The North Face of the Eiger

The Eiger is a mountain in the Alps of Switzerland. It is the easternmost peak of a ridge crest that extends to the Mönch (4,099 m) and across the Jungfraujoch to the Jungfrau (4,158 m). The peak is mentioned in records dating back to the 13th century but there is no clear indication of how exactly the peak gained its name. The three mountains of the ridge are sometimes referred to as the Virgin (Jungfrau), Monk (Mönch) and Ogre (Eiger). The name has been linked to the Greek term akros meaning "sharp" or "pointed", but more commonly to the German eigen, meaning characteristic.

The spectacular north face of the Eiger towers over 1,800 m (5,900 ft) above the valley in the Bernese Oberland below and has claimed the lives of many climbers attempting to conquer this difficult face. A portion of the upper face is called "The White Spider", as snow filled cracks radiating from an ice-field resemble the legs of a spider.

The first ascent of the Eiger was made by Swiss guides Christian Almer, Peter Bohren and Irishman Charles Barrington on August 11, 1858.

The more difficult north face was first climbed on July 24, 1938 by Heinrich Harrer, Andreas Heckmair, Ludwig Vörg and Fritz Kasparek of a German-Austrian expedition. Harrer later wrote a highly regarded book about attempts on the North Face, called 'The White Spider'. Harrer sadly died recently at the age of 93.

The North Face has earned itself a reputation as a killer face, with regular rockfall, avalanches, flaky rock, unpredictable weather and massive exposure, many people have died attempting this bold and unforgiving climb.

Ranulph Fiennes, the well known Arctic explorer is preparing for an attempt. More details about this can be found in this article from the Times and on this page. Fiennes has been in Chamonix training for the climb which he is to attempt in March with Kenton Cool and Ian Parnell. Fiennes apparently hates climbing.

Telescopes situated at nearby Grindelwald enable tourists to watch climbers in close detail, creating a tourist attraction of the face to some degree.

Lately, there have been fears that a huge part of the North Face is about to fall off

14th July 2006 - first reports of the Eiger rockfall