http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5f2LFUVgEjA
Here's a bit of irony, I think an ancestor, Christian Jossi, perhaps my great grandfather (still checking), was on the first team to successfully climb the Eiger in winter.* This without Gortex, high tech lines/climbing tools, communications, freeze dried rations, etc..
I wonder what he would have thought of descending the Eiger in this fashion? I bet he would have got off on giving it a try. Boggles the mind. I have no doubt the English guys that drove climbing and skiing into the Jungfrau area would have eaten it up in Victorian times.
* "On January 7, 1890, the Englishmen Mead and Woodroffe, together with the guides Ulrich Kaufmann and Christian Jossi, were the first to conquer the Eiger in winter time."
http://www.stnet.ch/st/alpin150/txt/erst_eiger_en.doc
Interesting clips at:
http://www.acro-base.com/fr/imgs/gal...06/eiger06.mov
http://www.acro-base.com/fr/imgs/gal...er-faf-emb.mov