Europe, Switzerland, Berner Oberland - Eiger

The Eiger is a notable mountain in the Swiss Alps, rising to an elevation of 3970 m. It is the easternmost peak of a ridge-crest that extends to the Mönch at 4107 m, and across the Jungfraujoch to the Jungfrau at 4,158 m. The three mountains of the ridge are sometimes referred to as the Virgin (German: Jungfrau, lit. "Young Woman" - translates to "Virgin" or "Maiden"), the Monk (Mönch) and the Ogre (Eiger). The name has been linked to the Greek term akros, meaning "sharp" or "pointed", but more commonly to the German eigen, meaning "characteristic".

The Nordwand, German for "north face", is the spectacular north (or, more precisely, north-west) face of the Eiger (also known as the Eigerwand, "Eiger wall"). It is one of the six great north faces of the Alps, towering over 1,800 m above the valley in the Bernese Oberland below.


MFF: On Location #14 - Climbing the Eiger - The Alps

It was first climbed on July 24, 1938 by Anderl Heckmair, Ludwig Vörg, Heinrich Harrer and Fritz Kasparek of a German–Austrian group. The group had originally consisted of two independent teams; Harrer (who didn't have a pair of crampons on the climb) and Kasparek were joined on the face by Heckmair and Vörg, who had started their ascent a day later and had been helped by the fixed rope that the lead group had left across the "Hinterstoisser Traverse." The two groups, led by the experienced Heckmair, co-operated on the more difficult later pitches, and finished the climb roped together as a single group of four. A portion of the upper face is called "The White Spider", as snow-filled cracks radiating from an ice-field resemble the legs of a spider. Harrer used this name for the title of his book about his successful climb, Die Weisse Spinne (translated into English as The White Spider: The Classic Account of the Ascent of the Eiger). During the first successful ascent, the four men were caught in an avalanche as they climbed the Spider, but all had enough strength to resist being swept off the face.



Subsequently the face has been climbed many times, and today is regarded as a formidable challenge more because of the increased rockfall and diminishing ice-fields than because of its technical difficulties, which are not at the highest level of difficulty in modern alpinism. In summer the face is often unclimbable because of rockfall, and climbers are increasingly electing to climb it in winter, when the crumbling face is strengthened by the hard ice present.


A huge slice of rock has fallen from the Eiger mountain.

Since 1935, sixty climbers have died attempting the north face, earning it the German nickname, Mordwand, or "murder wall", a play on the face's real German name Nordwand.

The major routes on the Eiger are:
West Flank & West Ridge - AD (G4) with III-, 1650m. 6 hours in ascent, 3 to 4hours in descent.
North Face - 1938 Route: ED2 (G14) V-, A0, 60°, 1800m, one to three or more days.
Northeast Face (Lauper)- ED (G12) with V, mostly IV+ and III, 50-55°. 1700m, 15 to 18hours
Mittellegi Ridge - D (G5) with IV & fixed ropes, 4 to 8 hours from Mittellegi Hut
South Ridge - AD, rock to III, 7 to 9 hours in ascent and another 6 to 7 hours in descent

More information about climbing routes could be found here.

Live cams in the area - Eiger, Mönch & Jungfrau; Jungfraujoch - Top of Europe; Männlichen; Bahnhof Kleine Scheidegg

Used information, pictures and video from http://en.wikipedia.org/, http://www.summitpost.org/ and http://www.youtube.com/