselves, rather than sitting comfortably in a theatre.
Few people may remember the story of Toni Kurz and Andi Hinterstoisser directly, but many will find their own reflection in these characters – not only Alpinists and nature lovers, but all who are still searching for their path in life.
Watch the trailer:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4t_3U5_wKO8
For more info & complete theater listings, visit:
http://www.northfacethemovie.com
Become a Fan of NORTH FACE!
http://www.facebook.com/northfacemovie
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survival
Big Wall climber
A Token of My Extreme
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Dec 19, 2009 - 11:15am PT
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Wow, this is going to be in real theaters??
COOL!!
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donini
Trad climber
Ouray, Colorado
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Dec 19, 2009 - 11:18am PT
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My guess is that it will be total dog sh#t.
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GDavis
Social climber
SOL CAL
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Dec 19, 2009 - 11:32am PT
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Ah, theres my daily dose of curmudgeon. Now I can have that BM I needed so badly.
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Klimmer
Mountain climber
San Diego
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Dec 19, 2009 - 11:34am PT
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I don't know this looks like it could be a really good movie. Wow!
The trailer looks cool.
I hope they keep to the real story and have real climbers as technical advisers. I don't want any Selvestor Stallone scenes with bolt guns etc.
Keep it real at a climber's intimate knowledge level and it will be very good. How much harder could that be Hollywood? Make climbing movies realistic so that climbers can even buy into it and the story. Then you will have a smashing success of a movie.
Duhhhh!!!!
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Stewart Johnson
climber
yo mama
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Dec 19, 2009 - 12:02pm PT
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whats the matter jim? is it raining down there?
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Reilly
Mountain climber
Monrovia, CA
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Dec 19, 2009 - 12:42pm PT
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^^^^
I think Jim is just going with the odds.
It is Christmas so I'm giving him the benefit of the doubt.
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survival
Big Wall climber
A Token of My Extreme
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Dec 19, 2009 - 01:12pm PT
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Hey Jim,
aren't you supposed to be kicking some major wall down there instead of Scrooging around here? HA!!
What's up dawg?
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Jacko
Trad climber
Grass Valley Ca.
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Dec 19, 2009 - 01:27pm PT
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The Toni Kurz story, is one of the best and saddest Climbing storie's I have ever read ( The White Spider)..The "Eiger Sanction" used Toni's story..A rope of 4, one fell into the void, 2 hanging dead and Toni hanging alive above the gallery Window..Except Toni didn't get hauled in by George Kennedy, he died just out of reach of the would be rescurer's..I hope the Movie doe's justice to the story and I will go see it....Jacko
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Jaybro
Social climber
Wolf City, Wyoming
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Dec 19, 2009 - 01:30pm PT
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can ya eat dots 'n popcorn to it?
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tuolumne_tradster
Trad climber
Leading Edge of North American Plate
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Dec 19, 2009 - 02:10pm PT
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Here's an excerpt from an interview with cinematographer Kolja Brandt...
First of all, to tell the story with the greatest possible realism! The film wasn't supposed to feel like a Hollywood mountain movie à la CLIFFHANGER or VERTICAL LIMIT, in which the mountain climbing looks totally unbelievable most of the time and many sequences look like they were shot in the studio. We sought our inspiration rather in films such as the documentary feature TOUCHING THE VOID, in which you have the feeling that the camera is climbing along with the Alpinists – almost like a war photographer embedded in the middle of the troops. This way of approaching the genre is obviously not new: the old mountain filmers Arnold Fanck, Luis Trenker, etc. took a practically documentary look at the mountains and, despite all the pathos and stylization of those films, they tried to capture something that was already there rather than inventing something artificial.
I'd like to see a realistic film about the 1966 Harlin II, Kor, Haston Dirretissima...talk about a dramatic and tragic competition for a FA.
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Zander
Trad climber
Berkeley
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Dec 19, 2009 - 03:18pm PT
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The movie Eiger Solo is great. The best climbing movie or video I've seen. The docudrama of the history of the Eiger climbs mixed in with a documentary of a man soloing it. The new movie will need to really good to even compare. I hope it is.
Zander
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Ain't no flatlander
climber
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Dec 19, 2009 - 03:34pm PT
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It'll be interesting to see how it compares to The Beckoning Silence. Joe Simpson's movie on the Eiger was one of the best historical climbing films so far.
