Customer Reviews

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

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This was a fascinating book to read, particularly after having just reread Herzog's original Annapurna. However I didn't find the book to be as well written as some of David Roberts' other works which I have enjoyed a great deal (The Lost Explorer, The Mountain of My Fear, Deborah, Escape Routes).

The author does a great job of pulling together information from a variety of sources and debunking much of Herzog's orginal and revised takes on what happened on Annapurna in 1950. Much of this information had already been revealed a few years back when controversy arose in France about the veracity of Herzog's accounts but Roberts manages to put all of that information in one place and makes it clear that Herzog was tooting his horn a bit too much at the expense of accurate information and fairness to his teammates.

What bothered me a bit about the book, however, was that, at times, the author seemed to be all over the place. One minute he's telling you about the expedition, then he's telling you about each of the climber's early upbringing, then he's debunking more of Herzog's story, then he's telling you about what the team members did after the expedition was over, then he's debunking more and then, and perhaps most frustrating, he's throwing in references to his own climbing experiences which I didn't think bore much relevance to the story he was trying to tell. This jumping around made it hard to follow what he was trying to do at different points in the book. It simply was not as cleanly written as many of his past works.

Nevertheless, the book is a great read and definitely worth adding to one's collection of works on the history of moutaineering. Finally, I agree with an earlier reviewer in that one should go back and read or reread Annapurna before tackling Roberts' book so you understand the story Roberts' is trying to debunk.

True Summit is an amazing book, both as a climbing book and as a work of historical scholarship. It exposes a web of dishonesty surrounding the classic account of the first ascent of Annapurna. Some scenes are provocative of outrage, as when Roberts describes the editorial notes -- "Wrong", "This must be changed" -- made by Herzog and Devies on Lachenal's diary. Throughout, Roberts intersperses scenes from his own mountaineering career, which add immediacy and human interest. One nitpick I had was that, as a writer of history, Roberts should really have given a definitive list of sources and referenced his quotes. More importantly, I felt that he never really sums up his arguments. Why was Herzog's Annapurna the whitewashed version that it apparently was? Were the reasons nationalistic, class (amateur versus guide), personal? What can these events tell us about mountaineering as a whole? These are questions which Roberts does not really address. Still, this is a fascinating book and I certainly recommend it.

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.

This book is a must read for anyone who wants to know the truth about Annapurna 1950--and for anyone who wants to understand the history of mountaineering in this century.

Above all, the book sheds light on the lives of Lionel Terray, Gaston Rebuffat and Louis Lachenal, three men whose names are linked to some of the greatest climbs and some of the greatest climbing literature of all time (... Terray's "Conquerors of the Useless" and Lachenal's "Vertigo Notebooks" are my two personal picks for the best climbing books ever ....)

Terray, Rebuffat and Lachenal were the core of the French national expedition to Annapurna in 1950. And yet .... when the expedition returned home, leader Maurice Herzog (an excellent but relatively undistinguished amateur climber) became a national hero, while the three guides who led him up the mountain went back to Chamonix and sank into relative obscurity outside of the climbing world.

This changed in 1996, at least for the French public, with the publication of Rebuffat's biography and Lachenal's *uncensored* memoirs. These books showed the less pleasant side of Herzog's leadership of the expedition--and the outrageous lengths to which Herzog was willing to go to make sure his ex-comrades never got to tell their side of the story.

True Summit provides a great service to the English-speaking public by recapping the revelations of Lachenal's and Rebuffat's memoirs, and it also adds a wealth of new information uncovered by Roberts in three years of research, including some amazing revelations that have tongues wagging all over the Alps.

More than anything else, however, True Summit is a moving tribute to the three guides who, at least according to Roberts, really led the 1950 expedition. Anyone who has thrilled to the poetry of Rebuffat's Starlight and Storm or has relived the climbs of the legendary Terray-Lachenal partnership through their memoirs has to read True Summit ....

I am not a climber and I enjoyed this book. The story that is shared is about human faults that can be applied to a variety of experiences, they are not limited to events on the world's great mountains. I was also drawn to the book, as it was a discussion of the first climbers to summit the mountain, and a climber on the fatal Everest 1996 died on the same mountain, Annapurna.

Mr. David Roberts did a nice job of bringing the reader along and sharing the climb and the distorted history that followed. More importantly he helped to reinforce what appears to be the truth about the climb, and to apportion credit as it should have been done so many decades ago.

