Last updated September 21, 2026
Annapurna 1950: The First 8,000er
On June 3, 1950, Maurice Herzog and Louis Lachenal reached the 8,091 m summit of Annapurna I without supplementary oxygen, becoming the first people to stand on any 8,000-metre peak. No one died on the expedition—but the descent nearly killed the summit pair. Herzog ultimately lost all of his fingers and toes to frostbite; Lachenal lost all of his toes. Terray and Rébuffat became snow-blind, the group bivouacked in a crevasse, and an avalanche swept part of the retreating party. The first 8,000er was a triumph measured in both history and permanent injury.
Who first climbed Annapurna I?
Maurice Herzog and Louis Lachenal of France made the first ascent of Annapurna I on June 3, 1950. They reached the summit at about 2 p.m. without supplementary oxygen. It was the first successful ascent of any mountain above 8,000 metres—three years before Everest. The summit itself was only half the story: both men suffered catastrophic frostbite during the retreat, and the rest of the expedition had to help them survive the descent and evacuation.
Historic Success, No Deaths—and an Extraordinary Human Cost
The 1950 expedition succeeded in one of mountaineering’s great firsts, but the physical price paid by Herzog and Lachenal makes it unlike a simple summit celebration.
The Expedition Began With Dhaulagiri—and Had to Find Annapurna
The team entered a part of Nepal that was poorly mapped for foreign climbers. They spent weeks reconnoitering Dhaulagiri and the Annapurna massif before identifying the Miristi Khola approach to Annapurna’s north side.
Expedition geography
The route search was part mountaineering and part exploration.
The Expedition Was Searching for the Mountain as Well as a Route
Herzog’s account repeatedly notes that available topographic information was vague or inaccurate. The French team had to reconcile old survey mapping with what they actually saw in the Kali Gandaki and Miristi Khola valleys.
The 1950 Team Was More Than Herzog and Lachenal
The famous summit pair depended on climbers, doctors, photographers, diplomats, Sherpa staff and porters. The contemporary American Alpine Journal described a compact team chosen for speed and physical conditioning.
Maurice Herzog
Expedition leader, strong amateur climber and one of the two eventual summiters.
His later book shaped the public memory of Annapurna.Lachenal · Terray · Rébuffat
Three elite Chamonix guides formed the technical core of the climbing team.
Lachenal summited; Terray and Rébuffat became critical rescuers.Jean Couzy · Marcel Schatz
Worked on reconnaissance, route finding, camps and the descent.
Schatz’s appearance during the retreat helped reconnect the stranded upper group.Dr. Jacques Oudot
Expedition doctor who treated catastrophic frostbite during the long evacuation.
His work kept the summit pair alive through the retreat.Marcel Ichac
Photographer and filmmaker who helped document the expedition and its aftermath.
The images helped turn the climb into a global event.Angtharkay and the Sherpa team
Sirdar Angtharkay and Sherpa climbers carried loads, built camps and physically supported the injured climbers during descent.
The summit story is incomplete without them.Dhaulagiri Was the First Choice
The French arrived with permission to attempt either Dhaulagiri or Annapurna. For much of April and early May they explored Dhaulagiri first. The mountain’s ridges appeared too long, difficult and committing to climb before the monsoon.
On May 14, Herzog made the strategic decision to switch to Annapurna. The expedition still did not know whether a practical route existed. They had only weeks before the expected monsoon.
This was not a fully planned Annapurna expedition from Paris.
Its defining feature was adaptation: abandon one 8,000er, locate another, find a new access valley, identify a route and move fast enough to finish before the weather changed.