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Jaybro
Social climber
Wolf City, Wyoming
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Dec 19, 2009 - 03:43pm PT
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I think a field trip is going to be in order.
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Jacko
Trad climber
Grass Valley Ca.
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Dec 19, 2009 - 05:52pm PT
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You can sign me up for that Field trip, Jaybro.....Jacko
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Jello
Social climber
No Ut
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Dec 20, 2009 - 01:52am PT
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From watching the trailer it's possible to say the true story is fictionalized in this adaptation. For climbers it will be hard to beat Beckoning Silence for veracity. Even so, I look forward to this particular theatrical interpretation.
Leo Dickenson's Eiger Solo was a tour-de-force for the time, but by today's standards, the cinematography is primitive. See Catherine Destivelle's 2008 film, Beyond the Summits, for the current state of the art.
I'm interested in all this stuff because I'm currently involved in a film project that will re-create my 1991 climb of Metanoia on the Eiger. Next March I'll be sitting on the hotel deck at Kliene Scheidegg, watching through the telescope as Ueli Steck makes the second ascent of my route, dressed in the same clothing as I wore. He will be filmed from a helicopter with a cineflex camera with a special mount that essentially eliminates all evidence of the helicopter. We'll go back in the winter of 2011 and rig the whole thing to re-create particular scenes on the face, with an actor/climber. Jeff Long is doing the story/screenplay for the film, but absolutely nothing will be fictionalized.
When I did the climb I was trying to do justice to the boldness of the original pioneers. In order to get close to their level of committment, I chose the hardest unclimbed direct line I could find, went alone in winter, without bolts. In the end the experience was profound: I pushed my limits, danced and talked with ghosts, heard the song of myself magnified by that great concave wall, and generally emerged with a fundamentally different perception of things; ergo, the name - Metanoia.
In the photo below, the yellow line is the 1938 route, the red line is Metanoia, the green line is the 1969 Japanese Direct (approximate), and the purple line is the Czech Direct (approximate). I'm really excited about the project. It's as close as I get to climbing these days.
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neebee
Social climber
calif/texas
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Dec 20, 2009 - 02:45am PT
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hey there all, say, thanks for the notes about this movie...
*back since the media jumped on the lane frost "situation that they understood nothing about, nor chose to"----i never trust a non-fiction movie to folks, to any true justice to... that is "hollywood" ...
lets hope that this will be very well done, as some of the guys made note of more "high quality things done alread" --lets hope...
say, i only learned about the north face, HERE... so, i was so ignorant... i would sure love folks in the movie theaters to see and learn the REAL folk stuff, not a "mess of fictionalized 'garbage' that will haunt the true-story forever" in folks mind... that would be very sad...
true life, kept as it should be, will also be a teacher, as to the emotions and gut-wretching things these men went through, far better, than if they ADD things that are "only for show-effect"... oh my...
say jello:
i am veryyyyyyyyyyy impressed about this project... this is spectacular stuff... say, are we allowed to share a TITLE thread here at supertopo, as to this, and add this link of yours, to it???
this is a wonderful on-going project, and perhaps off and on, you may want to add in a few notes for to cheer you on... ??
please let folks here know if we can start a title for you...
i love this project of yours... :)
and what i love most, too, along side it all is
THE GREAT LAST SENTENCE HERE:
I'm interested in all this stuff because I'm currently involved in a film project that will re-create my 1991 climb of Metanoia on the Eiger. Next March I'll be sitting on the hotel deck at Kliene Scheidegg, watching through the telescope as Ueli Steck makes the second ascent of my route, dressed in the same clothing as I wore. He will be filmed from a helicopter with a cineflex camera with a special mount that essentially eliminates all evidence of the helicopter. We'll go back in the winter of 2011 and rig the whole thing to re-create particular scenes on the face, with an actor/climber. Jeff Long is doing the story/screenplay for the film, but absolutely nothing will be fictionalized.
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rick d
climber
ol pueblo, az
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Dec 20, 2009 - 11:14am PT
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I've got a huge question.
Where did Sedlmeyer and Mehringer go as those two did take a direct line up the face and did not stay right as Kurz et al did?
Jello-
help me out.
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Jello
Social climber
No Ut
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Dec 20, 2009 - 03:22pm PT
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Rick d, the Sedlemeyer/Mehringer line is probably something like the orange line on the photo. There is a big diagonal ledge system going most of the way through the first band, as per the orange line. I think it would provide a pretty easy route to the first icefield. I'm not sure of this, and I'm not sure of the exact lines of the Japanese or Czech directs, either - the lines on the photo are approximate. The red line for Metanoia is exact, however, as is the yellow line for the 1938 route.
