John Elvis Harlin II (June 30, 1935 – March 22, 1966) was an American

mountaineer Mountaineering or alpinism, is a set of outdoor activities that involves ascending tall mountains. Mountaineering-related activities include traditional outdoor climbing, skiing, and traversing via ferratas. Indoor climbing, sport climbing, an ...

and US Air Force pilot who was killed while making an ascent of the north face of the

Eiger The Eiger () is a mountain of the Bernese Alps, overlooking Grindelwald and Lauterbrunnen in the Bernese Oberland of Switzerland, just north of the main watershed and border with Valais. It is the easternmost peak of a ridge crest that extends a ...

Biography

Harlin graduated from Sequoia High School and

Stanford University Stanford University, officially Leland Stanford Junior University, is a private research university in Stanford, California. The campus occupies , among the largest in the United States, and enrolls over 17,000 students. Stanford is consider ...

. Having established himself as a top-rank mountaineer with the first American ascent of the

North Face's Original Route in 1962 and the American Direct on the Dru, he conceived of climbing the Eiger by the ''direttissima'' (

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance language *** Regional Ita ...

for "most direct") route. Two thousand feet from the summit, his rope broke and he fell to his death in 1966. The

Scottish Scottish usually refers to something of, from, or related to Scotland, including: *Scottish Gaelic, a Celtic Goidelic language of the Indo-European language family native to Scotland *Scottish English *Scottish national identity, the Scottish ide ...

mountaineer

Dougal Haston Duncan "''Dougal"'' Curdy MacSporran Haston (19 April 1940 – 17 January 1977) was a Scottish mountaineer noted for his exploits in the British Isles, Alps, and the Himalayas. From 1967 he was the director of the International School of Mountai ...

, who had been climbing with Harlin, reached the summit with a

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party which joined forces to follow the same route, afterwards named the "Harlin route" in his honor. The story of the climb was recounted in the book '' Direttissima: The Eiger Assault'' by British author (and ground team member)

Peter Gillman Peter Gillman (born 1942) is a British writer and journalist specializing (but not exclusively) in mountaineering topics. His book, ''Direttissima; the Eiger Assault'' (1967), also published under the title ''Direttissima'', co-authored with Douga ...

and Dougal Haston. In 1965 Harlin had founded the "International School of Modern Mountaineering" in Leysin, Switzerland (the word "Modern" was later dropped from the title.) Harlin had previously worked as sports director at the Leysin American School. Harlin's son,

John Harlin III John is a common English name and surname: * John (given name) * John (surname) John may also refer to: New Testament Works * Gospel of John, a title often shortened to John * First Epistle of John, often shortened to 1 John * Second ...

, who was nine at the time of his father's death, is also a mountaineer and was the editor-in-chief of the

American Alpine Club The American Alpine Club (AAC) is a non-profit member organization with more than 24,000 members. Its vision is to create "a united community of competent climbers and healthy climbing landscapes." The Club is housed in the American Mountaineerin ...

's ''American Alpine Journal''. Harlin III, himself an accomplished climber and author of five books, recently climbed the Eiger by the "original" route. He has written a book about his experience entitled ''The Eiger Obsession''. A film of the son's climb to exorcise the ghosts left by his father's death came out in May 2007: ''

The Alps The Alps () ; german: Alpen ; it, Alpi ; rm, Alps ; sl, Alpe . are the highest and most extensive mountain range system that lies entirely in Europe, stretching approximately across seven Alpine countries (from west to east): France, Sw ...

'' by Steve Judson and his Academy Award-nominated film team, is an Imax movie containing footage of the north face of the Eiger as well as other Alpine peaks. Harlin III returned to the Leysin American School where his father was sports director, as the director of the Alpine Institute.

First ascents

* 1964 Cime de l'Est NE ridge,

Dents du Midi The Dents du Midi (French language, French: "teeth of noon") are a three-kilometre-long mountain range in the Chablais Alps in the canton of Valais, Switzerland. Overlooking the Val d'Illiez and the Rhône valley to the south, they face the Lac d ...

, Valais, Switzerland. With

Chris Bonington Sir Christian John Storey Bonington, CVO, CBE, DL (born 6 August 1934) is a British mountaineer. His career has included nineteen expeditions to the Himalayas, including four to Mount Everest. Early life and expeditions Bonington's father, w ...

and

Rusty Baillie Rusty may refer to something covered with rust or with a rust (color). Rusty is also a nickname for people who have red hair, have a rust-hued skin tone, or have the given name Russell. Rusty may also refer to: People *Rusty Anderson (born 1959 ...

* 1965 American Direttissima, Aiguille du Dru, Mont Blanc Range, France. With

Royal Robbins Royal Robbins (February 3, 1935 – March 14, 2017) was one of the pioneers of American rock climbing. After learning to climb at Tahquitz Rock, he went on to make first ascents of many big wall routes in Yosemite. As an early proponent of bolt ...

Bibliography

* Salter, James. ''Solo Faces'', Collins, 1980 * Ullman, James Ramsay. ''Straight Up: The Life and Death of John Harlin'', Doubleday, 1968 * Harlin, John. ''The Eiger Obsession: Facing the mountain that killed my father'', Simon & Schuster, 2007; Lyons Press 2009 * Fenoli, Marc. « Leysin, le roc des sixties », in Montagnes Magazine, no 158, April 1993 : illustrated dossier on the International school of modern mountaineering in Leysin, Switzerland, and the ascent of the Eiger in 1966 by John Harlin, Dougal Haston, Don Williams.

References

External links

*Film clip fro
Eiger: Tragedy and Triumph.
Accessed 15 December 2012. 1935 births 1966 deaths American mountain climbers Mountaineering deaths Sport deaths in Switzerland Place of birth missing People from Redwood City, California {{climbing-bio-stub