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83-595: The first ascent of the Eiger was made by Swiss guides Christian Almer and Peter Bohren and Irishman Charles Barrington , who climbed the west flank on August 11, 1858. The north face, the "last problem" of the Alps, considered amongst the most challenging and dangerous ascents, was first climbed in 1938 by an Austrian-German expedition. The Eiger has been highly publicized for the many tragedies involving climbing expeditions. Since 1935, at least 64 climbers have died attempting

166-526: A German – Austrian party. The party had initially consisted of two independent teams: Harrer (who did not have a pair of crampons on the climb) and Kasparek were joined on the face by Heckmair and Vörg, who had started their ascent a day later and had been helped by the fixed rope that the lead team had left across the Hinterstoisser Traverse. The two groups, led by the experienced Heckmair, decided to join their forces and roped together as

249-582: A -) might weaken its doubling capacity. The presence of this separable prefix also makes the boundaries between the reduced infinitival reduplication form and the prefix hard if not impossible to determine. Thus, in the example above for afaa , an argument could be made that the prefix a- is left off, while the full reduplicated form is used: Mier We fanged start- 1PL jetzt now afa start ässe eat- INF Mier fanged jetzt afa ässe We start-1PL now start eat-INF We're starting to eat now. / We start eating now. In this case,

332-536: A Swiss German speaker, when shown on television in Germany, will require subtitles. Although Swiss German is the native language in the German-speaking part of Switzerland, Swiss school students are taught Swiss Standard German from the age of six. They are thus capable of understanding, writing and speaking Standard German, with varying abilities. Unlike most regional languages in modern Europe, Swiss German

415-576: A daughter on 22 June 1896 on the Wetterhorn. The following year he ended his alpine career by climbing the Wetterhorn, the summit with which he had so much in common. His strength left him suddenly and quickly. Almer died on 17 May 1898 in Grindelwald. Almer gave his dog Tschingel to the 17-year-old W. A. B. Coolidge after a failed attempt on the Eiger. I do not clearly recollect hearing of Tschingel till July 11, 1868. That month Almer had for

498-1200: A distinction is made between the German-speaking people living in Valais, the Walliser , and those who have migrated, the Walsers . The latter can mainly be found in Grisons and Ticino in Switzerland, Vorarlberg in Austria, south of the Monte Rosa mountain chain in Italy (e.g. in Issime in Valle d'Aosta ), South Tyrol in northern Italy, and the Allgäu in Bavaria). Generally, the Walser communities were situated on higher alpine regions, so were able to stay independent of

581-431: A distinction of quantity. Aspirated [pʰ, tʰ, kʰ] have secondarily developed by combinations of prefixes with word-initial /h/ or by borrowings from other languages (mainly Standard German): /ˈphaltə/ 'keep' (standard German behalten [bəˈhaltn̩] ); /ˈtheː/ 'tea' (standard German Tee [ˈtʰeː] ); /ˈkhalt/ 'salary' (standard German Gehalt [ɡəˈhalt] ). In the dialects of Basel and Chur, aspirated /kʰ/

664-506: A few cantonal and municipal ones), in the main news broadcast or in the presence of non- Alemannic speakers. This situation has been called a "medial diglossia ", since the spoken language is mainly Swiss German, whereas the written language is mainly (the Swiss variety of) Standard German . In 2014, about 87% of the people living in the German-speaking portion of Switzerland were using Swiss German in their everyday lives. Swiss German

747-420: A few metres below him. Then he began to lose consciousness. One of the guides, climbing on another's shoulders, could touch the tip of Kurz's crampons with his ice axe but could not reach higher. Kurz was unable to descend further and, wholly exhausted, died slowly. An attempt was made in 1937 by Mathias Rebitsch  [ de ] and Ludwig Vörg . Although the effort was unsuccessful, they were nonetheless

830-577: A mountain guide. Christian Almer spent the summers of his childhood and youth as a shepherd and goatherd. As early as the 1840s, he accompanied tourists on their first mountain climbs. His first guiding activity was a failed attempt to climb the Jungfrau , which he tried to reach on 13 September 1851 from Grindelwald via the Mönch . In 1854 he climbed all three Wetterhörner within one year. Four years later, he and Charles Barrington with Peter Bohren were

