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Ed Hartouni
Trad climber
Livermore, CA
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Topic Author's Original Post - Jan 7, 2006 - 10:51pm PT
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I believe Chessler sent this out earlier, from Ruters:
'VIENNA (Reuters) - Austrian mountaineer Heinrich Harrer, whose life was portrayed in his book and the film "Seven Years in Tibet", died on Saturday aged 93, Austrian officials said in a statement.
He was the first person to climb the difficult north face of the Eiger in the Swiss Alps in 1938, but won world renown after his book, the film version of which was directed by Jean-Jacques Annaud and starred Brad Pitt.
Harrer was interned in northern India by British authorities in 1939 during an expedition in the Himalayas but escaped in 1944 and fled over the mountain range to Tibet.
He struck up a close friendship with the Dalai Lama when staying at the Tibetan capital of Lhasa from 1946 to 1951, before China annexed the country.
Following media reports, Harrer admitted in the 1990s he had been a member of the Nazi party.
Harrer was admitted to hospital two days ago in Friesach in southern Austria. There were no details of the cause of death.
British independent researcher Roger Croston, who has written about Tibet and knew Harrer personally, said the Austrian mountaineer spent much of his life supporting the cause of the Tibetan people.
"Harrer was perhaps the most famous mountaineer of his generation and his climb of the north face of the Eiger in 1938 along with Ludwig Vorg, Andreas Heckmair and Fritz Kasparek ranks as one of, if not the greatest mountaineering feat of the time," he told Reuters.'
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rgold
Trad climber
Poughkeepsie, NY
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"Following media reports, Harrer admitted in the 1990s he had been a member of the Nazi party."
And the SS. But any such mention should include his explanation that he joined in order to become eligible for a teacher's organization, which in turn enabled him to participate in a government-sponsored himalyan expedition.
A large number of fundamentally decent people succumbed to the evil of the Third Reich, perhaps because, like Harrer, their personal perspectives obscured the enormity of Hitler's depravity.
It is easy to be judgemental in hindsight, and many of the obituary notices say "Ex-Nazi Heinrich Harrer..." a phrase that hardly seems a fair summary of his life.
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Toker Villain
Big Wall climber
Toquerville, Utah
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Thank you rgold. Regards to a fellow Hudson Valley res (Croton, and Tarrytown).
Although I have railed against bigotry I recognize that even great captains can be taken by storms. We would all fancy ourselves masters of our own destinies but who among us would have cried out in protest? I did a great Sierra trip with a german immigrant who had been a member of the Hitler Youth.
I prefer to remember him as a loving farher to two boys and an avid climber. After Buhl he was in the first team to do the NE face of Piz Badille in a day.
That reflects who he was far more than childhood survival choices.
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ThomasKeefer
Trad climber
Monterey, CA
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There was a great article about the achievements of the Nazi Mountaineers and their lives after the third reich in Gripped magazine a while back. They shed some light on the personal feelings of the top climbers, several of whom left the party and moved away at their first opportunity. Good article with some details on the impact of that North Face of the Eiger climb. The article does not dismiss the evils of the third reich but rather identifies them and then talks about this one good group of men among the evil-doers.
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Ouch!
climber
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We had a climbing and ski instructor at Stead who was in the German Army. He seemed to not like it when we trashed the Nazis.
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mark miller
Social climber
Reno
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Ouch how do you climb and ski at Stead? the back side off Peavine?
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Ouch!
climber
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"Ouch how do you climb and ski at Stead? the back side off Peavine?"
Nope. Up in the Plumas and up toward Tahoe. Course that was 50 years ago. Those hills may be worn down to the flats by now.
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