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Mid Layer / Base Layer

Mid Layer / Base Layer

French Mountaineer. Born on 17 July 1921 in Annecy, Haute-Savoie. He died in an accident on 25 November 1955 when he fell into a crevasse during a descent on skis in the Vallée Blanche in Chamonix. Louis Lachenal fut le was the first development consultant for Millet
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Mid Layer / Base Layer

Mid Layer / Base Layer: The Feat. Annapurna, 8,091 m, is the first summit of more than 8,000 metres to have been climbed by man. This feat remains in the annals of mountaineering as the only 8,000m summit to have been climbed on the first attempt. This mountain is today, still most dangerous one in the Himalayas, with a very high mortality rate: 1 death for every 2 successful ascents (1 in 4 on K2, 1 in 9 on Everest). The French conquest at Annapurna in 1950 had considerable impact around the world and particularly in France. Going well beyond the mountaineering world, the conquerors of Annapurna became true national heroes.

Mid Layer / Base Layer: The team. Maurice Herzog, the expedition's leader; the mountaineers Louis Lachenal, Gaston Rébuffat, Lionel Terray, Jean Couzy, Marcel Schatz; the filmmaker Marcel Ichac; the doctor Jacques Oudot and the diplomat and liaison officer Francis de Noyelle.

Mid Layer / Base Layer:The Choice of the objective. It was the first foray of Europeans into central Nepal. The expedition’s first task was to explore the terrain and correct existing maps. The mountaineers spent long weeks identifying the summits, finding the way to gain access to them and gauge the difficulties to be overcome on the various faces. Entire days of reconnaissance were necessary in groups of two or three, while climbing, along the way, summits of 5,000 and 6,000m to acclimatise themselves. Then came the choice of the objective: Dhaulagiri, another unknown summit? And it was Annapurna! Marcel Ichac found the access path and named this valley Hidden Valley.

Mid Layer / Base Layer: 3 June 1950, conquest of the summit at any price. Despite the fatigue and absence of oxygen, Maurice Herzog and Louis Lachenal reach the summit. The difference in the moral philosophies of the 2 men – Herzog motivated by the amateur mountain man’s patriotic gamble – and Lachenal vested with the responsibility of the professional Mountaineer – forever crystallised on the summit’s slopes.
Mid Layer / Base Layer:Annapurna Premier 8000, excerpts:
“...Today, the 3rd of June, at 6am, the very last day of our approach, our expedition's goal…we are both leaving, Louis Lachenal and I… no rope, useless, in this vast glacier, the Sickle, very straight but without any crevices...The weather is beautiful but very cold…While Lachenal hits his feet and takes off a shoe that is a bit tight on him, I look out at the mountains that surround us… We tower above everything, except for the giant Dhaulagiri… I seem to be living in a sort of inner world…Forced to surpass ourselves constantly, I have nonetheless the impression that I am perfectly lucid… We take turns making the trail, since walking at this altitude is exhausting… We can see the summit ridge and make out a corridor along the extreme right that seems to lead to the summit… The hours pass... my heart is full, for it seems that victory cannot escape us any longer… The final slope is approaching as in a dream...The memory of what happened next has faded... I remember reaching the ridge then, by crossing on the left, reaching our summit! All this effort, all these sacrifices to reach this place seemed inconceivable to me… Lachenal, despite his joy, which he did not show very much, wanted to climb back down immediately, because he could feel his feet freezing…two metres below the summit ridge, we took a few photos of the flags and the pennants that we brought and that reminded us of our country… These manoeuvres are a great sacrifice…Lachenal was already leaving…A last look towards this summit that would be, from then on, for all of us our joy, our glory, and our consolation....”

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