913-528: A resolution of individual villages. Speaking the dialect is an important part of regional, cantonal and national identities. In the more urban areas of the Swiss plateau , regional differences are fading due to increasing mobility and to a growing population of non-Alemannic background. Despite the varied dialects, the Swiss can still understand one another, but may particularly have trouble understanding Walliser dialects. Most Swiss German dialects have completed

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996-519: A single group of four. Heckmair later wrote: "We, the sons of the older Reich, united with our companions from the Eastern Border to march together to victory." Snow avalanches constantly threatened the expedition. They climbed as quickly as possible between the falls. On the third day, a storm broke, and the cold was intense. The four men were caught in an avalanche as they climbed "the Spider",

1079-712: Is a music genre using the language; many Swiss rock bands, however, sing in English instead. The Swiss Amish of Adams County, Indiana , and their daughter settlements also use a form of Swiss German. Swiss German is a regional or political umbrella term , not a linguistic unity. For all Swiss-German dialects, there are idioms spoken outside Switzerland that are more closely related to them than to some other Swiss-German dialects. The main linguistic divisions within Swiss German are those of Low , High and Highest Alemannic, and mutual intelligibility across those groups

1162-574: Is almost fully seamless, despite some differences in vocabulary. Low Alemannic is only spoken in the northernmost parts of Switzerland, in Basel and around Lake Constance . High Alemannic is spoken in most of the Swiss Plateau , and is divided into an eastern and a western group. Highest Alemannic is spoken in the Alps . One can separate each dialect into numerous local subdialects, sometimes down to

1245-671: Is almost ice-free, significant glaciers lie on the other sides of the mountain. The Eiger Glacier flows on the southwestern side of the Eiger, from the crest connecting it to the Mönch down to 2,400 m (7,900 ft), south of Eigergletscher railway station , and feeds the Weisse Lütschine through the Trümmelbach . On the east side, the Ischmeer–well visible from the windows of Eismeer railway station –flows eastwards from

1328-533: Is also present in native words, corresponding to the affricate /kx/ of the other dialects, which does not occur in Basel or Chur. Swiss German keeps the fortis–lenis opposition at the end of words. There can be minimal pairs such as graad [ɡ̊raːd̥] 'straight' and Graat [ɡ̊raːt] ' arête ' or bis [b̥ɪz̥] 'be ( imp. )' and Biss [b̥ɪs] 'bite'. That distinguishes Swiss German and Swiss Standard German from German Standard German , which neutralizes

1411-663: Is any of the Alemannic dialects spoken in the German-speaking part of Switzerland , and in some Alpine communities in Northern Italy bordering Switzerland. Occasionally, the Alemannic dialects spoken in other countries are grouped together with Swiss German as well, especially the dialects of Liechtenstein and Austrian Vorarlberg , which are closely associated to Switzerland's. Linguistically, Alemannic

1494-425: Is as consistent as Icelandic in that respect. The grammar of Swiss dialects has some idiosyncratic features in comparison to Standard German: In Swiss German, a small number of verbs reduplicate in a reduced infinitival form, i.e. unstressed shorter form, when used in their finite form governing the infinitive of another verb. The reduced and reduplicated part of the verb in question is normally put in front of

1577-458: Is being reintroduced because of the influence of other Swiss German dialects. Like Bavarian dialects, Swiss German dialects have preserved the opening diphthongs of Middle High German : /iə̯, uə̯, yə̯/ : in /liə̯b̥/ 'lovely' (standard German lieb but pronounced /liːp/ ); /huə̯t/ 'hat' (standard German Hut /huːt/ ); /xyə̯l/ 'cool' (Standard German kühl /kyːl/ ). Some diphthongs have become unrounded in several dialects. In

1660-499: Is divided into Low , High and Highest Alemannic , varieties all of which are spoken both inside and outside Switzerland. The only exception within German-speaking Switzerland is the municipality of Samnaun , where a Bavarian dialect is spoken. The reason Swiss German dialects constitute a special group is their almost unrestricted use as a spoken language in practically all situations of daily life, whereas

1743-474: Is intelligible to speakers of other Alemannic dialects, but largely unintelligible to speakers of Standard German who lack adequate prior exposure. This is also a challenge for French- or Italian-speaking Swiss who learn Standard German at school. In the rare cases that Swiss German is heard on TV in Germany and Austria, the speaker is most likely to be dubbed or subtitled. More commonly, a Swiss speaker will speak Standard German on non-Swiss media. "Dialect rock"

