Toni Kurz
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Toni Kurz was a German mountain climber of the early 20th Century. In 1936, he was part of a four-man team that attempted the North Face of the Eiger. During a retreat from the wall, however, his comrades died trying to reverse the Hinterstoisser Traverse. Kurz, uninjured, attempted an abseil down the face to a window that connected to the railway tunnel through the mountain. However, after a superhuman attempt (which involved unravelling the rope to increase the length, a difficult operation with frozen hands) to rescue himself he became stuck as night fell, and he could not manipulate his abseil gear over a knot in the rope. The next morning, with rescuers almost within range, Kurz was heard to say "Ich kann nicht mehr" (I can do no more) and succumbed to the cold to which his descent had left him terribly exposed.
