Mountaineering

2nd May 1964. The race for the fourteen "8,000s" officially came to an end. Fourteen short years separate the victory of Herzog and Lachenal on Annapurna I (3 June 1950) and that of the Chinese team led by Xǔ Jìng. But one ambiguity remains... A look back at the first ascent of the smallest but most controversial of the 8,000 meters.

On our next expedition to the summit of Everest North Face, guided by Bernard Muller in spring 2021, we will be lucky enough to have Ngima Nuru Sherpa as our Nepalese expedition leader (Sirdar): a Sherpa who has already climbed Everest 22 times. He is the youngest person in the world to have set foot on the roof of the world so many times, and the second to have been there so many times.

The wind. The terrible Tibetan wind. It insinuates itself between all clothes, freezing the slightest patch of skin exposed to its bite. On this night in October 1954, four men, who had already imagined themselves on the summit of the "Goddess of Turquoise", had a painful experience. Victory over Cho Oyu would have to come from the frozen fingertips of Herbert Tichy, accompanied by his friend the Sherpa Pasang Dawa Lama. Here's a look back at the Austrians' success.

Progress at 25 metres an hour, at best 1.5 km a day. Seven days to cover 10 km as the crow flies. With only bamboo shoots and bland mushrooms to eat. Added to this drastic diet was the constant fear of unexpectedly running into an aggressive bear. A look back at Eric Shipton's career, unjustly ignored by French publishers.

Harold William Tilman, better known as Bill Tilman, occupies a special place in the pantheon of Himalayan climbers. He made the first ascent of the highest peak in the Indian Himalayas, a victory achieved without the use of oxygen.

We take a look back at an exceptional adventure. In 1962, ten years after their victory on Everest's South Face, four American adventurers decided to attempt an ascent of Everest via the North Face.