<P> The climbers that attempted the north face could be easily watched through the telescopes from the Kleine Scheidegg, a pass between Grindelwald and Lauterbrunnen, connected by rail . The contrast between the comfort and civilization of the railway station and the agonies of the young men slowly dying a short yet uncrossable distance away led to intensive coverage by the international media . </P> <P> After World War II, the north face was climbed twice in 1947, first by a party of two French guides, Louis Lachenal and Lionel Terray, then by a Swiss party consisting of H. Germann, with Hans and Karl Schlunegger . </P> <P> The first ascent was made by the western flank on August 11, 1858 by Charles Barrington with guides Christian Almer and Peter Bohren . They started at 3: 00 a.m. from Wengen . Barrington describes the route much as it is followed today, staying close to the edge of the north face much of the way . They reached the summit at about noon, stayed for some 10 minutes and descended in about four hours . Barrington describes the reaching of the top, saying, "the two guides kindly gave me the place of first man up ." Their ascent was confirmed by observation of a flag left on the summit . According to Harrer's The White Spider, Barrington was originally planning to make the first ascent of the Matterhorn, but his finances did not allow him to travel there as he was already staying in the Eiger region . </P> <P> In 1935 two young German climbers from Bavaria, Karl Mehringer and Max Sedlmeyer, arrived at Grindelwald to attempt to climb the face . They waited a long time for good weather and when the clouds finally cleared they started . The two climbers reached the height of the Eigerwand station and made their first bivouac . On the following day, because of the greater difficulties, they gained little height . On the third day they made hardly any vertical ground . That night a storm broke and the mountain was hidden in fog, and then it began to snow . Avalanches of snow began to sweep the face and the clouds closed over it . Two days later, there was a short moment when the clouds cleared and the mountain was visible for a while . The two men were glimpsed, now a little higher and about to bivouac for the fifth time . Then the fog came down again and hid the climbers . A few days later the weather finally cleared, revealing a completely white north face . The two climbers were found later frozen to death at 3,300 m, at a place now known as "Death Bivouac". </P>

First person to climb north face of eiger