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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. How did Reiss describe the thunderstorm that was going on when he reached the summit?

2. What did Corti do when he could not lift Longhi up onto the ledge?

3. Who made the first successful solo attempt to climb the North Face?

4. In 1957, what traces of Nothdurft and Mayer did search parties find?

5. When did Helmut Salger and Horst Wels climb the North Face?

Short Essay Questions

1. Why does Harrer include a route guide at the end of the book?

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

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

4. Describe the attempt to climb the North Face by Brian Nally and Barry Brewster in 1962.

5. What is Harrer's attitude toward Italians?

6. At the end of the chapter "The International Rescue Team," what does Harrer suggest might happen in the future regarding Nothdurft and Mayer?

7. What is the controversy about the photograph of the German climbers on the mountain?

8. What contradictions are there in Corti's accounts of Nothdurft during the climb?

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

10. 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?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Discuss the structure of Harrer's book.

1) How does the chronological telling of attempts to climb the North Face affect the book? Why does Harrer choose a chronological structure?

2) How does the addition of a second section to a later edition of the book affect it?

3) What stories are central to the book and gone into in more detail? Why does Harrer choose these events to emphasize?

Essay Topic 2

Discuss the nature of youth in Harrer's vision of climbing.

1) How does Harrer see extreme climbing as a youthful activity? What about the nature of youth makes extreme climbing attractive?

2) How does Harrer both admire and envy youth? Is his portrayal of youth idealized or realistic?

3) How does Harrer seem to change from his youth to his adult self? What aspects of youth does he exhibit as a young climber?

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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