Neebee, if you'd like, please feel free to start a new thread. The Eiger is indeed a fascinating subject. The history of the north face is essentially the history of cutting-edge alpinism.
-Jello
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survival
Big Wall climber
A Token of My Extreme
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Dec 20, 2009 - 03:35pm PT
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Jello,
Hauling question.
How did you get your massive ballz up there behind you?
Geez......
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hb81
climber
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Dec 20, 2009 - 03:39pm PT
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I have seen it and I thought it was ok. The climbing was far better and more realistic than in Cliffhanger and similar flicks.
However they added some unnecessary stuff to the story which was a bit annoying. (love story + some nazi stuff which I think was not historically accurate)
The above mentioned "The Beckoning Silence" is far superior if you want to get to know the real story. And they used real climbers instead of actors as well.
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WBraun
climber
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Dec 21, 2009 - 10:07pm PT
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How do you guys get up stuff like this? It looks absolutely terrifying.
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cintune
climber
the Moon and Antarctica
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Dec 21, 2009 - 10:19pm PT
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Looks like Joe Simpson was involved in the climbing sequences:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_gmggsP4Sow
Thats "The Beckoning Silence" dubbed German.
Ah, couldn't tell, costumes looked similar.
Good diagram of the features from Wikipedia, what a deathtrap.
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Jingy
Social climber
Flatland, Ca
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Dec 21, 2009 - 10:20pm PT
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oh. the insanity!!!!
Looks to be a riveting movie...
Those guys were totally nuts if you consider the relative comfort that climbers can ascend in today's gear...
Brave, heroic, or dumb... those guys made the best of their situation... and accomplished it in a style all it's own.
Thanks Chris for the update.
I second Werner... absolutely terrifying!!!
Hey cintune - Thanks for the youboob link.. it led me to watch the first several 10 minute videos..
The beginning of part 3, where the wall of avalanche is taken out everything... No frickin way you'd catch me up there...
And then, when Joe Simpson says "They never thought that they might have to come back this way...".. Until then.. I hadn't either... Can I add caps to my first statement "no frickin way"!!!!
talk about guts..
still watchin...
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guido
Trad climber
Santa Cruz/New Zealand/South Pacific
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Dec 21, 2009 - 11:05pm PT
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"Don't worry Hinterstoisser, we can get back!"
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tuolumne_tradster
Trad climber
Leading Edge of North American Plate
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Dec 21, 2009 - 11:54pm PT
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Here are some of the characters who performed on this stage...for some it was their last performance.
Max Sedlmayer
Tony Kurz "Ich kann nicht mehr"
Anderl Heckmair
Bonnington & Willans
Layton Kor
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neebee
Social climber
calif/texas
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Dec 24, 2009 - 02:27am PT
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hey there, say.... bump for chris's thread, and all the neat stuff shared here...
ps, to jello... thanks for the reply...
say, i got a posts/thread, up here now on the ol' supertopo,
just for any and everything you may want to post on the ol' project...
looking forward to it... :)
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neebee
Social climber
calif/texas
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Dec 24, 2009 - 02:36am PT
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hey there tuolome_tradster...
thank you kindly for posting these pictures...
:)
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kwit
climber
california
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i saw an advance screening of this over the holiday. it is very, *very* good. definitely does justice to both the effort and the tragedy. also makes you feel very, very cold while you watch.
not even in the same galaxy as some of our hack hollywood climbing movies.
and the experience of watching it is made even more interesting by the weird politics: sympathizing with the climbers (which you do) even though you know they are about glorifying nazi germany and the aryan race makes you stop and think.
k
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Klimmer
Mountain climber
San Diego
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Intense movie. Not a family movie though. It will make you think about what we do. Really good. Saw it last night at REI in San Diego.
Not the best venue.
I'll have to see it again on the home movie digital DVD projector and "big" white wall screen in Dolbi 5.1 Surround Sound. Then I can crank up the sound, and no heads in the way, and the subtitles will be big too!!
I should have asked to borrow the DVD.
Believe it or not there is some really funny lines and funny moments in the movie. I think Hollywood should take some lessons on how to make good movies from the Euros. Great real intense stories without the bull dung special effects etc. Reality can be and is intense enough!
Anyway good film. 2 thumbs up!
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Jim Herrington
Mountain climber
New York, NY
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I've seen it.
Thin story line, and some artistic license taken, of course, but the climbing sequences are probably the best and most realistic ever lensed for a feature film. Cinematography is excellent, lots of low/available light stuff that comes off as almost documentary feeling at times. Feels like you're on the north face of the Eiger... Definitely worth seeing for the climbing parts.
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10b4me
Ice climber
Ice Caves at the Sads
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Jello, I can't wait to see your film.
I've always thought that Metanoia was a cutting edge route.
Good job Jeff
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d-know
Trad climber
electric lady land
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bump
'cause it's about climbing.
'cause it's a c-Mc thread.
'cause it's about a mountain
that falls apart and tries
to send us.
and for the link ed posted:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AmjJBu0xiwc
sumpin' every climber
should watch.
can't wait to see the new flick.
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SilasCL
Sport climber
San Francisco, CA
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Feb 27, 2010 - 01:39pm PT
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Just saw it yesterday at The Bridge Theater in SF. Looks to be playing there for the next week or so.
Story was good but not great. The climbing sequences were a lot of fun to watch. Seemed realistic to me, but I wasn't climbing in 1996, nevermind 1936.
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WallMan
Trad climber
Denver, CO
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Great movie - awesome climbing footage. Go see it!
Wally
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bergbryce
Mountain climber
East Bay, CA
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I saw this Friday night. I thought it was good and I in general dislike watching movies. I went because it was a climbing movie and the trailer and movie description actually sounded pretty good.
I thought the climbing aspects of the film were well done aside from the inevitable pitons that worked themselves loose. They dealt with real issues that alpine climbers face, partner issues, weather, gear, etc. The camera work and scenery were amazing as were the special effects. I have no idea how they managed to make an avalanche appear so realistic on film.
I don't know all of the history of this route and to someone who does, it's probably a crappy movie. So ignorance can be bliss, at least in a movie theater.
The fluff factor was actually pretty damn' low (imho) which I appreciated. Not too much time was spent on issues outside of these two guys climbing the unclimbed north face of The Eiger. If you don't want any of that, I guess watch a documentary. This was a movie about climbing that wasn't a documentary and I felt it was pretty well done.
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Jay Wood
Trad climber
Fairfax, CA
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Also saw it Friday night- San Rafael.
Gripping, quite true to history (they added a girl, but works OK), tragic, NOT hollywood.
Excellent sound!
I came away with virtual frostbite.
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rockermike
Trad climber
Berkeley
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its playing in San Jose tonight (Friday 3/5/10); I think I'll go.
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rockermike
Trad climber
Berkeley
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just saw it;
mostly good, but I agree with comment up-thread that once they sacrifice historical accuracy for drama it loses its integrity. I actually don't know the real history exactly, but I don't think the girlfriend spent the night on the face waiting for her boy.
The other thing I note is the climbing techniques, while interesting, are so archaic that you can't really learn much from watching. The one takeaway for me was what the wall looks like in a storm. Not a good place to be - obviously.
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tom woods
Gym climber
Bishop, CA
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May 24, 2010 - 12:51pm PT
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I saw it on netflix last night. Very good movie.
The love interest climbing out to spend the night with Kurz was distracting.
The rest was pretty good.
I can't find the White Spider, so I ask you forum folks- did Kurz and Hinterstoisser start out alone and then team up with the Austrians like in the movie, or was it always a team of four?
Also, was the team retreating because of the injury, lowering an injured man down the whole way?
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phile
Trad climber
SF, CA
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May 24, 2010 - 01:26pm PT
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Tom--I read up on it on wikipedia after watching the movie. If I remember right, the FA attempt started as an austrian party and a german party, which then joined forces after the traverse (the rope had been left in place). The 2nd attempt, shown in the movie, actually started as a party of 4 on the ground.
Basically, they merged the two attempts--a lot of the pieces were based in truth, but spliced together from two different attempts to form a fictional story. I was disappointed to find that out.
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tom woods
Gym climber
Bishop, CA
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May 24, 2010 - 02:03pm PT
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I figured there was artistic license taken.
I'll check the wiki stuff later.
Did they say anything about lowering an injured victim? From what I remember, people were injured but I don't know if they were lowering anybody.
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Mason
Trad climber
Yay Area
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May 24, 2010 - 02:21pm PT
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I think we watched it on Netflix the other night. It was a pretty decent depiction of the historic means by which they climbed back then.
