The Beckoning Silence, part 5/8

[tbladon1]

Read "The White Spider" by Heinrich Harrer, who was on the team that did the first successful ascent of the Eiger North Face. He gives the history of climbing on the north face. Excellent read.

[Billieboy43]

...as you can see all four climbers wearing "steigeisen", sorry, I don´t know the english word....in those days (1936) they didn´t exist....the first climbers with "steigeisen" were heckmair and vörg 1938....sorry for my bad english....thx for posting this vids....

[RobV1976]

@Billieboy43 "steigeisen" auf Englisch ist "Crampons" :)

[BeijingisBeijing]

@Billieboy43 I don't know whether these guys on this particular climb were equipped with crampons (Steigeisen) but a German Himalaya expedition in 1932 (German Kangchenjunga expedition) apparently already used them as given in the book "Fallen Giants".

Crampons were invented by an englishman in 1908, though, ironically, the english discarded them as unsportsman-like, leaving it to others to introduce them into mountaineering...

[parttimelaver]

been desperate for something similar to touching the void. this is just the ticket.

[HitmonTom]

Hindsight is always 20/20

[atemlos2585]

Being to cocky lost them.

[MrChipi12345]

at 1:25 he said "Hey he doesent get forward"

[zinkerled]

I can't believe they didn't realize the knot would be a problem. They should have just sent up a hot thermos (surely they brought one), then gone back for a proper rope.

[thedsearch]

Forgive my ignorance, I am not a mountain climber, but why couldn't they just hammer pegs across the traverse one by one and use them to plant their feet?

[cinesimonj]

@thedsearch Pretty sure the rock wouldn't allow it. Just too hard. Remember the era, too - the metals they used were relatively soft compared with that of today - though I'm not sure in this case it would make a difference, as there are still no pegs even now in that particular rock. I'm pretty sure, anyway.

[thedsearch]

@cinesimonj thanks for answering. but what about the peg they hammered in in the upper part of the traverse for the ropes? it seems the rock wasn't too hard there to hammer in a peg. are you saying the rock was too hard for pegs just a few feet away from the rope peg?

[cinesimonj]

@thedsearch I should have also said: the vast majority of such pegs are hammered into existing cracks, not into rock face. It's likely that at that point above was a crack in the rock..

[strongmeasures]

@cinesimonj hmm...in that case, maybe they would have been better off pushing for the summit and then going down the other side?

[senhuan]

The 1 "dislike" is going through a mid-life crisis. Don't hate them.

[macedos2000]

This documentary takes hold of your heart and soul and literally drags you across the vertiginous slopes of the Eiger. You are spellbound throughout by the drama and exhausted by the tragic ending. A gripping film of the highest quality.

[MaxtheGrande]

for those who want to know wa =t there saying there saying careful , come here, come not, you cant do it, etc

[TigerMeadows]

Wasn't there a route straight down from the 1st ice field, look s like a white line so some snowy/icy surface to cling to.

[opridilol]

i think its probably an iced crack or sth like that. anyway, look what kind of terrain is below that line.. at least three times longer rock descent before reaching the ascend route..

shitty situation indeed ;/

[TheMexicanAssasian]

hintersto was d man.

[agsibarani]

Very interesting! Thank you for putting this up!