Mountain nearing in the 1900s was a fast-paced, dangerous, but ever-changing sport. Men from all over the world would conjugate to one location where they would risk their lives through deadly perils, just to have their names go down in history as the first ever successful summit of a root or peak. Many outsiders looking in, read the newspapers in awe of climbers like Edmund Hillary in Tenseng, Norge, while those part of the community were in brutal year-long battles against snow, ice, and rock that cost many people their lives. Over the years, a few mountains became notorious due to a factor of reasons, size, difficulty, location, weather, you name it, but conquering one of these peaks meant your name would never be forgotten. Tony Kiert, Sir German mountain climber in the 1930s, would be chasing the first summit on one of these peaks, the most famous rock wall in the world, the North Face of the Iger. This is his story. The North Face of the Iger is a legendary climb, but also a deadly one. It is the easternmost peak of a ridge crest that extends across the munch to the young brow, constituting one of the most emblematic sites of the Swiss Alps. The vertical wall of rock and ice rises 6,000 feet above the Swiss Alps, and overlooks a beautiful meadow, located between Grindelwald and Klein's Shideeg and Switzerland, a mountain railways junction and a pass, which can be reached from both sides. The mountain stands as a tourist attraction and a challenge for climbers brave enough to venture on its walls. The North Face is considered to be one of the three greatest faces of the Alps, as well as being known as the biggest shear face in Europe. In terms of technical difficulty, it surpasses many 8,000 meter peaks in the Himalayas and Kera Korum. The most common danger when climbing the North Face is rock falls. However, during the summer's warmer temperatures, ice fields melt and become diminished, further increasing the challenges and risks associated with the climb. And of course, like all major mountains, climbers must pay attention to deadly avalanches looking to sweep down anything in their paths. Since 1935, at least 64 climbers have died attempting the North Face, earning it the German nickname Mordwand or Murderous Wall. Tony Kurtz was born on January 13, 1913 in Berchtestoggen in Germany, where he was also raised. Together with his childhood friend Andreas Hinterstoischer, he made numerous first ascents of peaks in the Berchtestoggen Alps, including some of the most difficult climbs of that time. Most notable are their climbs of the southwest wall of the Berchtestoggen Haktoran, the highest peak of the Untusberg Massif, and the south wall of the Strait Pillar. Tony and Andreas joined the German military in 1934, as professional soldiers. Adolf Hitler had just taken power, and there was a movement in the country for young professionals to join, although their stint in the military would only last two years. In 1936, the duo left Berchtestoggen, where they were serving, and biked over 245 miles to Switzerland to the location of the Eiger. Tony had dreamed of reaching the summit for multiple years at this point. He was not only interested in reaching the top, he wanted to do it by climbing the most difficult route up the north-space. Tony and Andreas would begin their climb on July 18th, 1936. Andreas proved to be an exceptional climber, mastering difficult traverses at the start of their journey. While on the mountain, two other Austrian mountaineers, Willie Inger and Eddie Ranier, were following the same route not far behind. After using a line Andreas had placed, the four climbers would agree to team up to better tackle the wall. Local tourists began to notice these four men on the wall from below, and became mesmerized by their attempt. Most onlookers thought their group was completely mad, while small families would have picnics in the meadow, watching the climbers slowly creep up the wall. Tony and the men made quick progress on their first day, easily scaling the first 400 meters. Upon reaching the first ice field, they slowed down above a section called Red Rock. Here, Andreas performed a deadly traverse to lay down safety lines for the rest of the men. This section would eventually be called the Hinter's Toy Surge Reverse, after Andreas. After all men had passed this section, they removed the safety rope and took it with them, as they did not know what lay ahead, but this would be a fatal mistake. Their next challenge would be a huge ice field that lay ahead of the men. The section was highly unstable, as some of the ice was melting, releasing rocks that flew down the cliff at great speeds. Realizing the danger, the men tried to complete this section of ice, which was about 300 meters as quickly as possible. They climbed higher and higher when another rock fall started. A stray rock hit Willie directly in the head. He would remain conscious and appeared to be in good condition, so the men pitched a tent on a ledge and rested