Anderl Heckmair - Obituary

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 CENSORED 03 Feb 2005
http://news.independent.co.uk/people/obituaries/story.jsp?story=607180

Surprised I never saw anyone else post this (unless i missed it in my eagerness to sort out Jamie B's computer delivery)
psd 03 Feb 2005
In reply to CENSORED:

Saw it in the Indy this afternoon, surprised that there was nothing in the main body of the papers - maybe the Eiger was too long ago?
 Greenbanks 03 Feb 2005
In reply to CENSORED:

Was he the White Spider chap? If so that was the book that really drew me into climbing.
psd 03 Feb 2005
In reply to Greenbanks:

White Spider was written by Heinrish Harrer, Heckmair did most of the leading on the Eiger IIRC.
 Mike Gee 03 Feb 2005
In reply to Greenbanks: Im reading it now, man its a great book, been climbing 4 a while now bt im nt sure id like 2 try severe mountaineering after reading it!
 Greenbanks 03 Feb 2005
In reply to psd:

But the book had a lot about Heckmair, right?
psd 03 Feb 2005
In reply to Greenbanks:

Yes, lots - I assumed you meant 'written by Heckmair'...

Reading the obit, I realised how much isn't mentioned in the White Spider about the political climate surrounding the first ascent, and the capital made from it by the Nazis. Quite sobering, really.
 DougG 03 Feb 2005
In reply to CENSORED:

Shit, I never even knew he had died!

If you (or anyone else) has not done so, read "Anderl Heckmair: My Life as a Mountaineer". Very inspirational.

In the 30s he and his circle of friends had the choice between drawing unemployment benefit in the cities, or heading for the hills and scraping a living in huts. They did the latter.
 Rob Naylor 03 Feb 2005
In reply to psd:

The obit seemed to stop after the Nordwand. No mention of him climbing and skiing into his late 80s (or was it early 90s?).
OP CENSORED 03 Feb 2005
In reply to CENSORED: I liked the bit about being 'sponsored' by Hitler being no different to todays corporate whores, because he didn't know of Hitlers evil intentions.
 Rob Naylor 03 Feb 2005
In reply to DougG:

The bit where Simpson meets him in "Beckoning Silence" is good: there he is, overawed by one of his boyhood heroes, and Heckmair's wife, unaware of who Simpson is, keeps talking abou the "extraordinary story of the English boy who broke his leg in Peru and crawled for many days". When Heckmair susses who he is, he just gives him a knowing glance, like "we've both been there, haven't we".
psd 03 Feb 2005
Removed User 03 Feb 2005
In reply to CENSORED: Thanks for the posting, I'd completely missed this.

Regards

Jan
 MikeTS 03 Feb 2005
In reply to CENSORED:
> (In reply to CENSORED) I liked the bit about being 'sponsored' by Hitler being no different to todays corporate whores, because he didn't know of Hitlers evil intentions.

I thought the group always denied any support of & from the Nazis? Is there actually any evidence that they did - I'd hate my heroes to have feet of clay!

psd 03 Feb 2005
In reply to MikeTS:

From the Indy's obit:

"he took up a post as a guide with the Ordensburg at Sonthofen in the Allgäu, little more than a grammar school in Heckmair's belated explanation, though Hitler envisaged these "Castles of the Order" turning out a generation that would "arise to cause the world to recoil in terror". Mountaineering was a means of toughening this future élite. Heckmair and Vörg, already working as a sports trainer at the Ordensburg, apparently declined direct funding for the Eiger but went off with the school's blessing and a stack of subsidised climbing gear."

Whether this counts as sponsorship is up to you, I guess, but I'd certainly view it as 'encouragement' from the regime.
 DougG 03 Feb 2005
In reply to MikeTS:

Heckmair was in the SS, I think that's an established fact.
violentViolet 03 Feb 2005
In reply to DougG:

Wasn't that Harrer who was member of the SS and NSDAP?
 DougG 03 Feb 2005
In reply to violentViolet:

Pardon me, I just got my wires completely crossed.

Of course you are right, I meant Harrer, the author of The White Spider. Heckmair was above that.
In reply to violentViolet:

> Wasn't that Harrer who was member of the SS and NSDAP?

Yes, but he has also said that he was young and just going along with the vogue without understanding the full implications and has admitted it was a mistake.
I think his account of his life and attitudes in Tibet portray a very different and much deeper and more caring person.
violentViolet 03 Feb 2005
In reply to Alison Stockwell:

I wasn't trying to say that Harrer was a downright fascist and Nazi throughout this life. Not every party member was a convinced follower of this regime. Was only saying that it was Harrer who was a member, not Heckmair.
In reply to violentViolet:

Fair enough
J2 03 Feb 2005
In reply to CENSORED:

regardless of all else he was one hell of a climber!

His memory and his climbs will live on

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