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1826-540: Is more often on the first syllable than in Standard German, even in French loans like [ˈmɛrsːi] or [ˈmersːi] 'thanks' (despite stress falling on the final syllable in French ). However, there are many different stress patterns, even within dialects. Bernese German has many words that are stressed on the first syllable: [ˈkaz̥inɔ] 'casino' while Standard German has [kʰaˈziːno] . However, no Swiss German dialect

1909-702: Is no clear indication of how exactly the peak gained its name. The three mountains of the ridge are commonly referred to as the Virgin (German: Jungfrau – translates to "virgin" or "maiden"), the Monk ( Mönch ), and the Ogre ( Eiger ; the standard German word for ogre is Oger ). The name has been linked to the Latin term acer , meaning "sharp" or "pointed". The Eiger is located above the Lauterbrunnen Valley to

1992-544: Is the everyday spoken language for the majority of the population, in all social strata, from urban centers to the countryside. Using Swiss German conveys neither social nor educational inferiority and is done with pride. There are a few settings where speaking Standard German is demanded or polite, e.g., in education (but not during breaks in school lessons, where the teachers will speak with students in Swiss German), in multilingual parliaments (the federal parliaments and

2075-702: Is the north face of the Eiger (also known as the Eigernordwand : "Eiger north wall" or Eigerwand ). It is one of the three great north faces of the Alps , along with the north faces of the Matterhorn and the Grandes Jorasses (known as 'the Trilogy') and also one of the biggest sheer faces in Europe, between 1,600 m and 1,800 m (over a mile) high. The face overlooks Kleine Scheidegg and

2158-852: The Bernese Alps , the Valais Alps , the Mont Blanc massif and the Dauphiné Alps . With his many first ascents or first winter ascents, he made a name for himself as a first-class alpinist of his time, guiding alpinists including Edward Whymper , W. A. B. Coolidge , Adolphus Warburton Moore , Leslie Stephen and Gottlieb Samuel Studer . Christian Almer was married to Margaritha Kaufmann from 1846. His son Ulrich Almer (8 May 1849 - 4 September 1940 in Grindelwald), with whom he went on many mountain trips together, also worked as

2241-537: The High German consonant shift . Unlike Standard German , which has only shifted t to [t͡s] or [s] and p to [p͡f] or [f] , they have also shifted k to [k͡x] or [x] . The dialects of Chur and Basel are exceptions to this. Basel German is a Low Alemannic dialect (mostly spoken in Germany near the Swiss border), and Chur German is basically High Alemannic without initial [x] or [k͡x] . Examples: The High German consonant shift occurred between

2324-524: The Himalaya and Karakoram but also because of the increased rockfall and diminishing ice-fields. Climbers are increasingly electing to challenge the Eiger in winter when the crumbling face is strengthened by ice. Since 1935, at least sixty-four climbers have died attempting the north face, earning it the German nickname, Mordwand , or "murderous wall", a play on the face's German name Nordwand . While

2407-530: The Jungfraujoch , between the Mönch and the Jungfrau, at the highest railway station in Europe. The two stations within the Eiger are Eigerwand (behind the north face) and Eismeer (behind the south face), at around 3,000 metres. The Eigerwand station has not been regularly served since 2016. The first mention of Eiger, appearing as "mons Egere", was found in a property sale document of 1252, but there

2490-521: The Jura Mountains in the northwest. The higher Finsteraarhorn (4,270 m (14,010 ft)) and Aletschhorn (4,190 m (13,750 ft)), which are located about 10 kilometres (6.2 mi) to the south, are generally less visible and situated in the middle of glaciers in less accessible areas. As opposed to the north side, the south and east sides of the range consist of large valley glaciers extending for up to 22 kilometres (14 mi),

2573-481: The Matterhorn , but his finances did not allow him to travel there as he was already staying in the Eiger region. Although the Mittellegi ridge had already been descended by climbers (since 1885) with ropes in the difficult sections, it remained unclimbed until 1921. On the 10th of September of that year, Japanese climber Yuko Maki , along with Swiss guides Fritz Amatter, Samuel Brawand , and Fritz Steuri , made

