EIGER 1957

On Sunday, 11 August 1957, Italian mountain climber Claudio Corti was rescued in extremis from the clutches of the Eiger – ‘The Ogre’, the most challenging and deadly north face in the history of mountaineering at the time. For the first time in the mountain’s history, a man had been saved.

Corti spent nine days on ‘The Ogre', nine days in hell, braving blizzards, fog, hunger and the elements. His climbing partner, Stefano Longhi, died tragically, and a German rope team composed of Günther Nothdurft and Franz Mayer, having joined forces with the Italians during the expedition, was later reported missing.   

The rescue operation, which involved around sixty volunteers of various nationalities, is still considered to be one of the most ambitious ever undertaken. The rescue was carried out under the most urgent of circumstances, in full view of the thousands of tourists and onlookers gathered at the foot of the Eiger and was followed live by millions of newspaper readers and radio listeners around the world, definitively bringing mountaineering into the modern media age.

The fallout from the tragedy would span decades. Claudio Corti's rescue sparked both admiration and controversy, leading to protracted and, in some cases, bitter disagreements within the Alpine community.

‘Eiger 1957’ tells the story of the tragedy, the rescue, and their consequences, in gripping detail, while weaving in a broader look at the history and evolving practices of mountaineering.

 Speakers: Rainer Rettner, Giorgio Spreafico, Daniel Anker, Jana Moehrer, Stefan Siegrist, Nicolas Hojac, Andreas Abbeglen, Mark Ziegler, Jasmin Sumiko-Lienert, Matthias Huss, Luca Mercalli, David Mair, Alberto Benini