Harrer later spoke of his discomfort about the chapter and Vorg was killed on the Russian front only a few years later. Toni Kurz perished hanging from his abseil rope only feet from a rescue team. He then lowered the rope to the waiting rescuers, who attached their own rope.[3]. The would-be rescuers tried to reach the stricken climber from a window which emerges onto the face from the railway tunnel running right through the mountain. From: Steelmnkey The tragic story became well known after publication of Heinrich Harrer's classic 1960 book The White Spider and was more recently covered by Joe Simpson's book (and Emmy-winning TV documentary), The Beckoning Silence, as well as the 2008 German dramatic movie North Face. How many people have died climbing the Eiger mountain? Mr Amacher said the men were both experienced climbers but the rockface had been slippery because of warm weather.

THE Eiger – which translates as the Ogre- is is a 13,000ft mountain in the Bernese Alps in Switzerland. The fearsome north wall of the Eiger which rears above the Swiss resort of Grindelwald has one of the most daunting reputations in the climbing world and many a drama has been played out on its face. Later, Willy Angerer, now climbing below Kurz, was smashed against the wall, dying instantly. Although the summit of the Eiger can be reached by experienced climbers only, a railway tunnel runs inside the mountain - and people can enjoy the views from windows carved into the rock face. Their bodies were recovered the following day from a valley beneath the mountain, which overlooks the Alpine resort of Grindelwald in the Bernese Oberland. Reinhold Messner - probably regarded as the most successful mountaineer ever, having scaled all 14 of the world's 8,000-metre peaks - climbed the classic route at breathtaking speed and made the first ascent of the Eiger's north pillar. TV crew films Briton in death plunge on Eiger. This entire process took five gruelling hours. The dramatic tale was recounted in Harrer's book The White Spider which is named after the distinctive ice field near the summit and has become a mountaineering classic. To abseil any further he would have had to raise himself enough to release the tension on the knot and let it pass through his gear.

Climbers that attempted the north face could be easily watched through the telescopes from the Kleine Scheidegg, a pass between Grindelwald and Lauterbrunnen, connected by rail.

Before it was successfully climbed, most of the attempts ended tragically. The Denali Observer is part of The Denali Observer Media Group LLC, which delivers daily news around the globe. The Bernese authorities even banned climbing it and threatened to fine any party that should attempt it again. After World War II, the north face was climbed twice in 1947, first by a party of two French guides, Louis Lachenal and Lionel Terray, then by a Swiss party consisting of H. Germann, with Hans and Karl Schlunegger.