for the night. Being a little over halfway to the summit, they did not want to descend, so the next morning they continued to climb. Their progress was slow due to Willie being injured, but they still moved steadily up the wall. By the evening, they had made it to the death of Biviac, where they set up Camp 2. On the third day, Tony and Andreas would set out a dawn together, leaving Willie and Eddie to follow. Although after a few hours had passed, it was clear Willie could not continue. Instead of going for the summit, all four men began their descent midday. The rest of the day was spent climbing down the second ice field, but it became more difficult to move as Willie was barely conscious, as they looked down into the valley, the climbers saw that bad weather was on the way, but without much options, they would have to rest for the night. On the morning of the fourth day, the mountain was wrapped in clouds. Water rained from above, turning to ice as it dripped down the north base. The men set out, attempting to descend the first ice field. Remember, they had struggled on this section during their ascend, and that was with good weather. Eventually, they would reach the cross passage, or the hinterstoy sure traverse, but this time, the wall was completely covered in ice, making their return traverse near impossible, without an already established road. Andreas spent over five hours trying to lay a new road, but would eventually fail. To make matters worse, a snow storm was coming, and the men could feel it in the air. Snow clouds covered the mountain, and this meant that nobody from below could monitor their progress. They were alone. Visibility was near zero, climbing in these conditions as pure madness, but the men had no choice. Instead of following the same path they took over the traverse, they instead began trying to climb straight down. 900 meters below them was a train station door that had been carved into a rock, due to the railways going through the mountain. It was their last hope. Their clothes were completely soaked, and the cold weather was sapping the energy from the men's bones, but they continued to descend. After a few hours, but it seemed like a lifetime, the men were only 90 meters from the door, and their salvation. Andreas unclipped himself for the last section as he wanted to safely lay lines for the group, when he heard an ominous sound. Ice and rock, falling directly towards him. Andreas would be swept off the cliff in the abelange, falling 600 meters to his death. Willie was struck by a falling rock, dying instantly and causing his body to fall. It was caught by the attached line and remains suspended. Eddie, who had been securing the rope, was violently pulled against the rock. A dislodged anchor struck him in the face, breaking his jaw and entangling around his waist. The rope grew tighter and tighter, until after a few minutes, Eddie died, due to lack of oxygen. Tony was left hanging between the two Austrian climbers. A station master, who was positioned at the tunnel door in the mountain, saw what had happened and immediately contacted rescue guides. An hour later, a party came through the tunnel and arrived at the door. In order to reach Tony, the rescuers would have to vertically climb 200 meters of overhanging ledges. But due to the weather conditions, the men decided that they could not climb that night and would have to wait for the morning. Tony was left unprotected from the blizzard dangling for the entire night. The next day, the rescuers would begin climbing up to Tony, and Tony tried to descend as best as possible. But after hours of hanging and freezing temperatures, he just had little energy. In order to do so, he had to cut Willie's body from the rope and then climb upwards to cut Eddie's body up the line as well. To make matters worse, Tony had lost a glove in the night and his hand was frozen. Nevertheless, he set out to free himself from both climbers' bodies. The process took over five hours until eventually he was successful. He continued to lower himself as much as possible, until he had no rope left. At the same time, rescuers continued to climb upwards. They were climbing using one long rope, and when it came time to need another one, a rescuer removed his backpack, but the sudden movement caused their spare rope to fall. The team instead tried to put two small ropes together to close the distance between them and Tony, but it still was not enough. Instead, Tony pulled up their rope and began using it to descend, but would be stopped due to the large knot in the middle. Tying the small ropes together, Tony desperately tried to move past the knot, but no longer had the strength to do so. Instead, he looked the rescuers in the eyes, and said, I can't go on anymore. And shortly after, he died of hypothermia, Tony's story is well known for all who attempt to climb the Eiger. He was a pioneer of his time, a man on a mission, a man against a giant rock wall. But this time, the wall won.