"On that day, there will be no light; There will be cold and ice."

The first roped party in 1938 took four days; Ueli Steck, 2h22 in 2015. Performance after performance, the problem remains: how do you climb the dark north face of the Eiger?

Is this mythical ascent worth the ultimate sacrifice? An indomitable wall, the face tolerates a few rare climbers, but never welcomes them; indeed, irritated by their assaults, it swallows them up as soon as it tires of these grotesque little silhouettes trying to reach the unattainable summit of the Gods. The Eiger, "the ogre": an ominous, tragic nickname that echoes in the silence of Grindelwald.

With this photograph, taken on a clear winter's day, I wanted to convey the wild power of the Eiger. Black and white, light and shadow; no compromise: Nordwand is unforgiving, it must be earned and it promises nothing.

It's the mountain of choices: on the left, on the north face, it's the leap into the unknown, the journey into the night of Man... it's the immediate, pure and luminous discovery of what Life is where Nature no longer wants us. To the right, on the west face, where the light reigns, is the more accessible, easier ascent, the one nobody talks about...

On one side, in the icy shadows, myth shines forth, tireless will triumphs, the story of those who have gone beyond the world of men. On the other side, in the light... it's a simple ridge, like so many others in the Alps...

The Eiger is a character I wanted to portray. Here it is, between majesty and awe.