Annapurna: The First Conquest of an 8,000-Meter Peak

by Maurice Herzog

But like everything else in India, the problem would be solved, provided there was no hurry.

Nepal lies higher than any other country in the world except Tibet and numbers within its forbidden frontiers eight of the fourteen highest peaks in the world.

A glacier is like a river; the level places where it spreads out tranquilly are followed by turbulent falls.

Conversations began in Gurkhali. Once more I noticed how well this language of short words and guttural sounds can be understood at a great distance.

Yes! A fierce and savage wind tore at us. We were on top of Annapurna! 8,075 meters, 26,493 feet.

When the end seems imminent, there still remain reserves, though it needs tremendous will power to call them up.

“Lionel... I’m dying!”

Annapurna, to which we had gone emptyhanded, was a treasure on which we should live the rest of our days. With this realization we turn the page: a new life begins.

There are other Annapurnas in the lives of men.