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Anderl Heckmair: Surviving many ogres
Feb 7, 2005 03: 23 EST
Andreas “Anderl” Heckmair died Tuesday. He was 98 years old. He lived through the entire 20th century and a fight with an 1800 meter Ogre that would mark his life.
Heckmair led the German-Austrian team that conquered the ‘Eigernordwand’, the North face of the Eiger, in the Swiss Alps. The impressive wall of rock and ice is one of the three classic Alpine North faces, along with Matterhorn’s and Grandes Jorasses. All three are a frightening challenge, but the Eiger had became a real myth much before they climbers could win it over in 1938.
Mountains to escape despair
Before them, many had tried and failed, including eight who never returned. Matterhorn and Jorasses north faces were eventually climbed, but the Ogre remained unbeaten.
In the late 30’s however, conquering the Eiger meant much more than an alpine accomplishment. Under the winds of war, European countries were already fighting in all fields, both on land and in society. And Heckmair was German.
It’s not easy to understand how the circumstances lead the lives of men. Heckmair’s life was anything but easy. While growing up in orphanages, Heckmair started climbing young, and eventually became an avid climber. Although a trained gardener, Heckmair had plenty of free time. Unemployed, Heckmair became a victim of the deep economic crisis Germany suffered after the WW1. Climbing was more than a hobby. It was a way to forget the misery, to ease the pain, and escape despair.
Winds of war hit the Eiger
Bold and strong, he attempted the Croz routes to the Jorasses twice, and gave a first try to the Eiger before the definitive assault. In those times, the Alps were the center of the climbing universe, and there was still a lot to do for those who dared. The young Heckmair wanted nothing else.
To climb the Eigernordwand, Anderl, along with Ludwig Vörg, set off on July 21, 1938, using the most modern gear Germany could provide. However, no gear could protect them from the storms and avalanches. Heckmair soon understood that he would need all available help.
The white and the black spider
Meanwhile, Austrians Heinrich Harrer and Fritz Kasparek were attempting the wall as well. Instead of racing, they decided to work together. And together they won. After three and a half days on the wall, betting double or nothing to choose the right way through the different passages, they summited. The last unsolved problem of the Alps was finally done. The story of the climb would be described by Harrer in “The White Spider”, considered by many to be one of the best mountaineering stories ever written. ‘The Spider’ Harrer refers to is a net of ice on the upper half of the wall, one of the most difficult sections. But the climbers left a ‘different’ spider: A black-four legged spider known as the swastika, the infamous symbol embroidered in the Nazi flag.
German media transformed Heckmair and his mates into heroes of the ´Third Reich’. The Nazi Propaganda saw a treasure on the climbers’ feat: Anderl was decorated by the very Adolf Hitler.
However, Heckmair never joined the Nazi party. He just wanted to climb. Thus, he became a local mountain guide, and he would remain so after the war, climbing with clients –some of them as famous as the multi-millionaire businessman Otto-Ernst Flick – and ran a youth hostel in Bavarian Alps.
Heinrich Harrer’s turns of life
Later, Harrer joined the SS. He went on expeditions to India when the war started. The British army caught him and put him in a prisoner camp. He escaped through the mountains into Tibet and the experiences he had would change him completely. Years later, Brad Pitt would do an impression in the JJ. Annaud film, “Seven years in Tibet”.
Tobacco may kill you… at 98
Heckmair would also write some books and lead climbs all over the world, always guiding. His autobiography, Eiger North Face, Grandes Jorasses and Other Adventures, was published in 1999. In general, he was a good-humored old chap. Fond of cigars, he also laughed at the statistics about tobacco and health. Not in vain his motto was “Experience is what really counts”
Heckmair died in Oberstdorf, Bavaria, on Tuesday after a brief stay in hospital.
Image of Heckmair courtesy of Uliauffermann.de
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