The North Face Route Passed Through Avalanche and Serac Terrain
The contemporary American Alpine Journal described the route above Camp II as steep snow and ice frequently swept by avalanches and broken by icefalls, huge crevasses and séracs. The expedition’s speed reduced time at altitude—but also left little margin once the descent turned bad.
| Stage | Approx. elevation | 1950 route character | Historical significance |
|---|---|---|---|
| Camp I | North glacier | First established camp after the Miristi Khola approach | Converted reconnaissance into a real summit attempt |
| Camp II | ~19,700 ft | At the foot of the technical section | Doctor and support later received the frostbite casualties here |
| Camp III | ~21,300 ft | Near major crevasse and icefall terrain | Part of the steep, avalanche-exposed middle face |
| Camp IV / “Sickle” | ~22,600 ft | Near the upper edge of a semicircular ice-and-rock barrier | The Sickle became a defining feature of the route |
| Camp V | ~24,300 ft | High summit camp | Herzog and Lachenal departed from here at dawn on June 3 |
| Summit | 8,091 m | Upper snow slopes | First human ascent of any 8,000-metre mountain |
The Route Was Fast—Not Safe
Herzog’s team chose the line that gave them the best chance of beating the monsoon. Contemporary accounts describe continual avalanche noise and a labyrinth of ice walls, crevasses and unstable snow.
Herzog and Lachenal Reached the Summit Without Oxygen
They left Camp V around dawn and reached the summit at about 2 p.m. The ascent created the first successful 8,000-metre summit in history.
Herzog and Lachenal left Camp V
Angtharkay and Ang Dawa had helped establish the high camp but returned lower. Herzog and Lachenal continued alone.
Lachenal became increasingly worried about frostbite
Later accounts of Lachenal’s notebooks emphasize that his feet were becoming dangerously cold and that he wanted to descend.
They reached 8,091 metres
The pair stood on Annapurna I, becoming the first humans to summit an 8,000er.
Herzog removed his gloves
While handling his camera or equipment, Herzog lost his gloves down the slope. The mistake became catastrophic during the descent.
The summit success immediately became a survival problem
Lachenal’s feet were already freezing, Herzog’s hands were exposed, clouds built and the weather deteriorated.
The First 8,000er Was Won Before Anyone Knew Whether the Summiters Would Live
The summit photograph became an icon. The next two days—frostbite, falls, whiteout, snow blindness, a crevasse bivouac and avalanche—are what turned the expedition into one of mountaineering’s defining survival stories.
The Descent Nearly Killed the Summit Pair—and Their Rescuers
The sequence below is drawn from the 1951 Himalayan Journal and American Alpine Journal accounts.
Herzog and Lachenal separated on descent
Herzog descended toward Camp V while Lachenal moved separately. Lachenal later fell down the slope, lost equipment and stopped himself with his crampons.
Terray and Rébuffat became the support team
They had moved up to support the summit pair and immediately confronted badly frozen hands and feet.
The four became lost in worsening weather
Snow and cloud made the route difficult to locate. Terray and Rébuffat would become snow-blind after removing or failing to use eye protection while searching for the way.
Lachenal fell into a crevasse that became their shelter
The shallow bridged crevasse gave all four a place to survive the night. They shared one sleeping bag around their feet.
An avalanche passed over the bivouac
Snow covered the shelter and buried equipment, including boots that had to be dug out before the group could continue.
Schatz found the stranded group
Marcel Schatz appeared through the deep snow and helped reconnect them with Camp IV and the Sherpa support team.
A slab avalanche swept part of the retreating group
Herzog and Sherpa teammates were swept; Herzog was left hanging over an ice shaft before being pulled back to the surface.
Dr. Oudot took over
The expedition’s survival problem shifted from mountain rescue to prolonged medical evacuation.
Herzog Lost All Fingers and Toes; Lachenal Lost All Toes
The 1951 Himalayan Journal states the outcome plainly. Modern retellings sometimes soften the medical result, but the amputations were extensive and permanent.
Hands and feet catastrophically frozen
After losing his gloves and continuing the descent, Herzog suffered deep frostbite in all four extremities.
He ultimately lost all fingers and toes.Feet catastrophically frozen
Lachenal recognized the danger early because his livelihood depended on his feet as a professional guide.
He ultimately lost all toes.Snow blindness
The rescuers impaired their own vision while searching for the route in storm and glare.
Two injured summiters were now descending with two temporarily blind rescuers.There were no expedition deaths—but “no deaths” does not mean a low-cost success.
