The Eiger Obsession: Facing the Mountain that Killed My Father

When the author was nine years old, his father, an experienced climber, tackled one of the world's most treacherous mountains, the Eiger, in the Swiss Alps. It was the first attempt to reach the summit via the "direct" route (Harlin senior had already climbed the North Face), and it ended in tragedy, with a 4,000-foot fall. Forty years after his father's death, at the age of 49, the author succeeded where his father failed: beating the mountain. Published to coincide with the release of the Imax film chronicling the climb, the book combines biography (memories of Harlin's father) with a you-are-there account of the climb ("The cold Eiger rock feels good against my bare hands"). Thankfully, Harlin avoids most of the climbing-as-life-metaphor cliches that mar so many mountaineering books. At once a tribute to a legendary climber and a celebration of a very personal triumph, this book will captivate the imagination of anyone who reads it.