John Elvis Harlin II (June 30, 1935–March 22, 1966) was an American mountaineer and US Air Force pilot who was killed while making an ascent of the north face of the Eiger. Harlin graduated from Sequoia High School and Stanford University, and after establishing himself as a mountaineer with the first American ascent of the Eiger North Face's Original Route in 1962, conceived the ambition of climbing the Eiger by the direttissima (Italian for "mo...
more
John Elvis Harlin II (June 30, 1935–March 22, 1966) was an American mountaineer and US Air Force pilot who was killed while making an ascent of the north face of the Eiger. Harlin graduated from Sequoia High School and Stanford University, and after establishing himself as a mountaineer with the first American ascent of the Eiger North Face's Original Route in 1962, conceived the ambition of climbing the Eiger by the direttissima (Italian for "most direct") route. However, 2,000 feet from the summit his rope broke and he fell to his death. The Scottish mountaineer Dougal Haston, who was climbing with Harlin, successfully reached the summit with a German party following the same route, which was renamed the "Harlin route" in Harlin's honor. The story of the climb was recounted in the book, Direttissima: The Eiger Assault by British author (and ground team member) Peter Gillman and Haston.
Harlin's son, John Harlin III, who was nine at the time of his father's death, is also a...
less
