Annapurna: The First Conquest of an 8,000-Meter Peak by Maurice Herzog
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I enjoyed this account of the first successful climb on an 8,000 meter peak, accomplished back in 1950 by a team of French climbers (from Chamonix, no surprise). The book did drag some and could have been less bloated--and the style of writing could have been more engaging; some of this was due to the long descriptions of the climbing team's search for the proper route that would bring them to Annapurna's peak. What got especially interesting was the last 1/3 of the book--recounting the descent of the 2 climbers from the peak in bad weather, their battle with frostbitten hands & feet, and the long, long trek to get back down to base camp & civilization with such severely injured climbers. I'm giving this book a 3-1/2 stars on my Reading Log; read this book on my iPad.


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