Further Successful Ascents Summary and Analysis

Harrer details escaping from a British internment camp in India in 1944 and making his way to Tibet. A doctor treating him in Lhasa criticized extreme climbers, mentioning the North Face. Harrer stated that he was among the first successful ascent, but no one believed him until the doctor saw his name in a newspaper account. Harrer learned of the second successful climb, by French climbers Lionel Terray and Lois Lachenal.

In 1946, guides Hans Schlunegger and Edwin Krähenbühl attempted the climb and got above the ramp before having to climb back down. The next year, Terray and Lachenal found the ice melted but faced waterfalls and falling rocks. They passed through the First Ice Field skillfully before having to bivouac. The next day, they traversed to the Spider but were caught in a thunderstorm. They kept...