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Ever since man first set out to conquer the mountains in the mid-19th century, he has continued to push back the limits of what is considered possible. Of the fourteen peaks over 8,000 meters high on our planet, all are in the Himalayas, between Nepal, Pakistan and China. We take a look at the history of the world's highest mountains.

3 June 1950, 2pm, 8,091m. Maurice Herzog and Louis Lachenal photographed themselves at the summit of the first 8,000-metre peak ever climbed by man. A few minutes of glory, but at what price? While Maurice Herzog survived the terrible tragedy of the descent relatively unscathed, gaining fame and honours, the same cannot be said for Lachenal, who was condemned to silence in the name of the honour of the Republic. To disentangle the true from the false, it is necessary to take the time to look seriously at the writings of each person in order to go beyond the myth.

It had taken fifty-six years of intense effort to reach the summit of Kangchenjunga. Finally, in 1955, it was the route initiated by Crowley that provided the key to success for the British duo of George Band and Joe Brown. We take you back to those intense years.

For several years, thanks to our great friend, guide and explorer, Dixie Dansercoer, who tragically passed away in Greenland in June 2021, we have been developing a rare expertise in expedition snowkiting, whether crossing Greenland, Antarctica or Alaska. Thanks to him, we've been able to get close to the best polar kiters in the world, and it's in this spirit that we're now expanding our range of programs, with four new stays or mini-expeditions guided by French snowkiter Michaël Charavin.

We reported on the German tragedies of 1934 and 1937 on Nanga Parbat, followed by Hermann Buhl's astonishing victory in 1953 on the north face of Rakhiot. Under the leadership of the indomitable Dr Karl Maria Herrligkoffer, the western slopes of Diamir and finally the southern slopes of Rupal gave way over the years. But the 'killer mountain' was not finished yet.

In this interview, Bernard Muller, one of France's most renowned expedition leaders at very high altitude, talks about our expedition to Everest, from which he has just returned, other 8,000 meters peaks and their characteristics, the reasons why some climbers want to get close to the ‘death zone’, the key factors in the success of such summits, their preparation, general and local organisation, oxygen...

May 1960. Ten years, almost to the day, after the first reconnaissance at the foot of the ‘White Mountain’, Dhaulagiri (8,167 m) was about to be climbed. The seventh highest peak on the planet, it is the last to resist its many contenders. Or to be more precise, the last summit accessible to the Western world.

At the beginning of September, Expeditions Unlimited completed its first expedition to Manaslu, the eighth highest peak on the planet at 8,163 meters. A team of nine participants, including French mountain guide Clément Flouret, undertook the ascent with the support of a Nepalese team of around fifteen people.

At a time when Nepal has just lifted its quarantine for vaccinated people, we take a look back at our ascent of Everest last spring: a five-strong Franco-Swiss team attempted to climb the roof of the world at 8,848 metres via its southern Nepalese side during an expedition led by Bernard Muller.