Anderl Heckmair: My Life: Eiger North Face, Grand Jorasses & Other Adventures

by Anderl Heckmair, Reinhold Messner (Foreword), Tim Carruthers (Translator)

In 1938 Anderl Heckmair made the first ascent of the North Face of the Eiger, a monumental climb that cemented his place in history. In My Life he tells the story of how he turned from a fragile child wrapped, 'quite literally, in cotton bindings,' into one of the most important mountaineers in the world. Leaving school in 1920, Heckmair dedicated himself to climbing, becoming a full-time 'mountain vagabond'. Penniless, he lived in Alpine huts and cycled from climb to climb, even riding from Germany to the High Atlas mountains of Morocco. He rapidly developed as a mountaineer, making an ascent of the Walker Spur in awful weather, and a solo ascent of the Matterhorn in walking shoes, a feat that nobody believed. But his crowning achievement, climbed in full media glare, would always be his Eiger ascent. Events did not always run smoothly - arrested after a quarrel with a farmer, he escaped through a window ('never imprison mountain climbers in towers'). When arrested again, his ice axes mistaken for deadly weapons while he slept on a park bench, Heckmair chose to stay put, preferring the cell bunk to his bench. At times, the book ventures into darker territory. As one of the great German climbers of the 1930s, Heckmair inevitably attracted the attention of the Nazi party, he found his Eiger triumph twisted to suit their ends, and he himself seated next to Hitler at a party. But at its heart My Life is a celebration of adventure. Told in joyful, engaging and relaxed style, it is as full of life and passion for the mountains as Anderl Heckmair himself.

Genres: Climbing, Nonfiction, Mountaineering, Adventure

269 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1999

About the author

Andreas (Anderl) Heckmair, German mountaineer and guide.

Reviews

[Steve Chilton · Rating 3 out of 5]

Should have been entitled 'my life - or the bits of it I want to tell you'. There is little about his childhood or his marriages. Instead it concentrates on several of his pioneering expeditions in the mountains. The climbing descriptions are enthralling, especially the Eiger chapters. The Hitler phase did make me wonder if he was telling full story of that aspect of his life.

[cheryl kell · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wonderful

Exciting mountaineering stories told in a warm humorous vein. He lived a long incredible like filled with adventure. Few are brave enough to live life on their own terms. I enjoyed going along for the ride. Incredible man.