Buy The White Spider – Hardcover Edition

This classic of mountaineering literature tells the narrative of the terrible first ascent of the Eiger’s North Face, the most legendary and terrifying climb in history. Heinrich Harrer, author of ‘Seven Years in Tibet’ and one of the best mountaineers of the twentieth century, was part of the team that ultimately ascended the Eiger’s daunting North Face in 1938. It was a historic voyage in which the explorers faced dangerous conditions and the boundaries of human endurance, and many have attempted – and failed – to replicate it. Harrer, armed with personal knowledge gained only through firsthand experience climbing the Eiger, delivers a thrilling narrative of physical bravery and emotional perseverance. Joe Simpson, the author of ‘Touching the Void’, has written a fresh introduction that confirms the timeless relevance of this great adventure classic.

Heinrich Harrer was born in 1912 in Carinthia. His skiing prowess won him a place in the 1936 Austrian Olympic team. He was imprisoned by the British in India during the Second World War but escaped and traveled to Tibet, a story he recounts in the classic Seven Years in Tibet. He died in 2006.