The White Spider

by Heinrich Harrer
The White Spider  
published September 28th 1998 by Tarcher
binding Paperback
isbn 0874779405   (isbn13: 9780874779400)
pages 384
description The White Spider dramatically recreates not only the

harrowing, successful ascent made by Harrer and his comrades in 1938, but also the previous, t...more

date added
05-09-07



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other reviews (showing 1-20 of 47)



Travis
Travis rated it: 3 of 5 stars3 of 5 stars3 of 5 stars3 of 5 stars3 of 5 stars
03/15/08

Read in February, 2008
This book was very well written for the topic. If you can imagine, the story is about the piles of people that have tried to climb the 6,000 foot vertical face of rock and ice. Unfortunately some of them ended up at the bottom in a pile. It was riveting at times, and bit redundant at others. It was over 300 pages of reading the same routes up the face, and while it was incredible to imagine some of the attempts done without crampons or gore-tex, it also has a lot of "after these message...more
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Forest
Forest rated it: 5 of 5 stars5 of 5 stars5 of 5 stars5 of 5 stars5 of 5 stars
02/12/08

Read in March, 2008
This is an amazing account of the first 13 ascents of the Eiger Nordwand. Further amazement at Harrer's experiences offers the most inspiration a climber's life could offer in text. The first successful completion of the Nordwand by Harrer, Fritz Kasperek, Ludwig Vörg, and Andreas Heckmair is documented excitingly in the book accompanied by many other exciting tales. I read the first translation and have several favorite quotes: "Yes, we had made and excursion into another world and we ...more
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Mike
Mike rated it: 4 of 5 stars4 of 5 stars4 of 5 stars4 of 5 stars4 of 5 stars
02/14/08

Read in January, 2007
recommends it for: climbers, fans of climbing stories
I have read this twice now, and I have to say this book was very interesting for a number of reasons. The tale of the first ascent of the Eiger was good, and the chronicles of other attempts were engaging. The photos and maps helped to paint a good picture of the different routes the various climbers took.

I thought another interesting aspect of the book was the dated prose (and translated to boot.) I thought it painted an interesting portrait of the European climbing spirit in the early-mid ...more
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Rusty
Rusty rated it: 4 of 5 stars4 of 5 stars4 of 5 stars4 of 5 stars4 of 5 stars
02/24/08

Read in February, 2008
This book is a great book full of extreme and epic adventure involving the ascent of the North Face of the Eiger. It was intense enough to keep me up reading until about 3am several nights this past week. I'm glad it's finished so i can get some sleep. I recommend this book to any outdoor enthusiast, or anyone who likes to push the physical,mental, and emotional limits of the body and life.
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Bill
Bill rated it: 3 of 5 stars3 of 5 stars3 of 5 stars3 of 5 stars3 of 5 stars
06/14/07

Read in January, 2005
More of a self-congratulatory tale than true history of the north face of the Eiger. Still, worth a read if you can find it and you care about mountaineering.
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Steve
Steve rated it: 3 of 5 stars3 of 5 stars3 of 5 stars3 of 5 stars3 of 5 stars
03/16/08

Other peoples accounts of this book put me off alpine climbing for years..........the story of Tony Kurtz is haunting.
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Cns
Cns rated it: 5 of 5 stars5 of 5 stars5 of 5 stars5 of 5 stars5 of 5 stars
09/25/07

Before "Into Thin Air," there was..."The White Spider!"
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Jeff Kirby
Jeff marked it as to-read
07/21/08

bookshelves: to-read
 

Mike
Mike rated it: 3 of 5 stars3 of 5 stars3 of 5 stars3 of 5 stars3 of 5 stars
07/21/08

 

Dan
Dan rated it: 5 of 5 stars5 of 5 stars5 of 5 stars5 of 5 stars5 of 5 stars
07/20/08

 

Michael
Michael rated it: 4 of 5 stars4 of 5 stars4 of 5 stars4 of 5 stars4 of 5 stars
07/16/08

 

Steve
Steve rated it: 4 of 5 stars4 of 5 stars4 of 5 stars4 of 5 stars4 of 5 stars
07/01/08

 

Tina
Tina added it
06/27/08

 

Mark
Mark rated it: 5 of 5 stars5 of 5 stars5 of 5 stars5 of 5 stars5 of 5 stars
06/22/08

 

Jerry Smith
Jerry rated it: 4 of 5 stars4 of 5 stars4 of 5 stars4 of 5 stars4 of 5 stars
07/21/08

Read in June, 2008
recommended to Jerry by: jerry@balancelifework.com
 

Evan
Evan marked it as to-read
06/18/08

bookshelves: to-read
 

Steve
Steve rated it: 5 of 5 stars5 of 5 stars5 of 5 stars5 of 5 stars5 of 5 stars
06/02/08

 

bryan
bryan marked it as to-read
05/18/08

bookshelves: to-read
 

Jared
Jared rated it: 4 of 5 stars4 of 5 stars4 of 5 stars4 of 5 stars4 of 5 stars
04/22/08

 


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book data (includes all editions)

avg rating (all editions): 4.19 (36 ratings)
number of reviews: 7






other editions