Toni Kurz
Encyclopedia
Toni Kurz was a German
mountain climber of the early 20th century who had many first ascents with his childhood friend Andreas Hinterstoisser
. Both died in tragic circumstances in 1936 as one of the four-man team making a second attempt to scale the North Face of the Eiger
.
During the ascent, his companion, Willy Angerer, was injured by falling rocks loosened by the warmth of the rising sun as they crossed the first ice field. As a result of Willy Angerer's worsening condition and their slow progress across the second ice field, they abandoned the attempt on the Eiger and decided to descend. A further challenge arose when Kurz and his comrades failed to retrace their route across the area now known as the Hinterstoisser Traverse
and had to climb downwards. As the result of another avalanche, Hinterstoisser himself became disconnected, plummeted down the mountain, and perished. Later, Willy Angerer, now climbing below Kurz, was smashed against the wall, dying instantly. Edi Rainer, the climber who had been securing the other two, was pulled against the wall and died minutes later of asphyxiation. Kurz, alone now, remained uninjured.
Later that day, amid worsening weather, a rescue team attempted to reach Kurz from below, ascending by means of the railway tunnel that ran through the mountain, the Jungfraubahn
. They could not reach Kurz due to the severity of the storm and were forced to leave him dangling unprotected and exposed to the elements for the entire night. The next day, the team again attempted to effect a rescue; Kurz himself made the effort, despite a frozen hand due to losing a glove, to abseil down the face of the mountain and reach the team. To accomplish this, he first had to cut loose the dead body of his comrade hanging below him, then climb up and cut loose his other dead comrade. To increase the length of his rope, he unraveled it and tied it together again. This entire process took five grueling hours. He then lowered the rope to the waiting rescuers, who attached their own rope.
The mountain guides only had one long rope – 60 meters – with them. Hans Schlunegger just put it between his back and his rucksack (not into his rucksack) to save some time. This was not an unusual practice for them. Unfortunately when he made a sudden movement the rope dropped and fell down to the foot of the wall. As a result the team combined two shorter ropes to reach the required length; however the combined ropes still fell short. Kurz pulled up their rope, fixed it, and began his abseiling descent. He was stopped a mere couple of meters above his rescuers by the knot. To abseil any further he would have had to raise himself enough to release the pressure on the knot and let it pass though his gear. Desperately, Kurz tried to move himself past the knot, but in vain. Facing the futility of his situation, he said only "Ich kann nicht mehr" ("I can't [go on] anymore") and died.
His body was later recovered by a German team.
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
.
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
mountain climber of the early 20th century who had many first ascents with his childhood friend Andreas Hinterstoisser
Andreas Hinterstoisser
Andreas Hinterstoißer, transliterated Hinterstoisser, was a German mountain climber of the early 20th century.-Climbing the Eiger:...
. Both died in tragic circumstances in 1936 as one of the four-man team making a second attempt to scale the North Face of the Eiger
Eiger
The Eiger is a mountain in the Bernese Alps in Switzerland. It is the easternmost peak of a ridge crest that extends across the Mönch to the Jungfrau at 4,158 m...
.
Andreas Hinterstoisser
Andreas Hinterstoißer, transliterated Hinterstoisser, was a German mountain climber of the early 20th century.-Climbing the Eiger:...
and had to climb downwards. As the result of another avalanche, Hinterstoisser himself became disconnected, plummeted down the mountain, and perished. Later, Willy Angerer, now climbing below Kurz, was smashed against the wall, dying instantly. Edi Rainer, the climber who had been securing the other two, was pulled against the wall and died minutes later of asphyxiation. Kurz, alone now, remained uninjured.
Later that day, amid worsening weather, a rescue team attempted to reach Kurz from below, ascending by means of the railway tunnel that ran through the mountain, the Jungfraubahn
Jungfraubahn
The Jungfraubahn is an gauge rack railway electrified at 3-phase 1,125 volts 50 Hertz, which runs 9 kilometres from Kleine Scheidegg to the highest railway station in Europe at Jungfraujoch...
. They could not reach Kurz due to the severity of the storm and were forced to leave him dangling unprotected and exposed to the elements for the entire night. The next day, the team again attempted to effect a rescue; Kurz himself made the effort, despite a frozen hand due to losing a glove, to abseil down the face of the mountain and reach the team. To accomplish this, he first had to cut loose the dead body of his comrade hanging below him, then climb up and cut loose his other dead comrade. To increase the length of his rope, he unraveled it and tied it together again. This entire process took five grueling hours. He then lowered the rope to the waiting rescuers, who attached their own rope.
The mountain guides only had one long rope – 60 meters – with them. Hans Schlunegger just put it between his back and his rucksack (not into his rucksack) to save some time. This was not an unusual practice for them. Unfortunately when he made a sudden movement the rope dropped and fell down to the foot of the wall. As a result the team combined two shorter ropes to reach the required length; however the combined ropes still fell short. Kurz pulled up their rope, fixed it, and began his abseiling descent. He was stopped a mere couple of meters above his rescuers by the knot. To abseil any further he would have had to raise himself enough to release the pressure on the knot and let it pass though his gear. Desperately, Kurz tried to move himself past the knot, but in vain. Facing the futility of his situation, he said only "Ich kann nicht mehr" ("I can't [go on] anymore") and died.
His body was later recovered by a German team.
The tragic story became well known after publication of Heinrich Harrer
Heinrich Harrer
Heinrich Harrer was an Austrian mountaineer, sportsman, geographer, and author.He is best known for his books Seven Years in Tibet and The White Spider .-Athletics:...
's classic 1960 book The White Spider
The White Spider
The White Spider by Heinrich Harrer describes mountain climbing attempts of the "Eiger Nordwand" , including the first successful ascent....
and was more recently covered by Joe Simpson
Joe Simpson (mountaineer)
Joe Simpson is an English mountaineer, author and motivational speaker. He is best known for his book Touching the Void and the 2003 film adaptation of his book.-Early life:...
's book (and Emmy-winning TV documentary), The Beckoning Silence
The Beckoning Silence
The Beckoning Silence follows, and retraces the unsuccessful attempt to scale the North Face of the Eiger lead by Toni Kurz in 1936. The film features climber Joe Simpson, whose book of the same name inspired the film...
, as well as the 2008 German dramatic movie North Face
North Face (film)
North Face is a 2008 German historical fiction film based on a famous 1936 attempt to climb the Eiger north face.-Plot:...
.