Maurice Herzog

1950's was a time when mountaineering was on the move. Many attempts were being made at 8000m peaks but none were returning from the true summit. In such a time, Maurice Herzog and Louis Lachenal came all the way from Chamonix in the French Alps and conquered the Annapurna I (8,91 m) but not with casualties. Their first aim was to climb Dhaulagiri (8,167 m) but due to the poor mapping of the time, they were continuously lost. When they actually found the mountain, they deemed it extremely hard and turned to Annapurna. Maurice Herzog was the man who coined the term "Grand barrier" in front of the Tilicho lake where he reached in hopes of finding Annapurna I with a help of a wrong map. Through Mesokanto pass he also reached Khangsar and Manang. After, weeks of getting lost, they finally found Annapurna just before the monsoon started. Herzog and Lachenal were the only two who made the heroic attempt of the summit without any help from supplemental oxygen. While returning, Herzog lost his gloves and had to spend 2 more days in an icy crevice which resulted in extreme frostbite. As soon as they were lowered, expedition doctor gave a quick morphine injection and cut all the frostbitten toes and fingers of Herzog and only toes of Lachenal. The ascent to the top shook the mountaineering community all around the world and Herzog received a gold medal from Societe de Geographic. The details of the hardship of their ascent are recorded in the book "Annapurna" written by Maurice Herzog which was written by Herzog while recovering after the expedition in a hospital. The book enjoyed worldwide success but recently has been deemed largely exaggerated and misinterpreted after contrasting with the notes and journals of other climbers along with Herzog. Nonetheless, this expedition and its account have inspired hoards of mountaineers to reach their own Annapurnas in life. After "Annapurna" was released there was a book named "The Ascent of Rum Doodle", which was released supposedly as a ripoff of "Annapurna". Get ready for a witty sense of humour if you plan to read this book.