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2656-1017: The Rhône , but constitutes a massive limestone buttress, projecting from the crystalline basement of the Mönch across the Eigerjoch . Consequently, all sides of the Eiger feed finally the same river, namely the Lütschine . Eiger's water is connected through the Weisse Lütschine (the white one) in the Lauterbrunnen Valley on the west side (southwestern face of the Eiger) and through the Schwarze Lütschine (the black one) running through Grindelwald (northwestern face), which meet each other in Zweilütschinen (lit.:

2739-719: The Upper Grindelwald Glacier . Therefore, all the water running down the Eiger converges at the northern foot of the Männlichen (2,342 m (7,684 ft)) in Zweilütschinen (654 m (2,146 ft)), about 10 kilometres (6.2 mi) northwest of the summit, where the Lütschine begins its northern course to Lake Brienz and the Aare (564 m (1,850 ft)). Although the Eiger's north face

2822-734: The syllable coda and intervocalic /lː/ are pronounced as a [w] or [wː] respectively. A labiodental approximant [ʋ] is used instead of the Northern Standard German fricative [v] as the reflex of Middle High German /w/ . In Walser German, the fricative is used instead. Most Swiss German dialects have rounded front vowels, unlike other High German dialects. Only in Low Alemannic dialects of northwestern Switzerland (mainly Basel) and in Walliser dialects have rounded front vowels been unrounded. In Basel, rounding

2905-405: The "Flat Iron" ( Bügeleisen ) at the lefthand end of the second ice field. Ten young climbers from Austria and Germany came to Grindelwald and camped at the foot of the mountain the following year. Before their attempts started, one of them was killed during a training climb, and the weather was so bad during that summer that, after waiting for a change and seeing none on the way, several members of

2988-519: The 4th and 9th centuries south of the Benrath line , separating High German from Low German (where high refers to areas of greater altitude). It combines Upper German and Central German varieties - also referring to their geographical locations. The Walser migration, which took place in the 12th and 13th centuries, spread varieties from upper Valais to the east and south, into Grisons and to modern western Austria and northern Italy. Informally,

3071-457: The Alemannic n - apocope , which has led to the loss of final -n in words such as Garte 'garden' (standard German Garten ) or mache 'to make' (standard German machen ). In some Highest Alemannic dialects, the n -apocope has also been effective in consonant clusters, for instance in Hore 'horn' (High Alemannic Horn ) or däiche 'to think' (High Alemannic dänke ). Only

3154-452: The Ascent of the Eiger ). During the first successful ascent, the four men were caught in an avalanche as they climbed the Spider, but all had enough strength to resist being swept off the face. Since then, the north face has been climbed many times. Today, it is regarded as a formidable challenge, not only because of its technical difficulties, exceeding those of some of the 8,000 m peaks in

3237-630: The Eiger (and its summit) belongs to the Bernese municipalities of Grindelwald and Lauterbrunnen. The Kleine Scheidegg (literally, the small parting corner ) connects the Männlichen - Tschuggen range with the western ridge of the Eiger. The Eiger does not properly form part of the main chain of the Bernese Alps, which borders the canton of Valais and forms the watershed between the Rhine and

3320-561: The German World War I ace Ernst Udet went searching for the missing men with his aircraft, eventually spotting one of them frozen to death in what became known as the "Death Bivouac". Sedlmeyer's body was found at the foot of the face the following year by his brothers Heinrich and Martin Meier, who were part of a group looking for the victims of the 1936 climbing disaster. Mehringer's remains were found in 1962 by Swiss climbers below

3403-716: The Highest Alemannic dialects of the Lötschental and of the Haslital have preserved the - n . The phoneme /r/ is pronounced as an alveolar trill [r] in many dialects, but some dialects, especially in the Northeast or in the Basel region, have a uvular trill [ʀ] , and other allophones resulting in fricatives and an approximant as [ ʁ ʁ̥ ʁ̞ ] like in many German varieties of Germany. In many varieties of Bernese German and adjacent dialects, an /l/ at

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3486-462: The IPA diacritic for voicelessness as /b̥ d̥ ɡ̊ v̥ z̥ ɣ̊ ʒ̊/ . Swiss German /p, t, k/ are not aspirated. Nonetheless, there is an opposition of consonant pairs such as [t] and [d] or [p] and [b] . Traditionally, it has been described as a distinction of fortis and lenis in the original sense, that is, distinguished by articulatory strength or tenseness . Alternatively, it has been claimed to be

