The author of White Spider and Seven Years in Tibet died this week. Here’s what I had to say about his account of climbing the Eiger after reading it a couple of years ago-

The author of Seven Years in Tibet was also part of the first team to climb the North Face of the Eiger. Here he relates the history of all the attempts on the face up until 1965. A catalogue of endurance and disaster, including some horrendous deaths- those who fell off the cliff were the lucky ones. Slightly stilted, possibly in the translation, and heavy on the facts, but gripping none the less.

The BBC has an article about the mountain’s continuing allure.