Maurice Herzog · 1951 · survival

Maurice Herzog's account of the 1950 French expedition, the first ascent of any eight-thousand-metre peak. The team arrived with maps that were wrong, spent weeks simply finding the mountain, switched objectives from Dhaulagiri to Annapurna in the time left, and got two men to the summit - then came down through storm and frostbite that cost both of them their fingers and toes.

1. 1
   Delhi

   The expedition assembles in India in the spring of 1950 with permission to enter a Nepal only just opened to foreigners, and with survey maps of the Annapurna massif that turn out to be largely imaginary.

2. 2
   Tukucha

   From Tukucha in the Kali Gandaki, the deepest gorge on earth, parties go out for weeks in every direction simply to establish where the mountains are and whether either can be approached at all.

3. 3
   The Miristi Khola

   A way in is forced up the Miristi Khola to the north face - and with the monsoon coming, the team abandons Dhaulagiri and commits everything to Annapurna on a route first seen days earlier.

4. 4
   Annapurna

   Herzog and Lachenal reach the summit on 3 June 1950, the first men on an eight-thousander - and a descent through storm, avalanche and a night in a crevasse leaves both crippled, the last pages amputations on the walk out.