3569-893: The Zürich dialect, short pronunciations of / i y u / are realized as [ ɪ ʏ ʊ ]. Sounds like the monophthong [ɒ] can frequently become unrounded to [ɑ] among many speakers of the Zürich dialect. Vowels such as a centralized [ a ] and an open-mid [ ɔ ] only occur in the Bernese dialect. Like in Low German , most Swiss German dialects have preserved the old West-Germanic monophthongs /iː, uː, yː/ : /pfiːl/ 'arrow' (Standard German Pfeil /pfaɪ̯l/ ); /b̥uːx/ 'belly' (Standard German Bauch /baʊ̯x/ ); /z̥yːlə/ 'pillar' (Standard German Säule /zɔʏ̯lə/ ). A few Alpine dialects show diphthongization, like in Standard German, especially some dialects of Unterwalden and Schanfigg (Graubünden) and

3652-537: The best guides CHRISTIAN ALMER born 25 March 1826, died 17 May 1898. Were mountains to be conquered, There wasn't a better man; Whoever struggled with you and won, Can never forget you. Now you may stand on the summits Of the eternal mountains. Where Christ led you. There friend goodbye. Your old, loyal companions. Swiss German Swiss German ( Standard German : Schweizerdeutsch , Alemannic German : Schwiizerdütsch, Schwyzerdütsch, Schwiizertüütsch, Schwizertitsch Mundart , and others)

3735-404: The cliff after cutting loose the rope that bound him to his dead teammate below and climbed back onto the face. The guides could not pass an unclimbable overhang that separated them from Kurz. They gave him a rope long enough to reach them by tying two ropes together. While descending, Kurz could not get the knot to pass through his carabiner . He tried for hours to reach his rescuers, who were only

3818-421: The comfort and civilization of the railway station and the agonies of the young men slowly dying a short yet uncrossable distance away led to intensive coverage by the international media. After World War II, the north face was climbed twice in 1947, first by a party of two French guides, Louis Lachenal and Lionel Terray , then by a Swiss party consisting of H. Germann, with Hans and Karl Schlunegger. In 1857,

3901-860: The dialect of Issime (Piedmont). Some Western Swiss German dialects like Bernese German have preserved the old diphthongs /ei̯, ou̯/ , but the other dialects have /ai̯, au̯/ like Standard German or /æi̯, æu̯/ . Zürich German , and some other dialects distinguish primary diphthongs from secondary ones that arose in hiatus : Zürich German /ai̯, au̯/ from Middle High German /ei̯, ou̯/ versus Zürich German /ei̯, ou̯/ from Middle High German /iː, uː/ ; Zürich German /bai̯, frau̯/ 'leg, woman' from Middle High German bein , vrouwe versus Zürich German /frei̯, bou̯/ 'free, building' from Middle High German frī , būw . In many Swiss German dialects, consonant length and vowel length are independent from each other, unlike other modern Germanic languages. Here are examples from Bernese German: Lexical stress

3984-528: The enthusiasm that animated the young talented climbers from Austria and Germany finally vanquished its reputation of unclimbability when a party of four climbers successfully reached the summit in 1938 by what is known as the "1938" or "Heckmair" route. The climbers that attempted the north face could be easily watched through the telescopes from the Kleine Scheidegg , a pass between Grindelwald and Lauterbrunnen, connected by rail. The contrast between

4067-439: The face when they could not recross the difficult Hinterstoisser Traverse, from which they had taken the rope they had first used to climb it. The weather then deteriorated for two days. They were ultimately swept away by an avalanche, which only Kurz survived, hanging on a rope. Three guides started on a precarious rescue attempt. They failed to reach him but came within shouting distance and learned what had happened. Kurz explained

4150-437: The fate of his companions: one had fallen down the face, another was frozen above him, and the third had fractured his skull in falling and was hanging dead on the rope. In the morning, the three guides returned, traversing the face from a hole near the Eigerwand station and risking their lives under constant avalanches. Toni Kurz was still alive but almost helpless, with one hand and one arm wholly frozen. Kurz hauled himself off

4233-459: The first climbers who returned alive from a serious attempt on the face. They started the climb on 11 August and reached a high point of a few rope lengths above Death Bivouac. A storm broke, and after three days on the wall, they had to retreat. This was the first successful withdrawal from a significant height on the wall. The north face was first climbed on July 24, 1938, by Anderl Heckmair , Ludwig Vörg , Heinrich Harrer and Fritz Kasparek in

