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| Messages 1 - 8 of total 8 in this topic |
wildone
Trad climber
Yosemite, Ca
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For some great history of the man and the Eger, Joe Simpson's "the Beckoning Silence" was a pretty good read.
From what I understand, he was a good man.
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onbelay_osu
Trad climber
Stillwater, OK
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A sad loss may he RIP
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BigSky
Mountain climber
Big Sky Montana
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Anderl gets 5 posts on a climbing site and evolution / creationism pissing matches get 350. Bummer.
Heckmair was an awesome force in the first half of the century - he had chunks of Burt Bronson in his stool. From Messner's forward to Heckmair's autobiography. . .
". . . the independence with which Heckmair and those like him braved the dangers and mastered extreme difficulties on the great walls of the Alps is an expression of the values that set mountaineering apart. They are still valid today; let us hope they remain so tomorrow."
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Largo
Sport climber
Venice, Ca
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I grew up thumbing through pages of the White Spider, and thought Heckmair was a god. He was human enough, but his passing stirs up old memories of when the Eiger loomed on the edges of my imagination, like some terrible Sphinx calling.
And now it's silent . . .
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WBraun
climber
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I remember reading the white spider in the Sierra Club hut across the meadow from the store in Tuolumne meadows when I was a kid. Not that I’m grown up yet. Then hiking up some peak dreaming I’m on the white spider. Those were the books back then and that was the classic that everyone read. Now there’s more than ever.
That’s what kids do, ... dream, to make them real one day. Yes it says in this age of Kali one will live for 100 years. Most of us never make it that far. He was blessed to do.
The evolution / creationism pissing matches and tales like Heckmairs transcend the ordinary to keep us inspired to seek the higher ground.
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alasdair
Trad climber
scotland
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Feb 10, 2005 - 12:45pm PT
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saw an incredible lecture about an ascent do the eiger in 1993 or so, the wall is staggeringly huge, reckoned the 1938 route was something like 60 pitchs.
Took a strong team in the 90's 4 days in good weather. I can't think of any route climbed in the following 20-30 years that has retained its reputation as the 1938. It doesn't get Extreme difficile for nothing.
Simpsons writing on him is great but you fell messner really understands that level of extreme climbing.
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| Messages 1 - 8 of total 8 in this topic |
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