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. What date did Erich Vanis, Hans Ratay, and Karl Lugmayer arrive at the North Face?

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

3. Was the filmed climb of Lothar Brandler, Jörg Lehne, and Sigfried Löw up the North Face successful?

4. Who made the last successful ascent of the North Face in 1961

5. How long was Paul Etter and Martin Epp's ascent up the North Face?

Short Essay Questions

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

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

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

4. Describe the ascent of Blach and Wallenkamp up the North Face in 1952.

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

6. What made the Difficult Crack and the Hinterstoisser Traverse easier to climb for Mayr than for early climbers?

7. 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?

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

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

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

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Discuss the relationship of money and climbing in the book.

1) How does Harrer portray climbers who have financial backing versus those who have little money and equipment?

2) How does poverty affect the ability of climbers to be successful?

3) Is Harrer's portrayal of impoverished young climbers romanticized?

Essay Topic 2

Discuss the geography of the mountain in Harrer's book.

1) How is the mountain's geography important? Why does the North Face interest and entice climbers?

2) How important is it to know the geography of the North Face, according to Harrer? Why is it important?

3) How does the mountain's geography change, and what affect does this have on the attempts to climb it? How does the actual climbing and human activity affect the geography of the mountain?

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?

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 995 words (approx. 4 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample