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

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Over fifty years ago, Maurice Herzog and Louis Lachenal, members of a French expedition, reached the top of the Himalayan mountain, Annapurna. At 26,493-feet it is the tenth highest mountain in the world.

This first conquest of a peak over 8,000-meters (26,240-feet) was for France, then mired in a post-war depression, paramount to Neil Armstrong's walk on the moon.

The stirring book that followed, "Annapurna," written by Herzog, the expedition's leader, has been published in over 40 languages and has sold over 11-million copies becoming the best selling mountaineering book of all time.

For Herzog, who lost all his fingers and toes to frostbite, the book brought a life of fame and fortune. Although he never again did any serious climbing, Herzog became mayor of the famous French skiing town of Chamonix, served as Minister of Youth and Sports under Charles de Gaulle, was president and CEO of several major businesses, and served for many years on the International Olympic Committee.

In the years that followed, most of the world, including France, forgot about the expedition's three professional mountain guides: Lachenal, who lost all his toes after reaching the summit and died in a skiing accident in 1955; and Lionel Terray and Gaston Rebuffat, who gave-up their own summit bid to rescue the frostbitten Lachenal and Herzog.

In a 1980 article for the Sierra Club's journal "Assent," David Roberts, an acclaimed mountaineer himself, ranked "Annapurna" as the best mountaineering book ever written. Like most of the great climbers of the later 20th century, it was this eloquent and passionate book that first inspired him to seriously climb. So it was a bitter disappointment when in 1996 Roberts met Michel Guerin, a specialty publisher of mountaineering books in Chamonix, who revealed for him the truth behind "Annapurna."

In addition to an oath of unquestioning obedience to Herzog, the climbing team was required just before boarding the airplane to Nepal, to sign a contract forbidding them to publish anything about the expedition for five years after returning to France. Many of the climbers considered abandoning the expedition but relented. It was to be for each of them, their first trip to the Himalayas.

Near the end of the moratorium, Lachenal was preparing an autobiographical memoir, including all of his plainspoken criticisms of Herzog and the expedition. But after his death, Herzog was appointed tuteur, a legal guardian, of Lachenal's family. Along with Lucien Davies, the most influential man in French alpinism and the author of the oath and publishing moratorium, Herzog "pruned every scrap of critical, sardonic, or embittered commentary the guide had penned," about the Annapurna expedition. The whitewashed book, "Carnets du Vertige," was published in 1956.

For Herzog, sacrificing his fingers and toes was a minor price for the sublime victory that was reaching the summit of Annapurna. For Lachenal, it was merely a waste.

In TRUE SUMMIT, Roberts chronicles and analyzes the controversy stirred by the 1996 publishing of an unexpurgated version of "Carnets" and a subsequent biography of Rebuffat, which also revealed a highly critical view of the abilities and motives of Herzog, now the only surviving climbing member of the expedition.

Until his death from cancer in 1985, Rebuffat hid the negative of a photograph Herzog made Lachenal take on the summit, showing Herzog holding the banner of the tire company that employed him, the company that had contributed 500,000 francs to the expedition. For this treason, Rebuffat was never again invited on an official French mountaineering expedition.

The unveiling portrait of Davies and Herzog begins to ring similar to Ayn Rand's insincerely-altruistic and power-hungry characters Ellesworth Toohey and Peter Keating from her 1943 novel, "The Fountainhead."

Roberts' research is thorough as it is engaging, including numerous interviews with Lachenal's son, Rebuffat's widow and one with Herzog himself.

But what makes TRUE SUMMIT a truly enjoyable journey is Roberts' personal connection to the characters. As a young climber in the 1960s, tackling many dubious assents in Alaskan range, Roberts and his partners imagined themselves being Lachenal, Terray and Rebuffat. This book finally gives credit where credit is due. TRUE SUMMIT is a must-read for any serious armchair, or actual, climber.

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.

A talented and energetic mountaineer in his own right, rubber company executive Maurice Herzog did not worry about returning to work after Annapurna. Knowing that, it is no wonder the professional Chamonix guides, Louis Lachenal, Lionel Terray, and Gaston Rebuffat were more concerned about keeping their digits than reaching the summit.

Most moving is the story of Lachenal accompanying Herzog to the summit not because he cared about the summit, but because his professionalism compelled him to return his partner to safety. Lachenal lost his toes and never again climbed professionally.

This is the story of the guides, talented, courageous, and imperfect, whom we can respect and learn from, for quietly rising to the challenge of making the most of a compromising situation. While the the author's own mountaineering experiences in the chapters on Rebuffat and Terray could arguably have been saved for a different book, they explain the spirituality and passion he conveys as he interviews their survivors.

I have read other David Roberts' climbing books and generally enjoy them greatly. He writes in a very detailed intelligent style with entertainment a secondary consideration. More of a college analytic paper than a novel which is appropriate.

This book takes that to a higher degree as he re-examines the famous 1950 climb of Annapurna. In that climb the expedition leader and a professional climber summit at a very high cost. One of the most famous books in mountaineering was written by the leader Herzog who goes to great fame and wealth from this climb. This book examines whether the book is 100% accurate or slanted. A great bit of time is spent in extreme detail discussing different wordings and accounts of the climb. This somewhat bogs down the story but to true climbers with a historical interest it will be very appealing. For me, it was a bit much.

But the final third of the book where conclusions are drawn and stories from the other climbers offer perspective really make this book worth the read. This book clearly demonstrates the courage and commitment of those involved and readers will definitely come away inspired by the story of the climb. As to me, I will not be drawn into the debate of what really happened. It is possible that different people can look at the same facts in a different way and I found more of that than any conspiracy. A topical but detailed climbing book so be prepared to not breeze through the book like a novel.

For anyone who stayed up all night reading Maurice Herzog's Annapurna, one of the first great mountaineering books ever published, get ready for another all-nighter. True Summit gives you a fascinating insider-documentary style look at the people and events surrounding the controversial climb of Annapurna by Lachanal and Herzog. Even if you haven't yet read the original book, as long as you enjoy the adventures surrounding climbing a mountain, you'll enjoy True Summit.

I read Herzog's Annapurna before ordering True Summit, and responded to Herzog's book very differently than David Roberts did. Herzog wrote many things in Annapurna that might make a person critical of him. For example: leaving his hands exposed when it wasn't necessary, pulling a companion down by moving forward when there wasn't enough slack in the rope, and pursuing directions that turned out to be useless when his companions had argued strongly for better ideas. So when I started True Summit and discovered that the author criticized Herzog for glorifying himself, I was quite surprised. In fact, by the end of True Summit, my respect for Herzog had grown immensely. His companions and his detractors appear in True Summit to have been more disagreable than hinted at in the book Annapurna. And Roberts comes across as mean-hearted...part of a group attacking a man who managed to have a productive life and to inspire new generations of climbers in spite of having lost his toes and fingers. Herzog wasn't perfect, but who is perfect?

As for being self-centered at the expense of others, or for literary effect, how is it that Roberts himself becomes a primary character in a book about Annapurna while he does almost nothing to cover the lives of the sherpas who were so essential to the trip? The tales of Roberts' climbing adventures become almost as central as those of Herzog, even though Roberts never got anywhere close to Annapurna. I'm not saying that Roberts' experience is uninteresting or irrelevant. But is he not succumbing exactly as Herzog did to a temptation to center on the self and to create a literary effect at the expense of providing more factual information about people essential to the trip up Annapurna?