I have read several accounts of the 1996 Everest expedition that caused so much loss of life, and to my surprise so much finger pointing by those who survived the ordeal. Many memories seemed to be influenced by the mental strain the mountain causes in climbers at the highest altitudes, but some seemed to persist even when photographs contradicted a given Author's statement. The climbers in 1996 had experienced guides and protective clothing that the first climbers on Annapurna would have thought to be the creation of science fiction. So, as Mr. Roberts began his story it seemed to be a case of memories created when badly injured bodies, and oxygen-deprived minds had left gaps. Even on the miserable trek back, people using morphine and suffering amputations, and dozens of other tortures recounted much of the originally published story.

Just as human nature was able to overcome hideous physical events, it too was able to distort the record for the benefit of one man at the expense of others who climbed with him, attained the summit with him, and saved his life. The beneficiary of the distortions was alive and interviewed for this book, and it was those interviews, combined with the evidence proving the true story that made this correcting of the historical record so important.

Mr. Maurice Herzog clearly intended for the historical outcome he contrived, and that nearly became the permanent record, to be the only record. From the oath he administered to his "teammates" to his continuing denial of the facts, and his refusal to allow access to records that further document the truth, Mr. Herzog took what was a group success that could have been nothing other than positive, and distorted it into a personal fantasy that provided him a lifetime of security which he had no more right to than the other men he climbed with. He would not allow the Author to print a picture of the other man who made the top with him, how vain, petty, and pathetic.

It would be convenient to say an old man's memory is faulty, but as he demonstrated himself, Mr. Herzog may indeed be advanced in years, but he is what he was, a pathetic self promoter that fictionalized an event that was extraordinary, it needed no embellishment, and the triumph certainly did not need to be the domain of one vain individual.

I was pointed toward True Summit by a friend who previously loaned me his copy of Annapurna. Although Herzog made the occasional gracious nod to the contributions of his teammates in Annapurna, overall that account struck me as flat and highly impersonal, almost third-person (even though it was autobiographical!). I found Herzog's raptures on the summit more bizarre than uplifting.

True Summit added a whole new richness to the Annapurna story. To me, this book was not so much a "debunking" of Herzog's account, as much as filling out the missing dimension. Here, the climbers become real people with individual passions, foibles, and remarkable skills. Clearly Herzog's version diminished the accomplishments of his teammates, but might we say that the end (national pride and financial support for future expeditions) at least partially justified the means (a highly idealized account of the climb -- essentially a propaganda tool)? I particularly was fascinated by the differences between Herzog's initial rendition of the climb and his later "spiritual" retelling -- and both of those stories contrasted against the diaries and conversations of Lachenal, Terray, and Rebuffat. If one man (Herzog) could convince himself of a new version of "truth" -- even in the face of HIS OWN written account! -- then why should we be surprised that the four eyewitnesses have different stories?

Roberts' overlay of his own climbing history onto the Annapurna story sometimes struck me as self-congratulatory while I read the book. Would this have been as strong a book without Roberts' own story? Maybe so, but I think what he's trying to say is that Herzog was both a great man and a small man during the Annapurna climb... and so were the others. To worship any one of the Annapurna climbers (as Roberts did, one after another) is perhaps to blind ourselves to our own strengths and weaknesses.

I think the best way to sum up is to say that Herzog's Annapurna was a good story, but True Summit really made me think about teamwork, leadership, and the nature of the "truth" that we tell ourselves and the world.

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.

This book clarifies some aspects on the legendary 1950 Anapurna asscent. But more interesting is the authors views and bios on the three legendary Chamonix guides: Rebuffat, Lachanal, Terray.

These 3 men where truly world class mountaineers and the major reason why the french sucseeded in climbing the first 8K mountain.

This book is a worthy tribute to them

Good read!

I read and enjoyed the classic climbing book Annapurna. While reading it, it did seem that the author was portraying himself in the most positive light, and downplaying the roles of his team. However, 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. Nor does anyone remember the two other climbers who forfeited their own chance to summit to save Herzog's life.

Roberts' s research sets the record straight, not 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.

In this new book, the other climbers, often referred to interchabably in Herzog's book, emerge as individuals, each with his own story. The real tragedy is that, other than Herzog, none of the team lived to see this book be published.

This is a must-read for fans of "climbing" literature.

An informative and interesting account of the first 8000 summit. It should be read after reading Maurice Herzog's account of the climb to give perspective to the views of Lachenal, Terray, and the other members of the climbing team. I have read numerous climbing books and found this to be one of the best in terms of insight into how different members of the team percieve same events and conversations. I suppose there has to be a certain amount of friction given the risks of all the climbers, but one finds that element of climbing often obfuscated. A very good read.