1936 Eiger north face climbing disaster on:
[Wikipedia]
[Google]
[Amazon]
In July 1936, five climbers died while attempting to ascend the north face of the Eiger mountain in Switzerland.
The weather improved and they made preliminary explorations of the lowest part of the face. Hinterstoisser fell but was not injured. A few days later the four men began ascending the north face. They climbed quickly, but on the second day, the weather changed; clouds came down and allowed observers on the ground only intermittent visibility to the climbers on the face. On the second day the party was bombarded by rockfall, a notorious problem on the north face route. Angerer was hit just below the shoulder blade and injured, though it is said that he tried to continue climbing. He certainly did not call for a retreat at the time.
They did not resume climbing until the following day, when, during a break in the clouds, the party was observed descending. Later, it would be learned that the group had no choice but to retreat, since Angerer had suffered more serious injuries from the falling rock than at first thought. The party became stuck on the face when they could not recross a difficult traverse – which became known as the Hinterstoisser traverse – from which they had pulled the rope during their ascent. Exhausted on their third day of climbing, with two days of bad weather, Hinterstoisser still tried for hours to cross the traverse, which was now covered in verglas. On the way up, Hinterstoisser had used a technique called a "tension traverse", where a rope is fixed and kept taut, allowing the lead climber to "lean" on it for balance. This technique was not possible descending though.
The weather got worse. Falling rock, snow and water could be seen from town. The group decided to
mountainzone.com. Retrieved on 2010-03-04 In the morning the three guides returned, traversing the face again from a hole near the Eigerwand Station despite avalanche-prone conditions. Toni Kurz was still alive but almost helpless. After four nights exposed to the elements, one of his hands and his arm was completely frozen. Kurz hauled himself back to the mountain face after cutting loose Angerer below him. The guides were not able to pass an unclimbable overhang that separated them from Kurz, but they managed to get a rope long enough to reach Kurz by tying two ropes together. While abseiling, however, Kurz could not get the knot that joined the two ropes to pass through his carabiner. He tried for hours to reach his rescuers, who were just a few metres below him, desperately trying to move himself past the knot, but in vain. He then began to lose consciousness. One of the guides, climbing on another's shoulders, was able to touch the tip of Kurz's crampons with the head of his ice-axe but could not reach higher. Faced with the futility of his situation, he famously said only "Ich kann nicht mehr" ("I can't o onanymore") and then died. His body was later recovered by a German team.
In July 1936, five climbers died while attempting to ascend the north face of the Eiger mountain in Switzerland.
Background
After a deadly and unsuccessful German attempt in 1935, ten climbers from Austria and Germany travelled to the still-unclimbed north face of the Eiger in 1936, but, before serious summit attempts could get underway, one climber was killed during a training climb. The weather was so bad that after waiting for a change and seeing none on the way, several climbers gave up. Only four remained: two Bavarians,Andreas Hinterstoisser
Andreas Hinterstoisser (3 October 1914 – 21 July 1936) was a German mountain climber active in the 1930s. He died during an attempt to climb the Eiger north face with his partner Toni Kurz. A section of the north face was later named the "Hinter ...
and Toni Kurz, and two Austrians, Willy Angerer
Willy Angerer (c. 1905 – 21 July 1936) was an Austrian mountaineer. He was one of four mountaineers who died in the 1936 Eiger north face climbing disaster, along with Toni Kurz, Andreas Hinterstoisser and Eduard Rainer. At thirty-one Angerer wa ...
and Edi Rainer.
Ascent and retreat
The weather improved and they made preliminary explorations of the lowest part of the face. Hinterstoisser fell but was not injured. A few days later the four men began ascending the north face. They climbed quickly, but on the second day, the weather changed; clouds came down and allowed observers on the ground only intermittent visibility to the climbers on the face. On the second day the party was bombarded by rockfall, a notorious problem on the north face route. Angerer was hit just below the shoulder blade and injured, though it is said that he tried to continue climbing. He certainly did not call for a retreat at the time.
