The Eiger Obsession: Facing the Mountain That Killed My Father
Product Description
The author was nine years old in 1966 when his thirty-year old father lost his life in a 4,000 foot fall during an attempt on a direct ascent of the notorious Eiger. The son also became a climber and the call of the Eiger persisted for him in the face of assurances to his mother that he would not seek the type of cutting edge alpine career that killed her husband. But in 2005, Harlin succumbed to the lure of the Eiger and agreed to climb the face –albeit not the extreme North Face direct route his father took-when he got an offer from an IMAX filmmaking crew to capture an exciting climb and the beauty of the Alps. Along with two others, Harlin made a successful ascent captured in a film distributed as “The Alps: Giants of Nature.”
Product Details
Price: $26.00
Hardback: 283 pages with black and white photos
Author: John Harlin III
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Year of Publication: 2007
Language: English
ISBN: 13 978-0-7432-9690-8
Images
Augie Medina - Sep 19, 2007 7:43 pm - Voted 2/5
Exciting Title, Humdrum ContentsHis own ascent of the Eiger, as part of a filmmaking project, is without question a marvelous climbing achievement. However, his account is not forged in a manner to make it inspirational, which the account should be.
Personally, I was further troubled by the author’s brief reference to his activities as a 13-year old at the family’s country home in the state of Washington:
“The open landscape swarmed with rabbits just begging to be killed by my single-shot .22 rifle, and I fed them to my new dog, Ranger, and to the hawks and eagles flying overhead.”
Yes, he was just 13 and hunting was apparently part of his upbringing, but I stand by my assessment that the scenario is disturbing.