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 travelled to Tibet, a story he recounts in the classic Seven Years in Tibet. He died in 2006.

'An outstanding book in the mountaineering library .. The author is well qualified for his task.' Guardian 'Even to look at the photographs of the terrible slopes of the Eiger chills the blood. Heinrich Harrer enables the reader to vicariously experience the cold and the terror of the climb.' Irish Press 'The White Spider provides almost the classic statement of the weird and frequently misunderstood psychology of the moder rock-climber. Despite the grimness of much of what he is doing, Harrer communicates the irresistible joy of climbing as an antidote to the idea that climbers are masochistically trying to prove something to themselves.' Sunday Times

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 travelled to Tibet, a story he recounts in the classic Seven Years in Tibet. He died in 2006.

'An outstanding book in the mountaineering library .. The author is well qualified for his task.' Guardian 'Even to look at the photographs of the terrible slopes of the Eiger chills the blood. Heinrich Harrer enables the reader to vicariously experience the cold and the terror of the climb.' Irish Press 'The White Spider provides almost the classic statement of the weird and frequently misunderstood psychology of the moder rock-climber. Despite the grimness of much of what he is doing, Harrer communicates the irresistible joy of climbing as an antidote to the idea that climbers are masochistically trying to prove something to themselves.' Sunday Times

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 travelled to Tibet, a story he recounts in the classic Seven Years in Tibet. He died in 2006.

'An outstanding book in the mountaineering library .. The author is well qualified for his task.' Guardian 'Even to look at the photographs of the terrible slopes of the Eiger chills the blood. Heinrich Harrer enables the reader to vicariously experience the cold and the terror of the climb.' Irish Press 'The White Spider provides almost the classic statement of the weird and frequently misunderstood psychology of the moder rock-climber. Despite the grimness of much of what he is doing, Harrer communicates the irresistible joy of climbing as an antidote to the idea that climbers are masochistically trying to prove something to themselves.' Sunday Times