View a FREE sample

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

Short Answer Questions

1. Where did Rebitch and Vörg end the fourth day of their climb?

2. How many nights did Pierre Julien and Maurice Coutin spend on the mountain during their 1952 climb?

3. Where did Heckmair and Vörg stay while waiting to start their climb?

4. Why did Rebitsch and Vörg start up the northeast face of the mountain?

5. Why did Heckmair and Vörg have modern equipment for their climb?

Short Essay Questions

1. Was there rivalry between the parties attempting to climb the North Face in 1937?

2. How did the author characterize past writing about the Eiger?

3. On his ascent up the North Face, what did Harrer remember seeing while he was climbing a peak as a child?

4. Who were the climbers forced out of Switzerland in 1937?

5. Describe the reaction to Harrer telling a doctor in Lhasa that he was among the first party to climb the North Face.

6. What unusual attempt to climb the North Face did Fuchs and Monney consider but then reject?

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

8. What did Rebitsch and Vörg do, after a harrowing climb on the mountain, when they learned that Gollackner had died on the mountain?

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

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

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

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?

Essay Topic 2

Death is an inevitable part of attempts to climb the North Face. Discuss death in Harrer's book.

1) How does Harrer justify the decision to participate in the potentially deadly attempts to climb the North Face? How does he view the risk of death inherent in climbing attempt?

2) How does Harrer view those who have died in attempts to climb the North Face? Does he in any way romanticize the dead or their deaths?

3) What is the role of skill and chance in death on the North Face? Is death something that can be avoided by preparedness and mental and physical acuity?

Essay Topic 3

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?

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 964 words (approx. 4 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample