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This test consists of 15 multiple choice questions and 5 short answer questions.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. Who did Harrer tell about his plans to climb the North Face?
(a) Only his future mother-in-law.
(b) No one.
(c) Only his family.
(d) Only his future wife.

2. What did Fritz crave and lack, after climbing the Spider?
(a) Fresh fruit.
(b) Cigarettes.
(c) Coffee.
(d) Dry clothes.

3. How does Harrer view change and the Eiger mountain?
(a) He sees the Eiger as ever changing.
(b) He sees the Eiger as resisting change and changing slowly.
(c) He sees the Eiger as always changing.
(d) He sees the Eiger as changing in short bursts.

4. What did Von Allmen make, as he waited for Toni Kurz and his group of climbers?
(a) Hot chocolate.
(b) Coffee.
(c) Hot cider.
(d) Tea.

5. What did the climbers do that blocked their path back down?
(a) They removed pitons from the rocks as they climbed.
(b) They inadvertently caused a rockslide that covered a climbable path.
(c) They created a base camp that interfered with the path.
(d) They took away a rope from a traverse.

6. When did Pierre Julien and Maurice Coutin climb the North Face?
(a) June 1952.
(b) September 1952.
(c) July 1952.
(d) August 1952.

7. How did Harrer survive the avalanche at the Spider?
(a) He held on to Kasparek.
(b) He was held by his piton.
(c) He was partially sheltered by an overhang.
(d) He held himself with an axe.

8. How many climbers were in the group including Hermann Buhl by the time they reached the summit in July 1952?
(a) Six.
(b) Seven.
(c) Nine.
(d) Eight.

9. Preparing for the final ascent, what did the climbers do with their unnecessary provisions?
(a) Bury them in the snow.
(b) Leave them on the mountain.
(c) Slide them down to a lower point.
(d) Throw them off a cliff.

10. What aspect of climbing does Harrer want to focus on in his book?
(a) The heroic side of climbing.
(b) The nature conserevation side of climbing.
(c) The human side of climbing.
(d) The technical side of climbing.

11. What type of weather hit when Terray and Lachenal reached the Spider, during their climb in 1946?
(a) Fog.
(b) A snowstorm.
(c) A windstorm.
(d) A thunderstorm.

12. On what day of the climb did Toni Kurz and his party turn back?
(a) The third day.
(b) The fifth day.
(c) The second day.
(d) The fourth day.

13. What did the first description of the North Face from above say about it?
(a) That it would be an easy climb.
(b) That it was beautiful and impossible to climb.
(c) That climbing it would be a challenge for future decades.
(d) That climbing it would be a challenge soon overcome.

14. What did the press call the North Face?
(a) Unbesteigbar.
(b) Mordwand.
(c) Todesberg.
(d) Todesgesicht.

15. Why did Giuseppe Piravano and Bruno Detassis climb partially up the northeast face?
(a) To take phorographs for a travel magazine.
(b) To keep in shape while waiting for better weather.
(c) To get a better look at the North Face.
(d) To practice new climbing techniques.

Short Answer Questions

1. How high is the Eiger?

2. Where did Allmen call to Toni Kurz and his party from?

3. What happened to the two climbers who arrived at the North Face early in the summer of 1936?

4. What country was Harrer imprisoned in during World War II?

5. How tall was the icy gully that Buhl climbed the day after climbing the Spider?

(see the answer keys)

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