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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. What did Derungs and Albrecht use instead of a bivouac bag on their ascent up the North Face?

2. What nationality were Helmuth Drachsler and Walter Gstrein?

3. According to Fritz von Almen's warning to Mayr, when would crossing the Third Ice Field be dangerous?

4. What day did Sefano Longhi and Claudio Corti begin to climb the North Face?

5. How far did Karl Blach initially say he would guide Jürgen Wallenkamp and Bernd Huber on their climb up the North Face?

Short Essay Questions

1. What information does Harrer offer in the later appended chapters about his treatment of Corti's story and the facts about Nothdurft's death?

2. What happened when Derungs and Albrecht threw their extra equipment over the edge of the mountain after their last bivouac?

3. After bivouacking above the Spider, how did Helmuth Drachsler and Walter Gstrein reach the summit?

4. What happened to Erich Vanis, Hans Ratay, and Karl Lugmayer on the Ice Bulge?

5. What is Harrer's opinion about Corti's story that the two other climbers went on to send back help, leaving Corti behind after he was injured?

6. Why were Kurt Diemberger and Wolfgang Stephan criticized, and how does Harrer answer that criticism?

7. What happened in the attempts to climb the North Face in 1953?

8. How were Albert Rabada and Ernesto Navarra's bodies recovered?

9. Why does Harrer call the climb by Radovan KuchaÅ™ and Zdeno Zibrin cautious?

10. When did Mayr's climb seem to slow?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Harrer sees taming the North Slope as expanding the domain of humanity. Discuss this aspect of the book.

1) Is humanity's intellectual and physical domain expanded by the successful attempts to climb the North Face? How does this expand human accomplishment?

2) How does Harrer ultimately feel about the affect of humans climbing the North Face? Once the North Face has been repeatedly climbed, has something been lost as well as gained?

3) Is the expansion of the human domain inherently good? Is it inevitable? How does the North Face fit into the bigger picture of human accomplishment?

Essay Topic 2

Discuss conflict in Harrer's book.

1) In what ways is there conflict between man and nature in the book? How does the Eiger function as an antagonist?

2) In what ways is there conflict between man and himself in the book? How does Harrer struggle with himself? What internal conflict is there in other climbers in the book?

3) In what ways is there conflict between man and man in the book? What personal and national conflicts, enmities, and rivalries are associated with mountain climbing?

Essay Topic 3

Discuss the idea of rescue in Harrer's book.

1) Why are rescue attempts not guaranteed for climbers? How does climbing affect the local guides and governments who participate in rescue attempts?

2) How does Harrer view rescuers and rescue attempts? Are his portrayals of rescuers romanticized?

3) Should climbers expect rescue? What aspects of human nature make rescue attempts inevitable? What happens when rescue attempts are impossible? Discuss specific rescue attempts in the book.

(see the answer keys)

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