A little drama thrown in for you too.
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John Mac
Trad climber
Littleton, CO
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May 24, 2010 - 02:49pm PT
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I watched this on Netflix (streaming) over the weekend. Make sure you check it out.
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tom woods
Gym climber
Bishop, CA
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May 24, 2010 - 03:34pm PT
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The wikipedia thing on Hinterstoisser says that he was unclipped from the group when the avalanche hit. The movie shows him cutting the rope to save the team.
I would assume the movie made that part up, but why would he be unclipped.
Any of the climbing historians know?
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tuolumne_tradster
Trad climber
Leading Edge of North American Plate
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May 24, 2010 - 03:39pm PT
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The movie is excellent from the perspective of re-creating 1930s vintage climbing methods & equipment and following the real events of this mother-of-all mountaineering epics. However the authenticity of the movie falls apart in the final 30 minutes. Why Bavarian director, Phillipp Stolz, decides to add a fictional romance to this film is beyond me. Also, my Bavarian wife, was disappointed that Stolz did not select a Bavarian actor to play Kurz, a Berchtesgadener. Instead he selected Benno Fürmann who speaks with a northern German accent.
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tom woods
Gym climber
Bishop, CA
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May 24, 2010 - 04:00pm PT
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Del Cross thanks for that.
I feel like a chump cuz I don't have the white spider anymore, it got lost in a move I guess.
The movie showed that sequence more or less.
It was cool to see the gear in action. It looked like the climbers tied essentially chest/body harnesses rather than the bowline on the coil I thought they used.
The ropes looked pretty thinck, but I wondered if they covered modern ropes with something to make them look old.
There is a scene early on in the movie where hinterstoisser is swinging a pendulum and you can see the rope rubbing on the rock as he swings. It looked scary to me. I was scared for the stuntman.
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Brian in SLC
Social climber
Salt Lake City, UT
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May 24, 2010 - 04:36pm PT
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Really enjoyed especially the period climbing and gear.
A couple of things I didn't think were accurate...
Didn't Kurz have crampons on, visible in a photo of his body or someone wrote about the icicles hanging off them?
"Ich kann nicht mehr". Can't believe they didn't include that as his last words. One of the more famous climbing quotes out there. Or, did I just miss it?
No way those guys bailed on their military duties. Given the times? Some revisionist history there for sure.
Good film though.
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tom woods
Gym climber
Bishop, CA
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May 24, 2010 - 04:43pm PT
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I wondered about them quitting the Army too.
Since when can you quit the Army- any army.
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Brian in SLC
Social climber
Salt Lake City, UT
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May 24, 2010 - 05:52pm PT
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I wondered why they chose to have Kurz climb without crampons in the film. What theatrical device was this exactly? It didn't detract too much from the movie; it just seemed weird.
I guess it slowed them down so the Austrians could catch up (which, historically on that fateful trip, they started together as a team).
But it did seem strange, and, they made a point of it. Must have been to show why the Austrians kept up? Rather than show the failed earlier attempt.
Another inaccuracy I thought about was watching them cut steps. They look like beginners. No way an experienced alpinist at that time didn't have step cutting dialed in. They were hackin' and whackin' like amateurs.
The German wiki site has some interesting info:
http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toni_Kurz
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Jaybro
Social climber
Wolf City, Wyoming
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May 24, 2010 - 05:54pm PT
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Is this playing anywhere now?
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tom woods
Gym climber
Bishop, CA
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May 24, 2010 - 05:54pm PT
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so they had crampons? That was weird then, but also cool in a way.
As far as a theatrical device, it would seem to be the only people who would care about whether these guys had crampons or not would be climbers.
I think maybe they were trying to remake the point that crampons were somewhat new, or not widely used in the 30's? Harrer didn't have them right? While it seems crazy nowadays, those guys were used to cutting steps.
The movie seemed like it tried to re-create the climbing at the time. It looked good to me, but my hold on climbing History only goes back to chouinard camalots and Boreal lasers.
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cintune
climber
the Moon and Antarctica
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May 24, 2010 - 05:59pm PT
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Netflix has it.
Those shoulder-belays were... interesting.
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Brock Wagstaff
Trad climber
Larkspur
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May 24, 2010 - 06:08pm PT
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If you rent the movie watch the "making of" section. It would appear that nearly all of the climbing scenes, including the storms, avalanches, chopping steps, etc., were done with the magic of CG. They created the "wall" in a studio and filled in the background. Amazingly realistic...
