Yesterday I saw Nordwand (North Face).

Based on a true story, North Face is a suspenseful adventure film about a competition to climb the most dangerous rock face in the Alps. Set in 1936, as Nazi propaganda urges the nation’s Alpinists to conquer the unclimbed north face of the Swiss massif – the Eiger – two reluctant German climbers [Andreas Hinterstoisser and Toni Kurz] begin their daring ascent.

It was a gripping story and I found myself frequently wiping my sweaty palms on my pants as I watched these men cling to shear rock faces. The first ascent of Eiger via the North Face took three days. I just learned that in 2008 Ueli Steck made the climb in 2 hours and 47 minutes.