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Herzog's climbing team were primarily Chamonix guides. I consider "Annapurna," by Maurice Herzog to be an excellent read about mountaineering. For climbers, learning the lessons secondhand from Herzog rather then coming home from an expedition with fewer extremities than you had when you left seems to be the preference. A couple of things to consider is that this book was translated from French, as well as written in the early 1950s. Perhaps they even aided in conceptually creating the environment and time period of the book.I would also say that I didn't observe the excessive self praise by Herzog that was mentioned in another review of this book. This is a great book to study the mountain of Annapurna as well as to check yourself and your practices while high on your own mountains.
I personally didn't mind this and consider it to have perhaps even strengthened my literary capabilities. Although I would generally recommend this book to anyone, I consider it an essential part of a mountaineers literature collection. Because of this, there are some small and certainly manageable grammar errors, as well as an overall general different way of saying things. After reading "No Shortcuts To The Top," by Ed Viesturs, I found that Viesturs continually referred to this book while he was enduring his quest to climb all of the 8,000+ meter peaks to keep himself in check. Viesturs admits that some of his practices on expeditions, such as always having two pair of mittens, as well as only using mittens that actually attach to his down suit, may be the cause that he climbed all 8,000 meter peaks without frostbite. In fact, I would often find myself quite humored by the grammar peculiarities.
Although only a fool would expect a personal account of anything to be completely objective, it felt generally objective to me, and I felt that Herzog applied most of his praise to his team's abilities rather than his own.
It's hard to tell them apart.The relationships between the French and the Sherpas and porters is interesting, though sometimes uncomfortable for today's reader. Mount Everest had not yet been climbed. But in terms of mountaineering, 1950 is ancient history. I didn't discover it until after I was done reading. It took it months from start to finish. Herzog rationalizes that they all get well-paid in the end.If you stumble over some of the mountaineering lingo ("bergschrund," "cagoule") in the book, take note that there's a glossary in the back.
But with bad maps and no aerial photographs to guide them, they spent weeks just trying to get close enough to a mountain to climb it. And some of the highest mountains in the world were still shrouded in mystery.In 1950, a French expedition ventured into Nepal hoping to be the first to climb a peak over 26,000 feet. The one they finally chose, Anapurna, turned out to be doozy."Anapurna" is an accounting of this expedition by its leader, Maurice Herzog. It's not a particularly well-written book, but it still has some fascinating history and exciting moments.If you're only looking for climbing adventure, there's much in the book you can skip. The year 1950 doesn't seem that long ago. Today, mountain climbing has become almost ruthlessly efficient as small parties summit fast and get down as quickly as possible. The 1950 expedition, by contrast, had nine Frenchmen and employed scores of Sherpas and porters to move goods and supplies in a series of camps.
While Herzog does fine recounting events, he doesn't do well portraying the people of the expedition. The Frenchmen are all portrayed as hard-working team members who barely, if ever, complain. On the way down, they and two other climbers get lost in a storm and struggle to stay alive. The use of oxygen on high peaks wasn't common. Herzog has high praise for many of them.
Fast forward to the summit attempt by Herzog and Louis Lachenal. This gripping section is the best part of the book.Still, it's interesting to read other parts of the expedition as well. But there's a section near the end where the expediton forcibly employs local men to help them carry their supplies.
On June 3, 1950 Maurice Herzog and Louis Lachenal reached the summit of Annapurna without oxygen.The descent turns into a nightmare, and is better than any fictional writer could dream up. This is the most widely-read and influential mountaineering book ever published. They wander around helplessly before finding a crevasse to spend the night. Because the maps at the time were incorrect, the team initially floundered looking for a route to either Dhaulagiri or Annapurna.
Our mission was accomplished. Deciding that Dhaulagiri was too difficult, they found their way to the North Face of Annapurna. They quickly, and luckily, raced up the mountain. My second favourite Mountaineering book of all time. What an inconceivable experience it is to attain one's goal and, at the very same moment, to fulfill oneself. Lionel Terray and Gaston Rebuffat help them, but the weather turns into a white-out.
They were caught in an avalanche. The medical treatment they received by the expedition doctor was unbelievable and almost primitive."The summit was a corniced crest of ice, and the precipices on the far side which plunged vertically down beneath us, were terrifying, unfathomable.
I was stirred to the depths of my being. Annapurna was the first 8000m mountain to be climbed, with Herzog becoming a national hero.
But at the same time we had accomplished something infinitely greater. Herzog loses his gloves and his hands become frostbitten and Lachenal's feet become frostbitten.
Both barely make it back to camp. How wonderful life had become.
Never had I felt happiness like this - so immense and yet so pure."
This book may have began a genre of climbing/adventure accounts because it was written some time ago, and this, more than the content (in my opinion) is the reason this book is the number 1 mountaineering book of all time; at over 11 million copies sold.The first part is a bit slow and sort of parallel's the teams slow slogging through the land to get to the mountain. Overall, this was a harrowing and heroic feat, and gripping to read. It also opens the door to following books which dispute Herzog's point of view.Good, not great. And there are some great books about climbing.
Herzog provides a detailed perspective of the famed Annapurna climb that has inspired numerous high altitude and arm chair climbers. Suffering frostbite and unimaginable suffering, Herzog has made a statement, worth reading in his epic account. No other sport has it's center pieces so open in sharing their innermost feelings.The b/w photos were relatively scare and of only fair quality.
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