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This test consists of 5 short answer questions, 10 short essay questions, and 1 (of 3) essay topics.

Short Answer Questions

1. On Buhl's 1952 climb, what blocked his progress at the Ramp?

2. How many parties left the Eiger without an attempt to climb the North Face in 1937, due to bad weather?

3. What nationality was the second team to successfully climb the North Face?

4. What type of weather hit when Terray and Lachenal reached the Spider, during their climb in 1946?

5. What happened to Kasparek at the Ramp?

Short Essay Questions

1. Describe the ascent of Buhl, Jöchler, the Maags, and the French through the Ramp.

2. What research did Harrer do for his book?

3. After Buhl, Jöchler, the Maags, and the French traveled up the Spider, in what arrangement did they bivouac?

4. What seemed unexplainable about Primas and Gollackner's actions on their climb?

5. What is the author's position on the psychology of seeking danger?

6. What happened to Bartolo Sandri and Mario Menti, who attempted to climb the North Face early in the summer of 1938?

7. What blocked the descent from Buhl and Jöchler's bivouac spot below the Rote Fluh?

8. What did the author mean by "Come back safe, my friends"?

9. Why did Heckmair and Vörg turn back from their climb on July 21?

10. When Australian and Swiss teams both climbed the North Face at approximately the same time, how far apart did they reach the summit?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Discuss nationalism, rivalry, and prejudice in Harrer's book.

1) What is Harrer's viewpoint on international cooperation and on different nationalities in the book?

2) What role do national rivalries play in the race to climb the North Face and in the following attempts?

3) What is Harrer's opinion about Italian climbers, and how does it inform his presentation of Corti's ill-fated climb? Can Harrer's presentation be relied on? What other biases does he seem to hold?

Essay Topic 2

Harrer sees extreme climbing as being a challenge for both the mental and physical aspects of mankind. Discuss the relationship of the mental and physical in Harrer's book.

1) How does Harrer defend extreme climbing from critics who call it suicidally dangerous, and how strong are his arguments that extreme climbing requires extreme mental balance?

2) What is the relationship of the mental and physical aspects of climbing, and what are examples from the book of both mental and physical accomplishments?

3) How does technology and equipment affect the mental and physical challenges of climbing?

Essay Topic 3

Harrer sees the overuse of technology in climbing as a danger. Discuss technology and human achievement in Harrer's book.

1) In what ways is technology a necessary part of mountain climbing? Could the Eiger's North Face be successfully climbed without technological advancements?

2) What does Harrer see as the danger of the overuse of technology? When does the use of technology become overuse? What aspects of climbing does it diminish?

3) How does technology make the advances in climbing the North Face an accomplishment of humanity as a whole, and does this in any way diminish individual accomplishments in climbing the North Face?

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