The retreat required emergency treatment, physical carrying, repeated injections and weeks of evacuation. The summit pair returned to France as national heroes with permanent amputations.
Herzog and Lachenal Reached the Top. The Expedition Got Them Home.
Terray, Rébuffat, Schatz, Couzy, Oudot, Ichac, Angtharkay and the Sherpa team carried the consequences of the summit with them. Without the support system below the two summiters, the first 8,000er could easily have become a fatal first ascent.
The Descent Was a Collective Rescue
Popular retellings center Herzog because he led the expedition and wrote its bestselling book. The retreat shows why a broader cast matters.
| Person / group | Role during the crisis | Why it mattered |
|---|---|---|
| Lionel Terray | Moved to high camp, treated the summiters, helped navigate and refused to abandon Herzog | Provided technical and physical support when Herzog could barely use his hands or feet |
| Gaston Rébuffat | High support, route finding and descent | Continued despite becoming snow-blind |
| Marcel Schatz | Found the stranded upper group after the crevasse bivouac | Reconnected them with the lower route and camps |
| Dr. Jacques Oudot | Emergency frostbite treatment and evacuation medicine | Managed injuries severe enough to threaten life as well as limbs |
| Angtharkay and Sherpa team | Load carrying, camp support, rope assistance and physical transport | Enabled injured climbers to move through terrain they could no longer negotiate independently |
| Marcel Ichac / expedition staff | Logistics, documentation and evacuation support | Helped turn a summit disaster into a survivable retreat |
Later Accounts Complicated Herzog’s Famous Narrative
Herzog’s Annapurna became one of the most influential mountaineering books ever written. Later publications of Lachenal’s notebooks and other team members’ accounts raised questions about judgment, credit and how the official expedition narrative was shaped.
Lachenal’s notes emphasize his fear that his feet were freezing and his reluctance to continue. Later writers also argued that the expedition’s public story placed too much of the achievement around Herzog while minimizing the independence and judgment of others.
What is not seriously disputed
Herzog and Lachenal reached the summit on June 3, 1950; they climbed without supplementary oxygen; the summit was the first ascent of an 8,000er; both suffered catastrophic frostbite; and the full expedition played a decisive role in getting them off the mountain alive.
Annapurna Opened the Golden Age of Himalayan Mountaineering
When Herzog and Lachenal stood on the summit, no 8,000-metre mountain had ever been climbed. Over the next fourteen years, all fourteen principal 8,000ers would receive first ascents.
Annapurna I
Herzog and Lachenal made the first successful 8,000-metre ascent.
The barrier was psychological as much as technical.Everest
Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay reached the highest summit on Earth three years later.
Annapurna had already shown that humans could climb above 8,000 m.The rest followed
K2, Cho Oyu, Makalu, Kangchenjunga, Lhotse, Manaslu and the remaining giants were successively climbed.
Annapurna was the opening act of the 8,000er era.The 1950 Expedition Does Not Explain Annapurna’s 13.4% Death-to-Summit Ratio
Global Summit Guide’s current Himalayan Database comparison lists Annapurna I at 75 recorded deaths and 557 recorded summits, or 13.46 deaths per 100 summits. The first-ascent expedition contributed two summits and zero deaths to that record.
The first ascent still exposed Annapurna’s defining hazard.
The 1951 records describe avalanche-prone snow, icefalls, large crevasses and séracs on the North Face. Modern equipment and rescue systems changed, but objective avalanche and serac exposure remained central to the mountain’s risk history.
Direct Answers About the First 8,000er
The summit facts are well established; the later controversy concerns interpretation, judgment and credit rather than whether the ascent occurred.
Who first climbed Annapurna I?
Maurice Herzog and Louis Lachenal of France made the first ascent on June 3, 1950.
Was Annapurna the first 8,000-metre mountain ever climbed?
Yes. Herzog and Lachenal’s 1950 summit was the first successful ascent of any 8,000-metre peak. Everest was first climbed three years later in 1953.
