The Eiger Mordwand

Wasn't it a knot in the rope that jammed in Kurz' rappel carabiner that prevented him from going down far enough to be rescued?

The first one, with the Finstraerhorn (SP?) in the background, shows what i believe is a peak called the Ochs. That particular north wall is a fearsome looking rig (...)

Ron wrote:
Later that year the bodies (including those of Sedlemayer and Mehringer whose demise the year before had caused the naming of Death Bivouac) were recovered by guides.

Rainer, is in my humble opinion, today's greatest writer of mountain history. He's a great writer AND a great historian. His book on the Corti tragedy of 1957 was an amazing achievement, and I think that "Eiger - Triumphe and Tragodien" will ever surpass it. It's really a new generation of mountain histories, something I think it's somehow needed at long last.

On July 24 1938 Heckmair, Wiggerl Vörg and the Austrians Heinrich Harrer and Fritz Kasparek stood on the summit having defeated the last great problem of the Alps. Their achievement is considered one of the finest moments of alpine mountaineering, and Heckmair made it possible by navigating the way through the labyrinth of ice gullies and by leading the most difficult sections. On their return they were greeted as heroes of the German Reich, to Heckmair's disquiet.

Mountaineers turned to the great north faces in the early 1930s. Those of the Matterhorn and the Grandes Jorasses were conquered in 1931 and 1935, and only the Eiger remained. By 1938 it had exacted a high rate of attrition: of the 12 climbers who attempted the north face - or Eigerwand - in the 1930s, only three survived. The death of Toni Kurz in 1936 was especially tragic: he perished within earshot of his rescuers while dangling from a rope.

The press dubbed the Eiger's north face the Mordwand ("death wall"). The Swiss even passed a law banning all attempts, although it was repealed after protests. Even the guides had officially declared that they would not participate in rescues. It was in this atmosphere that Heckmair and Vörg arrived in early July, hiding their climbing gear so as to keep their attempt secret.

The 5,905-ft wall of the face posed a formidable challenge. The combination of crumbling rock, ice and loose snow required techniques that were ahead of their time. Avalanches and snow-storms were to be expected. Once committed, it was almost impossible to retreat.

Harrer and Kasparek set off on July 21, Heckmair and Vörg caught up with them the following day. Despite obvious rivalry, they realised that if they were to succeed they should unite. They shared their loads so that Heckmair, the best climber, led with the lightest sack. "Anderl led like a hero all the way up the climb - a real hero, quietly doing the job and serving his friends," wrote Harrer in White Spider, his account of the ascent.

In full view of the tourists at the Scheidegg hotel, who watched through telescopes, they inched their way upwards through the now famous landmarks of the face: the "difficult crack", the Hinterstoisser Traverse, the second and third icefields. At the first bivouac at "the ramp", some two thirds of the way up, Heckmair became ill after eating sardines that were off. Cured by a cup of peppermint tea, he then attacked the hardest pitch of the climb.

First he tried to follow the rock, but a hold broke off and he fell. Angry, he attacked again, this time with a set of revolutionary crampons that had front points. "He then treated us to an acrobatic tour de force," recalled Harrer. "It was half superb rock-technique, half a toe-dance on the ice - a toe-dance above a perpendicular drop."

At one point, Heckmair's crampons had a purchase of only a few millimetres, but he defeated the pitch, cut footholds and made himself safe. He attacked the next pitch in a similar spirit, but fell again; the piton held. With each fall his anger increased, yet he continued to venture upwards until he was successful. "It was the hardest part of the climb so far," he remembered. "I was satisfied, but not inclined to wish for any further heightening of the satisfaction."

Nevertheless, it came. He fell again, this time landing on Vörg, piercing his hand with a crampon point. Heckmair prevented his friend from going into shock with the advice: "Pull yourself together, everything depends on it." Vörg responded, and they reached the summit. When they returned to the valley below, they were mobbed by an ecstatic crowd.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/1482809/Anderl-Heckmair.html

"I was satisfied, but not inclined to wish for any further heightening of the satisfaction."