Maurice Herzog’s Expedition
The following is shamelessly copied from wikipedia!
On June 3, 1950, Maurice Herzog and Louis Lachenal became the first people to climb a peak over 8000m when they summited the Himalayan mountain Annapurna, the 10th-highest mountain in the world. The ascent was all the more remarkable because the peak was explored, reconnoitered and climbed all within one season; and was climbed without the use of supplemental oxygen. The event caused a sensation that was only surpassed when Everest was summited in 1953 by Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay.
The two-week retreat from the peak proved challenging. Both summit climbers had opted for light boots for the summit dash. This combined with Herzog losing his gloves near the summit, and a night spent bivouaced in a crevasse on the descent with one sleeping bag for four climbers (Louis Lachenal, Gaston Rebuffat, Lionel Terray, and Maurice Herzog) resulted in severe frostbite, with both climbers losing all of their toes and Herzog most of his fingers. The consequent gangrene required the expedition doctor to perform emergency amputations in the field without anaesthetic.
Annapurna was not climbed again until 1970, when the French north face route was climbed by a British Army expedition, simultaneous with an ascent of the south face by an expedition led by British climber Chris Bonington. The mountain’s fourth ascent was not until 1977.
On June 3, 1950, Maurice Herzog and Louis Lachenal became the first people to climb a peak over 8000m when they summited the Himalayan mountain Annapurna, the 10th-highest mountain in the world. The ascent was all the more remarkable because the peak was explored, reconnoitered and climbed all within one season; and was climbed without the use of supplemental oxygen. The event caused a sensation that was only surpassed when Everest was summited in 1953 by Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay.
The two-week retreat from the peak proved challenging. Both summit climbers had opted for light boots for the summit dash. This combined with Herzog losing his gloves near the summit, and a night spent bivouaced in a crevasse on the descent with one sleeping bag for four climbers (Louis Lachenal, Gaston Rebuffat, Lionel Terray, and Maurice Herzog) resulted in severe frostbite, with both climbers losing all of their toes and Herzog most of his fingers. The consequent gangrene required the expedition doctor to perform emergency amputations in the field without anaesthetic.
Annapurna was not climbed again until 1970, when the French north face route was climbed by a British Army expedition, simultaneous with an ascent of the south face by an expedition led by British climber Chris Bonington. The mountain’s fourth ascent was not until 1977.
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