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4316-460: The first people to stand on the Eiger summit, which at that time was considered as unclimbable as the Matterhorn in the Canton Valais . After a winter ascent of the Jungfrau in early 1885, all of Almer's toes on his right foot had to be amputated. Nevertheless, he continued his guiding activities. In 1895, when he was almost 70 years old, he led a party over the Bietschhorn . He celebrated his golden wedding anniversary with his wife, two sons and

4399-492: The first recorded attempt was made by Christian Almer , Christian Kaufmann, Ulrich Kaufmann guiding the Austrian alpinist Sigismund Porges. They did manage the first ascent of neighboring Mönch instead. Porges, however, successfully made the second ascent of the Eiger in July 1861 with the guides Christian Michel, Hans, and Peter Baumann. The first ascent was made by the western flank on August 11, 1858, by Charles Barrington with guides Christian Almer and Peter Bohren . On

4482-452: The first successful ascent of the ridge. The previous day, the party approached the ridge from the Eismeer railway station of the Jungfrau Railway and bivouacked for the night. They started the climb at about 6:00 a.m. and reached the summit of the Eiger at about 7:15 p.m., after an over 13 hours gruelling ascent. Shortly after, they descended the west flank. They finally reached Eigergletscher railway station at about 3:00 a.m.

4565-557: The first time become guide to my aunt, the late Miss Brevoort, and myself. On July 8 we all three made our first high climb together (the Wetterhorn) and on July 11 started from Little Scheidegg for the ascent of the Eiger. But the rocks (as often) were glazed, and we had to retreat. This disappointed me bitterly, for I was not quite eighteen years of age [...] Almer sympathised much with me, and so, as we were walking down that afternoon to Grindelwald, tried to comfort me by promising to give me his dog Tschingel, as one of her sons, Bello by name,

4648-487: The fortis–lenis opposition at the ends of words. The phenomenon is usually called final-obstruent devoicing even though, in the case of German, phonetic voice may not be involved. Unlike Standard German, Swiss German /x/ does not have the allophone [ç] but is typically [x] , with allophones [ʁ̥ – χ] . The typical Swiss shibboleth features this sound: Chuchichäschtli ('kitchen cupboard'), pronounced [ˈχuχːiˌχæʃtli] . Most Swiss German dialects have gone through

4731-399: The infinitive of the second verb. This is the case for the motion verbs gaa 'to go' and choo 'to come' when used in the meaning of 'go (to) do something', 'come (to) do something', as well as the verbs laa 'to let' and in certain dialects afaa 'to start, to begin' when used in the meaning of 'let do something', or 'start doing something'. Most affected by this phenomenon is

4814-620: The largest (beyond the Eiger drainage basin ) being those of Grand Aletsch , Fiesch , and Aar Glaciers , and is thus uninhabited. The whole area, the Jungfrau-Aletsch protected area , comprising the highest summits and largest glaciers of the Bernese Alps, was inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2001. In July 2006, a piece of the Eiger fell from the east face, amounting to approximately 700,000 cubic metres of rock. As it had been noticeably cleaving for several weeks and fell into an uninhabited area, no injuries or buildings were hit. The Nordwand , German for "north wall" or "north face",

4897-420: The next day, after their first bivouac, the weather changed; clouds came down and hid the group from the observers. They did not resume the climb until the following day, when, during a break, the party was seen descending, but the climbers could be seen only intermittently from the ground. The group had no choice but to retreat since Angerer had suffered serious injuries from falling rock. The party became stuck on

4980-457: The next day. In 1935, two young German climbers from Bavaria, Karl Mehringer and Max Sedlmeyer, arrived at Grindelwald to attempt the ascent of the north face. After waiting some time for the weather to improve, they set off, reaching the height of the Eigerwand station before stopping for their first bivouac . The following day, facing greater difficulties, they gained little height. On the third day, they made hardly any vertical gain. That night,

5063-755: The night, and starting soon after midnight for the remainder of the ascent, they reached the summit at half-past six on Monday morning. A cloudless sky and magnificent panorama of the Oberland rewarded their courage and endurance. The aged couple returned safely to Grindelwald on Monday evening. Christian Almer died in Grindelwald on 17 May 1898. His gravestone reads: Hier ruht der besten Führer einer CHRISTIAN ALMER geb. 29. März 1826. gest. 17. Mai 1898 Galt’s Berge zu bezwingen, Gab’s keinen bessern Mann; Wer mit dir stritt und siegte, Dich nie vergessen kann. Jetzt darfst du auf den Zinnen Der ewige Berge stehn. Wohin dich Christus führte. Dort Freund auf Wiedersehn Deine alten treuen Fahrgenossen. Here rests one of