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Fletcher
Trad climber
not very much, recently.
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May 24, 2010 - 06:15pm PT
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It reminded me of the opening scene of Vertical Limit and was the point at which I left the theater.
Ah Del... You missed out on so much great filmmaking by leaving at that point. :-) For me Vertical Limit is in the category of being so bad, it becomes camp and as a result, entertaining.
I also just noticed the film is available on Netflix. Rather than watching it on my computer, I think this one is worth watching on DVD with a larger screen. I look forward to it.
Eric
EDIT: Ah yes, I did misunderstand. Thanks for clarifying Del.
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Brian in SLC
Social climber
Salt Lake City, UT
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May 24, 2010 - 06:18pm PT
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I think maybe they were trying to remake the point that crampons were somewhat new, or not widely used in the 30's? Harrer didn't have them right? While it seems crazy nowadays, those guys were used to cutting steps.
Remember, though, that Harrer was Austrian, and the Germans had crampons. Can't recall the quote (its a classic quote!), but, in the White Spider book Harrer mentions how quickly the Germans caught them on the ice field.
Even in Leni's book, "Kampf und Schnee und Eis" (1933), the German climbers in that book are sporting crampons (and appear to be front pointing, even).
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tuolumne_tradster
Trad climber
Leading Edge of North American Plate
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May 24, 2010 - 08:11pm PT
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You can't really see if he has crampons on or not in this photo. I think del cross is correct RE "icicles hanging from Kurz's crampons" in the White Spider. How about Sedlmeyer & Mehringer...did they have crampons?
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Brunosafari
Boulder climber
OR
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May 24, 2010 - 10:57pm PT
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I ran out the door of my house when I saw it was on the big screen here in Bend, Oregon. Given the problems in the details mentioned and the amped up romance, I still thought it was an absolutely incredible film achievement, definitely bringing to life the times and the wall and connecting deep with the hundreds of times I've played this amazing story in my head since reading "The White Spider" as a teenager.
can't wait to see the Jeff Lowe story.
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tom woods
Gym climber
Bishop, CA
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May 25, 2010 - 12:17am PT
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While we are all knocking the love interest, did Toni Kurz or Hinterstoisser have a wife/girl friend? Kids?
I guess since they fictionalized so much of the story, it's tough to know what the reality was for those guys.
Who were these guys?
I'm sorry I ask so many questions and don't chime in with any answers.
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tuolumne_tradster
Trad climber
Leading Edge of North American Plate
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May 25, 2010 - 12:37am PT
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Both Toni Kurz (1913-1936) & Andreas Hinterstoisser (1914-1936) were Bavarian climbers. Kurz was from Berchtesgaden and Hinterstoisser was born in the same town where my wife grew up, Bad Reichenhall. Hinterstoisser helped develop the technique of tension traverses.
Here's a list of their 1st ascents from German Wikipedia:
http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toni_Kurz
Untersberg:
* 1934 Südwestwand des Berchtesgadener Hochthrons
* 1936 Gerade Pfeilersüdwand des Berchtesgadener Hochthrons
Reiter Alm:
* 1935 Wartsteinkante
* 1936 Südkante des Großen Mühlsturzhorns
Watzmann:
* 1935 Direkte Südkante
Eiger-Nordwand
* Juli 1936 unsuccessful Eiger-Nordwand attempt.
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Tony Bird
climber
Northridge, CA
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May 25, 2010 - 12:46am PT
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i saw this movie at UCLA recenty--recommended. i don't know if toni's love interest is fictional, but it becomes a wonderful part of this tragic story.
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pocoloco1
Mountain climber
The Chihuahua Desert
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May 25, 2010 - 01:00am PT
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At the end of the movie.
“I’m not going back to Berlin”
“No, why not?”
“Because their are to many people like you in Berlin”
Or something like that, she spit the bit ...liberation..the mountains will do that to ya...if your lucky.
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tuolumne_tradster
Trad climber
Leading Edge of North American Plate
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May 25, 2010 - 01:20am PT
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but the way she free soloed up to a ledge below where Kurz was hanging and spent the night there...sorry but that was too much for me
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karodrinker
Trad climber
San Jose, CA
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May 25, 2010 - 01:21am PT
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Im watching it right now through my xbox/ netflix. Awesome so far...