They did not resume climbing until the following day, when, during a break in the clouds, the party was observed descending. Later, it would be learned that the group had no choice but to retreat, since Angerer had suffered more serious injuries from the falling rock than at first thought. The party became stuck on the face when they could not recross a difficult traverse – which became known as the Hinterstoisser traverse – from which they had pulled the rope during their ascent. Exhausted on their third day of climbing, with two days of bad weather, Hinterstoisser still tried for hours to cross the traverse, which was now covered in verglas. On the way up, Hinterstoisser had used a technique called a "tension traverse", where a rope is fixed and kept taut, allowing the lead climber to "lean" on it for balance. This technique was not possible descending though.
The weather got worse. Falling rock, snow and water could be seen from town. The group decided to abseil
Abseiling ( ; ), also known as rappelling ( ; ), is the controlled descent of a steep slope, such as a rock face, by moving down a rope. When abseiling the person descending controls their own movement down the rope, in contrast to low ...
from the lower lip of the First Ice Field down the vertical face (the great rock barrier). A ledge ran along the wall of rock, which, if they could get to it, would lead them to the Stollenloch, a entrance to the train tunnel. As belay devices had not yet been invented, they rappelled using the Dülfersitz
The Dülfersitz (named after its inventor, mountaineer Hans Dülfer), also known as body rappel is a classical, or non-mechanical abseiling technique, used in rock climbing and mountaineering. It is not used frequently any more, since the introduc ...
method. Contact was made with a railway guard at the Eigerwand railway station
Eigerwand is a currently disused underground railway station on the Jungfrau railway, which runs to the Jungfraujoch from Kleine Scheidegg. The station is situated just behind the north wall of the Eiger, and its principal purpose was to allow ...
halfway down the descent. During their exchange the climbers amazingly said that everything was all right (perhaps out of pride and knowledge that they were very close to safety). However, as Hinterstoisser set up the last abseil of the descent, an avalanche
An avalanche is a rapid flow of snow down a slope, such as a hill or mountain.
Avalanches can be set off spontaneously, by such factors as increased precipitation or snowpack weakening, or by external means such as humans, animals, and eart ...
came down the mountain, taking Hinterstoisser, who had unclipped from the group, with it. He was found at the bottom of the mountain days later. Willy Angerer fell and was killed by the impact of his body against the rock face, and Edi Rainer quickly asphyxiated
Asphyxia or asphyxiation is a condition of deficient supply of oxygen to the body which arises from abnormal breathing. Asphyxia causes generalized hypoxia, which affects primarily the tissues and organs. There are many circumstances that can ...
from the weight of the rope around his diaphragm. Only Kurz survived the avalanche, hanging on the rope with his dead comrades.
Rescue attempt
Late on the third day three Swiss guides started a rescue attempt from Eigerwand Station. They failed to reach Kurz but came within shouting distance and learned what had happened. Kurz explained the fate of his companions: one had fallen down the face, another was frozen above him, and the third had fractured his skull in falling and was hanging on the rope below him.The north face of the Eigermountainzone.com. Retrieved on 2010-03-04 In the morning the three guides returned, traversing the face again from a hole near the Eigerwand Station despite avalanche-prone conditions. Toni Kurz was still alive but almost helpless. After four nights exposed to the elements, one of his hands and his arm was completely frozen. Kurz hauled himself back to the mountain face after cutting loose Angerer below him. The guides were not able to pass an unclimbable overhang that separated them from Kurz, but they managed to get a rope long enough to reach Kurz by tying two ropes together. While abseiling, however, Kurz could not get the knot that joined the two ropes to pass through his carabiner. He tried for hours to reach his rescuers, who were just a few metres below him, desperately trying to move himself past the knot, but in vain. He then began to lose consciousness. One of the guides, climbing on another's shoulders, was able to touch the tip of Kurz's crampons with the head of his ice-axe but could not reach higher. Faced with the futility of his situation, he famously said only "Ich kann nicht mehr" ("I can't o onanymore") and then died. His body was later recovered by a German team.
See also
* '' The Beckoning Silence'', a 2007 documentary about the disaster * ''North Face North face or Northface or The North Face may refer to:
* North face (Eiger), in the Bernese Alps in Switzerland
* North Face (Everest), in Himalaya, usually traversed ascending Everest from the north
* North face (Fairview Dome), a climbing route ...
'', a 2008 German film on the subject
References
{{coord missing, Switzerland Mountaineering disasters Eiger Mountaineering in Switzerland 1936 disasters in Switzerland History of the Alps 1936 in Switzerland Disasters in Switzerland