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This test consists of 5 short answer questions, 10 short essay questions, and 1 (of 3) essay topics.

Short Answer Questions

1. When did Pierre Julien and Maurice Coutin climb the North Face?

2. Where did Harrer and Kasparek camp after their first day climbing the North Face?

3. How tall was the icy gully that Buhl climbed the day after climbing the Spider?

4. Where was Detassis injured?

5. In the story the author tells at the beginning of the book, how does the climber criticize Harrer's idea to write about the Eiger?

Short Essay Questions

1. What is the author's position on the psychology of seeking danger?

2. What metaphor did the author use to describe the societal function of mountain climbing?

3. Describe Maix and Harrer's collaboration.

4. What did Rebitsch and Vörg do, after a harrowing climb on the mountain, when they learned that Gollackner had died on the mountain?

5. Describe the White Spider.

6. Why did Heckmair and Vörg turn back from their climb on July 21?

7. How does Harrer portray the climbers' relations with the newspapermen?

8. What were Otto and Sepp Maag doing when they first encountered Buhl and Jöchler in July 1952?

9. What did Kurz have to do to try to reach the rescuers?

10. How did the author characterize past writing about the Eiger?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Discuss the roles of skill and chance in climbing the North Face of the Eiger.

1) How does Harrer address luck or chance in success or failure of climbing the North Face? How big a role does luck or chance play in success or failure?

2) What skills are necessary to climb the North Face? How can skill mitigate bad luck or ill chance, if it can?

3) What role does skill play in a successful climb of the North Face? How essential is skill, and are there any substitutes for it?

Essay Topic 2

Discuss the character of the mountain in the book.

1) How does the nature of the mountain change over the course of time in the book? In what ways is this change natural, and in what ways is mankind responsible for change in the mountain?

2) How does the mountain function as a character in the book? Is it ever personified? How so? What qualities does the mountain have?

3) How does the mountain affect the climbers, guides, and locals in the book?

Essay Topic 3

Harrer talks about the media and publicity often in his book. Discuss the relationship of the media to mountain climbing.

1) How does Harrer view the media's reporting on mountain climbing? What criticisms does he levy?

2) In what ways is Harrer's book similar to the media that he criticizes? in what ways is it different?

3) How does Harrer portray the film crews that film climbers going up the mountain? How does Harrer think about the films of mountain climbing?

(see the answer keys)

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