Product Description

The White Spider dramatically recreates not only the

harrowing, successful ascent made by Harrer and his comrades in 1938, but also the previous, tragic attempts at a wall of rock that was recently enshrined in mountaineer Jon Krakauer's first work, Eiger Dreams. For a generation of American climbers, The White Spider has been a formative book--yet it has long been out-of-print in America. This edition awaits discovery by Harrer's new legion of readers.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #33094 in Books
• Published on: 1998-09-28
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 384 pages

Features

• ISBN13: 9780874779400
• Condition: NEW
• Notes: Brand New from Publisher. No Remainder Mark.
• Click here to view our Condition Guide and Shipping Prices

From Publishers Weekly
At 13,025 feet, the Swiss Eiger doesn't approach the height of Everest or Denali, but the sheer rise and difficulty of its 5900-foot north face keeps it in the company of the world's most celebrated peaks. At the time Harrer (Seven Years in Tibet, originally the sequel to this volume) became part of the first successful summit climb in 1938, the north face of the Eiger was considered the "last and greatest of Alpine problems" left in the world. Originally published in 1959 (with chapters added in 1964 and an index covering subsequent Eiger climbs), this riveting account of his ascent and the history of confronting the EigerAbeginning with the first fatal attempts to conquer the north face in 1935Ais a crisply written paean to the mountain where Harrer first earned recognition as a world-class climber. A simple narrative style brings to life the many obstacles faced by Eiger climbersAsnowstorms, avalanches and a continuous shower of falling rocks among them. Harrer has a Hemingwayesque appreciation of the codes, bravery and rules of conduct governing the closed world of "true mountaineers." And he reserves special contempt for the sensation-seekers who gather to watch deadly feats of climbing from the ground below. Sections that document the evolution of climbing gear (Harrer wore no crampons on his 1938 ascent) and national rivalries in the WWII-era climbing community help make this volume an important contribution to the emerging canon of mountaineering literature.
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Review
'An outstanding book in the mountaineering library .. The author is well qualified for his task.' Guardian 'Even to look at the photographs of the terrible slopes of the Eiger chills the blood. Heinrich Harrer enables the reader to vicariously experience the cold and the terror of the climb.' Irish Press 'The White Spider provides almost the classic statement of the weird and frequently misunderstood psychology of the moder rock-climber. Despite the grimness of much of what he is doing, Harrer communicates the irresistible joy of climbing as an antidote to the idea that climbers are masochistically trying to prove something to themselves.' Sunday Times

Language Notes
Text: English (translation)
Original Language: German

Customer Reviews

Good but could have been better!
I enjoyed this book, but I kept feeling something was missing. For one thing, I expected long treatment of the famous Lachenal-Terray second ascent in the immediate post-war era, and this was most disappointingly lacking.

Second, there was just .... something missing, somehow. The book seemed like a sterile recounting of history, not like something lived in the passion of the moment. Where were the great blow-by-blow descriptions of entire climbs, complete with pitches from hell, near-falls and miraculous saves, desperate bivouacs, all the great stuff ... ?

I have to agree with the earlier reviewer who said that climbing literature just ain't what it used to be. Sure, it's good to see this classic in English translation. Likewise, it's great to see Gaston Rebuffat's Starlight and Storm in bookstores. But there is so much better out there. Why isn't Lionel Terray's "Conquistadors of the Useless" (for my money the best climbing book of them all) still in print in the US? And why haven't Louis Lachenal's "Vertigo Notebooks" ever been translated into English? And what about Heckmair's own memoirs? Like the other reviewer said: kids today don't know what they're missing. Too bad for them.

Beautiful, Magnificent Eiger
I love this book, and I love all of the writings of Mr. Harrer. The two Tibet books and this are must reading if you love Mountain books, and if you are interested in Tibet. Another fantastic book to read about the Eiger is The Climb Up To Hell, by Olsen. Mr. Harrer was on the team that made the first successful ascent of the North Face of the Eiger. It is an incredible event, truly one of the most fantastic in the history of mountaineering. I have to laugh sometimes when I see and hear about all the "extreme" sports and athletes, letting us all know how radical they are, using their thousands of dollars of equipment and guides to do these things. Just wait until we can get helicopters to fly higher in thin air, then we'll ALL be able to get to the summits of these mountains and have a beer and a bratwurst. Until then, do yourself a favor and read Mr. Harrer's books.

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.