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5146-439: The north face, earning it the German nickname Mordwand , literally "murder(ous) wall"—a pun on its correct title of Nordwand (North Wall). Although the summit of the Eiger can be reached by experienced climbers only, a railway tunnel runs inside the mountain, and two internal stations provide easy access to viewing-windows carved into the rock face. They are both part of the Jungfrau Railway line, running from Kleine Scheidegg to

5229-432: The notable features on the north face are (from the bottom): First Pillar, Eigerwand Station, First Ice-field, Hinterstoisser Traverse, Swallow's Nest, Ice Hose, Second Ice-field, Death Bivouac, Ramp, Traverse of the Gods, Spider and Exit Cracks. In 1938, Alpine Journal editor Edward Lisle Strutt called the face "an obsession for the mentally deranged" and "the most imbecile variant since mountaineering first began." In

5312-412: The party gave up. Of the four that remained, two were Bavarians, Andreas Hinterstoisser and Toni Kurz , and two were Austrians, Willy Angerer and Edi Rainer . When the weather improved, they preliminarily explored the lowest part of the face. Hinterstoisser fell 37 metres (121 ft) but was not injured. A few days later, the four men finally began the ascent of the face. They climbed quickly, but on

5395-404: The previous afternoon, the party walked up to the Wengernalp hotel. From there, they started the ascent of the Eiger at 3:30 a.m. Barrington describes the route much as it is followed today, staying close to the edge of the north face much of the way. They reached the summit at about noon, planted a flag, remained for 10 minutes, and descended in about four hours. Barrington describes reaching

5478-414: The reduplicated part. Between laa and afaa , these effects are weakest in afaa . This means that while reduplication is mandatory for laa in declarative main clauses almost everywhere in the country, this is the case for fewer varieties of Swiss German with afaa . The reason for this is unknown, but it has been hypothesized that the fact that afaa has a separable prefix (

5561-482: The ruling forces of those days, who did not or were not able to oversee them all the time in these hostile environments. Hence the Walsers were pioneers of the liberation from serfdom and feudalism . In addition, Walser villages are easily distinguishable from Grisonian ones, as Walser houses are made of wood rather than stone. Like most other Southern German dialects, Swiss German dialects have no voiced obstruents . The voiceless lenis obstruents are often marked with

5644-417: The same crest then turns to the north below the impressive wide Fiescherwand , the north face of the Fiescherhörner triple summit (4,049 m (13,284 ft)) down to about 1,600 m (5,200 ft) of the Lower Grindelwald Glacier system. The massive composition of the Eiger, Mönch, and Jungfrau constitutes a symbolic sight of the Swiss Alps and is visible from many places on the Swiss Plateau and

5727-482: The same year, however, the north face was finally climbed on 24 July by Andreas Heckmair , Ludwig Vörg , Heinrich Harrer and Fritz Kasparek , a German–Austrian group. A portion of the upper face is called "The White Spider", as snow-filled cracks radiating from an ice field resemble the legs of a spider . Harrer used this name for the title of his book about his successful climb, Die Weisse Spinne (translated into English as The White Spider: The Classic Account of

5810-448: The same, where such doubling effects are not found as outlined in the examples. Reduplication effects are weaker in the verbs laa 'to let' and afaa 'to start, to begin' than they are in gaa 'to go' and choo 'to come'. This means that afaa is most likely to be used without its reduplicated and reduced form while retaining grammaticality, whereas utterances with goo are least likely to remain grammatical without

5893-411: The snow-filled cracks radiating from an ice-field on the upper face, but all possessed sufficient strength to resist being swept off the face. The members successfully reached the summit at four o'clock in the afternoon. They were so exhausted that they only had the strength to descend by the regular route through a raging blizzard. Christian Almer Christian Almer (29 March 1826 – 17 May 1898)

5976-495: The summit to the Ostegg (lit.: eastern corner , 2,709 m (8,888 ft)), called Mittellegi , is the longest on the Eiger. The north face overlooks the gently rising Alpine meadow between Grindelwald (943 m (3,094 ft)) and Kleine Scheidegg (2,061 m (6,762 ft)), a mountain railways junction and a pass, which can be reached from both sides, Grindelwald and Lauterbrunnen/Wengen – by foot or train. Politically,

