The Eiger Obsession

In 2007 I published a memoir, The Eiger Obsession: Facing the Mountain That Killed My Father. The book is a portrait of our family’s life in Europe—and in particular in the Swiss village of Leysin—and the abrupt changes that came in 1966 when Dad died on the Eiger. Mom moved the family to a new life in America, but Dad and the Eiger cast shadows over me until finally I climbed the mountain for myself in 2005.

    Here on my website you’ll find a photo album containing many more pictures than would fit into the book. My own climb of the Eiger was turned into a beautiful IMAX film by MacGillivray Freeman Films. While The Alps: Climb of Your Life has mostly finished its theater run, a DVD version is available. Find interviews and the trailer at www.AlpsFilm.com.               

    The Eiger Obsession was published in English in 2007 and in German, French, and Italian during the following two years. You’ll find links to each publisher at the bottom of Harlin Bio.





American Alpine Journal

My day job is to edit the American Alpine Journal in collaboration with an amazing set of colleagues and new-route climbers from around the world. This annual book of the world’s new mountain routes (except, ironically, in the Alps) has been published by the American Alpine Club since 1929. The world’s permanent record of mountain exploration—as reported by new-route climbers in their own words—is now more accessible than ever thanks to our new website, www.aaj.AmericanAlpineClub.org.



                                        John Harlin Bio

   You’ll find more info about me at my bio page. You can reach me at john at johnharlin dot net. I try to be good at responding, but if you’ve not heard back from me after a while, please write again.

Cheers,

John

 

   

The Swiss borders have now been completely surrounded by a wall of my photos! Take a look at the map at swissinfo.ch/harlin.


All those pictures were uploaded from the field via a camera-phone, and each was an adventure in its own right. There are now 105 days’ worth of reports on that site, covering everything from crossing glaciers to finding an umbrella in a trash can, from interviews in ancient Swiss villages to my personal musings about attraction between the sexes.


This current version of my website is about to receive a facelift to properly share my Swiss Borders adventure and to promote the lectures and books that will be coming. Next year I even expect to offer a few of my favorite border regions as a guided experience. I sincerely hope you’ll return soon for a taste of the fun and to follow up on my projects.


But for now I’m still traveling in Europe, not to return to the States until the beginning of October. Updating this website will have to wait until then. Hope to see you again soon!


Best wishes,

John Harlin III


Here are a couple of videos at swissinfo that introduce the project nicely:

swissinfo.ch Introductory Video (to stage 2).

swissinfo.ch Introductory Video (to stage 3--summer 2011).


My bi-weekly reports are here:

swissinfo.ch The Project


You’ll find lots more information, maps, and photos under Swiss Border Stories.

John Harlin III

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