True Summit: What Really Happened on the Legendary Ascent of Annapurna

For anyone who stayed up all night reading Maurice Herzog's Annapurna, one of the first great mountaineering books ever published, get ready for another all-nighter. True Summit gives you a fascinating insider-documentary style look at the people and events surrounding the controversial climb of Annapurna by Lachanal and Herzog. Even if you haven't yet read the original book, as long as you enjoy the adventures surrounding climbing a mountain, you'll enjoy True Summit.

I have read other David Roberts' climbing books and generally enjoy them greatly. He writes in a very detailed intelligent style with entertainment a secondary consideration. More of a college analytic paper than a novel which is appropriate. This book takes that to a higher degree as he re-examines the famous 1950 climb of Annapurna. In that climb the expedition leader and a professional climber summit at a very high cost. One of the most famous books in mountaineering was written by the leader Herzog who goes to great fame and wealth from this climb. This book examines whether the book is 100% accurate or slanted. A great bit of time is spent in extreme detail discussing different wordings and accounts of the climb. This somewhat bogs down the story but to true climbers with a historical interest it will be very appealing. For me, it was a bit much. But the final third of the book where conclusions are drawn and stories from the other climbers offer perspective really make this book worth the read. This book clearly demonstrates the courage and commitment of those involved and readers will definitely come away inspired by the story of the climb. As to me, I will not be drawn into the debate of what really happened. It is possible that different people can look at the same facts in a different way and I found more of that than any conspiracy. A topical but detailed climbing book so be prepared to not breeze through the book like a novel.

Over fifty years ago, Maurice Herzog and Louis Lachenal, members of a French expedition, reached the top of the Himalayan mountain, Annapurna. At 26,493-feet it is the tenth highest mountain in the world.This first conquest of a peak over 8,000-meters (26,240-feet) was for France, then mired in a post-war depression, paramount to Neil Armstrong's walk on the moon.The stirring book that followed, "Annapurna," written by Herzog, the expedition's leader, has been published in over 40 languages and has sold over 11-million copies becoming the best selling mountaineering book of all time.For Herzog, who lost all his fingers and toes to frostbite, the book brought a life of fame and fortune. Although he never again did any serious climbing, Herzog became mayor of the famous French skiing town of Chamonix, served as Minister of Youth and Sports under Charles de Gaulle, was president and CEO of several major businesses, and served for many years on the International Olympic Committee.In the years that followed, most of the world, including France, forgot about the expedition's three professional mountain guides: Lachenal, who lost all his toes after reaching the summit and died in a skiing accident in 1955; and Lionel Terray and Gaston Rebuffat, who gave-up their own summit bid to rescue the frostbitten Lachenal and Herzog.In a 1980 article for the Sierra Club's journal "Assent," David Roberts, an acclaimed mountaineer himself, ranked "Annapurna" as the best mountaineering book ever written. Like most of the great climbers of the later 20th century, it was this eloquent and passionate book that first inspired him to seriously climb. So it was a bitter disappointment when in 1996 Roberts met Michel Guerin, a specialty publisher of mountaineering books in Chamonix, who revealed for him the truth behind "Annapurna."In addition to an oath of unquestioning obedience to Herzog, the climbing team was required just before boarding the airplane to Nepal, to sign a contract forbidding them to publish anything about the expedition for five years after returning to France. Many of the climbers considered abandoning the expedition but relented. It was to be for each of them, their first trip to the Himalayas.Near the end of the moratorium, Lachenal was preparing an autobiographical memoir, including all of his plainspoken criticisms of Herzog and the expedition. But after his death, Herzog was appointed tuteur, a legal guardian, of Lachenal's family. Along with Lucien Davies, the most influential man in French alpinism and the author of the oath and publishing moratorium, Herzog "pruned every scrap of critical, sardonic, or embittered commentary the guide had penned," about the Annapurna expedition. The whitewashed book, "Carnets du Vertige," was published in 1956.For Herzog, sacrificing his fingers and toes was a minor price for the sublime victory that was reaching the summit of Annapurna. For Lachenal, it was merely a waste.In TRUE SUMMIT, Roberts chronicles a

This book explores what may actually have happened during the 1950 French expedition to the Himalayas which was 'led' by Maurice Herzog. This expedition was the first to summit an 8,000 meter peak, and it was the cause for much nationalist pride in post-war France.'True Summit' is a very interesting read in terms of its research, as well as its historical and archival detail. Its author, David Roberts, is himself a mountaineer and has an innate understanding of the subject matter of the book, which contributes to its success.I would, however, highly recommend that one first read Maurice Herzog's "Annapurna" which is Herzog's first person, romanticized account of the expedition and the source for much of what is analyzed in this book. Reading it will ground readers of 'True Summit' in the context out of which this book arises, and will make it that much more enjoyable.After the ostensible summit of Annapurna (more about this in 'True Summit') by Herzog and Louis Lachenal who were aided in their harrowing descent by fellow expeditioners, Lionel Terray and Gaston Rebuffat, only Maurice Herzog went on to become a national hero in France. The other three mountaineers, all of whom were more experienced and proficient, were largely ignored in what was to become a carefully orchestrated, media event around Maurice Herzog."True Summit" attempts to set the story straight and right past wrongs. It also helps to debunk the self-serving, though gripping, sanitized account authored by expedition leader Maurice Herzog. What emerges is a more realistic picture of what may have actually transpired during that fateful, 1950 French expedition.This book ensures that the contributions of three of the main protagonists, Lachenal, Terray, and Rebuffat, all highly experienced mountaineers from the Chamonix region of France, will not be forgatten. It is a memorial to their efforts during that expedition and well worth reading.

I read and enjoyed the classic climbing book Annapurna. While reading it, it did seem that the author was putting himself in the most positive light, and downplaying the roles of his team. Howver, it was not until reading this fascinating book that I realized how the author of the original Annapurna had manipulated the story to take full credit for the climb.Herzog became a national hero in France, while no one even remembered the name of the climber [Lachenal] who accompanied Herzog to the summit, and who sacrificed his fingers and toes to the ordeal, only to die in obscurity.Roberts' s research sets the record straight, no only on what really occurred during the climbers' ordeal; he also meticulously researched how Herzog, the team's leader, controlled access to the press, so that only his version would be told for over 40 years.This is a must-read for fans of "climbing" literature.