6059-402: The summit was reached without much difficulty in 1858 by a complex route on the west flank, the battle to climb the north face has captivated the interest of climbers and non-climbers alike. Before it was successfully climbed, most of the attempts on the face ended tragically, and the Bernese authorities even banned climbing it and threatened to fine any party that should attempt it again. However,

6142-473: The top, saying, "The two guides kindly gave me the place of the first man up." After the descent, the party was escorted to the Kleine Scheidegg hotel, where their ascent was confirmed by observation of the flag left on the summit. The hotel owner then fired a cannon to celebrate the first ascent. According to Harrer's The White Spider , Barrington was originally planning to make the first ascent of

6225-404: The two Lütschinen ) where they form the proper Lütschine. The east face is covered by the glacier called Ischmeer ( Bernese German for Ice Sea ), which forms one upper part of the fast-retreating Lower Grindelwald Glacier . These glaciers' water forms a short creek, which is also confusingly called the Weisse Lütschine , but enters the black one already in Grindelwald together with the water from

6308-423: The use of the Alemannic dialects in other countries is restricted or even endangered. The dialects that comprise Swiss German must not be confused with Swiss Standard German , the variety of Standard German used in Switzerland. Swiss Standard German is fully understandable to all speakers of Standard German, while many people in Germany – especially in the north – do not understand Swiss German. An interview with

6391-488: The valley of Grindelwald . At 2,866 metres inside the mountain lies the Eigerwand railway station . The station is connected to the north face by a tunnel opening at the face, which has sometimes been used to rescue climbers. The Eiger Trail, at the base of the north face, runs from Eigergletscher to Alpiglen railway stations. The approach hike to the base of the face takes less than an hour from Eigergletscher. Some of

6474-430: The verb gaa , followed by choo . Both laa and afaa are less affected and only when used in present tense declarative main clauses . Declarative sentence examples: As the examples show, all verbs are reduplicated with a reduced infinitival form when used in a declarative main clause. This is especially interesting as it stands in contrast to the standard variety of German and other varieties of

6557-481: The village doctor, the sturdy old couple made the ascent of the Wetterhorn, 12,150 ft high. Starting at a very early hour on Sunday morning, they reached the Wetterhorn Hut in the evening, their safe arrival there being made known to their fellow villagers by a signal light, which, shone in response to the many rockets fired by the sympathetic villagers below. Here the veteran climbers and their companions passed

6640-408: The weather deteriorated, bringing snow and low clouds that shrouded the mountain from the observers below. Avalanches began to sweep the face. Two days later, the weather briefly cleared, and the two men were glimpsed a little higher and about to bivouac for the fifth night before clouds descended again. A few days later, the weather finally cleared, revealing a completely white north face. Weeks later,

6723-710: The west and Grindelwald to the north in the Bernese Oberland region of the canton of Bern . It forms a renowned mountain range of the Bernese Alps together with its two companions: the Jungfrau (4,158 m (13,642 ft)) about 5.6 kilometres (3.5 mi) southwest of it and the Mönch (4,107 m (13,474 ft)) about in the middle of them. The nearest settlements are Grindelwald, Lauterbrunnen (795 m (2,608 ft)) and Wengen (1,274 m (4,180 ft)). The Eiger has three faces: north (or more precisely NNW), east (or more precisely ESE), and west (or more precisely WSW). The northeastern ridge from

6806-481: Was a Swiss mountain guide and the first ascentionist of many prominent mountains in the western Alps during the golden and silver ages of alpinism. Almer was born and died in Grindelwald , Canton of Bern . During his lifetime, Christian Almer, like his contemporary Melchior Anderegg from Meiringen , was considered one of the best of the first generation of mountain guides. He guided his clients in

6889-506: Was now able to act as watchdog ... On 20 and 21 June 1896 Almer and his wife Margaritha ("Gritli") celebrated their golden (50th) wedding anniversary by climbing the Wetterhorn: The oldest of the Grindelwald guides, Christian Almer, well known to Alpine climbers, celebrated his golden wedding on Sunday in a novel way. Christian is seventy-four years of age, and his wife seventy-five. Accompanied by two of their younger sons and by

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