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Rudder
Trad climber
Santa Rosa, CA
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May 25, 2010 - 01:24am PT
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Saw it, loved it. Now when we run into problems at work we say, "Seems pretty hard but it would be a yawner for Toni Kurz."
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tuolumne_tradster
Trad climber
Leading Edge of North American Plate
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May 25, 2010 - 01:36am PT
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Note that nearly all the early attempts of the Eiger Nordwand were all done by Germans and Austrians and the 1st successful ascent was a German-Austrian team. The Swiss considered it insanity to climb the Nordwand at that time.
But times have changed. In 2009 Swiss alpinist Ueli Steck raced up the Nordwand at a pace of 17 meters/minute
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Tony Bird
climber
Northridge, CA
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May 26, 2010 - 09:44am PT
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just a note here, since i've dabbled in film and have been in the hollywood fringe for years.
it used to bother me more when filmmakers play fast and loose with historical accuracy. perhaps that's because so few people get their history from any other source. i read die weiße spinne (the white spider) in german back in graduate school--really helped me get started on that language and gave me a taste of the early days of our sport. i had no problem with this film, and i think toni's love interest makes it what it is--would have been nothing but a jock story otherwise. she's the real protagonist here.
william shakespeare put a lot of history into fiction, popularized it, and i'm sure played fast and loose with lots of facts. but he also made it come alive, and probably led more than a few people into the passion of studying history.
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tuolumne_tradster
Trad climber
Leading Edge of North American Plate
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May 26, 2010 - 11:05pm PT
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OK fair enough Tony but what about her free soloing to Kurz?
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neebee
Social climber
calif/texas
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May 26, 2010 - 11:31pm PT
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hey there all, say... i never see movies now adays.. and rarely did before these times, as well... but, i must say:
thanks to all you climbers who saw this and chipped in climbling notes, and such, as to how it was for you, and as to history and such...
very sad, as to the outcome for that bold team... sad that they could not have done it on there own time frame, and in their own gut-manner, instead of due to propaganda pitche and war, etc... a climbers personal gut-feeling as to timeing, plays so much into the climb, as, they are the ones that must do it, not those daring them...
well, just wanted to say thanks for your loyal output as to truth, here... dont know if i will ever see it around, or get to see it, but now i will know how it fared and such, and will have learned history from links mentioned, too, and such...
oh my---sure would enjoy to see jello's movie project...
:)
onward and upward, to understanding what is correct, as to climbing, in whatever ways others try to project it...
thanks guys...
:)
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neebee
Social climber
calif/texas
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May 26, 2010 - 11:39pm PT
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hey there...say, one added thought... (not meaning to be rude, just seeing how things seem to go, in the world of film, and viewers and such)
oh my... if film makers can't even film fiction-books "facts", to correctly MATCH the book-events and endings, i reckon we just can't trust them make life events true to any historical life or life history book "facts" either...
too much vision into another realm they must have, so it seems...
though of course, the artistic beauty may still show, and folks accept the
flims, then, as they trust sthe beauty of the scenery and never wonder more about the story, unless they HAVE read the book, or knew of the history facts, already...
once again, i remember lane frost, and i am glad that i felt odd about a fews thaings that did not measure up in that movie... seeking the real facts, then, bore witness, andi was glad that i took the time to learn...
so, perhaps, in some ways, just the fact that a movie IS made, has some merit, as, signpost wise, we can seek out the trail of truth, if we are such folks to do so...
for those that don't, though, the trail just leads on to completely different destination, that may one day reveal itself as such, or not...
once again, thanks for all the neat feed back here..
:)
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Tony Bird
climber
Northridge, CA
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May 28, 2010 - 08:20pm PT
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trad, you're judging the movie from the point of view of an expert climber. the movie was made for general audiences, very few knowing the first thing about climbing.
i was invited to a climber's preview of cliffhanger when it came out. beautiful look at the dolomites, where i have since climbed, but most of us spent the whole movie roaring about the dumb things stallone was doing--things climbers never do. stallone spent the whole movie freesoloing around wearing a harness with about $163 worth of climbshop gear dangling from it--basically jewelry to accentuate his body. it was a hoot, but to the fellow's credit, they say he did all his own stunts despite being scared to death of heights.