Did Herzog and Lachenal use supplemental oxygen?
No. Contemporary American Alpine Club and Himalayan Club accounts record the first ascent as being made without supplementary oxygen.
Did anyone die on the 1950 Annapurna expedition?
No. The expedition had no deaths, but Herzog and Lachenal suffered catastrophic frostbite and the descent nearly became fatal.
What amputations did Maurice Herzog have after Annapurna?
The Himalayan Journal states that Herzog lost all of his fingers and all of his toes as a result of the frostbite suffered during the descent.
What amputations did Louis Lachenal have?
Lachenal lost all of his toes to frostbite.
Why did Herzog lose his gloves?
While handling his camera or equipment near the summit, Herzog removed his gloves and lost them down the slope. That exposure contributed to catastrophic frostbite in his hands.
Why is Herzog’s account controversial?
Later publication of Louis Lachenal’s notebooks and other team accounts challenged parts of the heroic narrative, especially summit-decision tension and how credit was distributed. The summit achievement itself is not seriously disputed.
The 1951 Accounts Remain the Foundation
This page uses the contemporary Himalayan Journal and American Alpine Journal record first, then later mountaineering scholarship to explain where Herzog’s public narrative has been challenged.
The First 8,000er Was a Summit Victory and a Descent Survival Story.
Herzog and Lachenal changed mountaineering history on June 3, 1950. But the meaning of Annapurna is larger than two names on a summit list. Lachenal’s judgment, Terray and Rébuffat’s rescue, Schatz’s route finding, Oudot’s medical care, Angtharkay and the Sherpas’ physical support, and the long evacuation all belong to the achievement. Annapurna opened the 8,000-metre era—and immediately demonstrated that reaching the top does not finish the climb.
Was this helpful?
🏔Related peaks nearby
🧭Explore & compare
Global Summit Guide is an independent mountaineering resource founded in 2026. The team combines first-hand trekking and climbing experience with in-depth research and professional health and nutrition review to help climbers choose objectives, prepare properly, and stay safe.
Health, altitude, and nutrition content is reviewed by Taylor Ludlow (Registered Nurse) and Brigg Hoopes (Nutritionist).
What We Don't Know Yet
Mountain information changes quickly. This box explains the limits of what this page can responsibly promise.
- Visa, passport, vaccination, border, insurance, and local transportation rules may change before your trip.
- Route conditions, snowpack, closures, and weather can change quickly after this page is updated.
- Permit rules, fees, quotas, and reservation windows may change between review cycles.
- Operator availability, pricing, guide ratios, and cancellation terms can change by season.
- Your fitness, altitude response, risk tolerance, and experience level may change what is safe or realistic.
Verify current conditions with official land managers, guide services, local forecasts, and current route reports before booking or climbing.
Mountaineering, rock and ice climbing, glacier travel, and high-altitude activity are inherently dangerous and can result in serious injury or death. The information on Global Summit Guide is provided for general informational and educational purposes only and is not a substitute for professional instruction, qualified guiding, proper equipment, or your own judgment and experience.
Route conditions, weather, snowpack, permits, regulations, and hazards change constantly and may differ from what is described here. Details may be incomplete, out of date, or contain errors. Always verify current information with local authorities, certified guides, and official sources before making any decision in the mountains.
Nothing on this site is medical, legal, or financial advice. Our fitness, acclimatization, altitude, and nutrition content is general in nature; consult a qualified physician before beginning any strenuous exercise program or exposing yourself to high altitude.
You are solely responsible for your own safety and decisions. To the fullest extent permitted by law, Global Summit Guide and its team accept no liability for any loss, injury, damage, or expense arising from use of, or reliance on, this information. By using this site you acknowledge these risks and accept these terms.
Some links on this site may be affiliate links. If you buy through them we may earn a small commission at no extra cost to you; this never affects our recommendations.
Global Summit Guide recommendation path
Next Best Mountain to Research
Use these recommendations to continue the right planning path instead of stopping on one page.
Use current permit, weather, route, and operator information before booking or climbing.