Records & People

Before Everest, There Was Annapurna: The First 8,000-Metre Summit Cost Two Climbers Nearly Every Finger and Toe

On 3 June 1950, two Frenchmen became the first humans to stand on an 8,000-metre summit — three years before Everest. The descent nearly killed them…

By Laxman Rawal · Aug 1, 2026

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Three years before Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay stood on Everest, two Frenchmen became the first humans ever to reach the top of an 8,000-metre mountain — and nobody was sure it was even possible. On 3 June 1950, at two in the afternoon, Maurice Herzog…

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What this means if you're standing at Annapurna Base Camp

What this means for you You don't need an ice axe or an oxygen mask to stand in the same amphitheatre Herzog and Lachenal fought their way out of. The Annapurna Base Camp trek walks straight into the same sanctuary beneath the summit — a natural bowl ringed…

Travel Himalaya Nepal · News

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