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tuolumne_tradster
Trad climber
Leading Edge of North American Plate
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May 28, 2010 - 10:49pm PT
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gullich did most/all of the climbing scenes for stallone in cliffhanger
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Tony Bird
climber
Northridge, CA
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May 29, 2010 - 08:17am PT
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wasn't the buzz i heard, trad, but my sources aren't always reliable. if it sounds like a good rumor, i generally repeat it. sly did quite a lot of parading his overdone body on dolomite rock. how can his fans get past that bloodhound face?
i know bob gaines had a big gig in the production, and the plot was loosely based on largo's writeup of the drug courier that crashed in yosemite backcountry.
around that time, my climbing club got a call for a woman to do a little stunt work. basically she had to go out a window about five stories up and do some 5.0 buildering and go back in another window. turned out to be an hour's work for $10,000. this rumor is fairly reliable since the whole club talked about it for years. to say they put on climbing harnesses and paraded daily down hollywood boulevard would be stretching it, but it sure got our hopes up.
i think the best disclaimer would be: based on real rumors.
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R Oakes
Big Wall climber
NC
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I just saw this in the Thallion Hall in Wilmington, NC. I was down on vacation w/the in-laws and heard it advertised on NPR...had to see it.
I thought it was fantastic! Especially in an old theatre on the big screen from the balcony.
For the critics....
First off, we don't really know all the details, so what's wrong w/some interpration for the big screen. A little drama never hurt. After all, do you imagine that none of your stories of your own epic adventures get just a little bit embellished? If not, then you must be really boring. After all, how do you explain bird beaking on a manky half ripped open copperhead w/a blown out wire, to the non-wall climber and moreover to the non-climber? That emotion must be embellished just a touch.
Second, as for the girl free soloing out to the ledge? Have you been there? It's cool to think that it may have happened, whether it did or not. I'm sure for those of you who have found yourselves in epic situations, you know all too well, that your thoughts leave the mountain and go home to loved ones...at least mine have. I think it was really killer that they touched on that, not for her but for Toni. As for the technical side of these things...they did set the stage by explaining that she had climbed w/the boys growing up, and we all know that once a climber,always a climber. We all know what Women are capable of...how many of you have freed the Nose?
Third, the army bit? Remember, Germany WANTED to be the first, as did every other country. Maybe they were granted a leave, who knows? Perhaps someone reading this post has some historic facts to follow up with.
The Crampon debate is interesting but really pointless. They were very accurate with much of the technical detail, unlike so many other climbing movies. Even the little things like passing rope through gear, nailing pins, forging your own pins, riding your bike to the base, and how about pulling the rope on the traverse? How bout they way the man on point never had a f'in rope above him? I was impressed w/that alone. It was cool to see the body belay's, correct technique or not.
Finally, the coolest thing about Norwand, was dinging of the pin throughout the movie...reminded me of the the old Nose video.
Oh and it does say "BASED" on a true story....I just saw it two days ago.
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tuolumne_tradster
Trad climber
Leading Edge of North American Plate
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here's where she would have free soloed to...
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Mimi
climber
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Jul 31, 2010 - 11:32am PT
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Saw the movie last night via Netflix. Very well done and the director's commentary showed how much they tried to focus on accuracy and capturing the history of the climb. Regarding the crampons, they made a point to say that they were not with the gear when they got to their stash near the railway window. Boy, did those guys suffer BITD! Those were some very hard men.
Jello, how is the movie coming along? Best to you on this project. It should be great.
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hb81
climber
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Sadly enough, 70 years later the "Ogre" (thats the meaning of "Eiger") is still taking lives.
http://abcnews.go.com/Travel/wireStory?id=11304003
I've just been to Grindelwald for the first time last week and did a hike on the Eiger Trail which goes around underneath the north face.
The sheer size of this thing is just unbelieveable.
It was a very humbling experience and I take my hat off to anyone who has the balls to go up there.
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tuolumne_tradster
Trad climber
Leading Edge of North American Plate
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here's a photo from the start of the North Face route looking down on the trail...my balls were only big enough to visit the start of the route
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Hoots
climber
Toyota Tacoma
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Oct 14, 2010 - 03:13am PT
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Just watched this thing, and my palms are still sweatin! I knew what was coming the whole time, but that didn't make it any easier to watch!
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rottingjohnny
Sport climber
mammoth lakes ca
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Oct 14, 2010 - 08:29am PT
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I went to tobin soernsons slide show and the eiger was one of the topics....i remember him saying that they were being offered a resuce when they simuled by the train window...
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squishy
Mountain climber
sacramento
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Jul 22, 2011 - 05:53pm PT
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bump for cool pics and stuff
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