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Annapurna (; ne, अन्नपूर्ण) is a mountain situated in the Annapurna mountain range of Gandaki Province, north-central Nepal. It is the tenth highest mountain in the world at above sea level and is well known for the difficulty and danger involved in its ascent.
Maurice Herzog Maurice André Raymond Herzog (15 January 191913 December 2012) was a French mountaineer and administrator who was born in Lyon, France. He led the 1950 French Annapurna expedition that first climbed a peak over 8000m, Annapurna, in 1950, and r ...
led a French expedition to its summit through the north face in 1950, making it the first eight-thousand meter peak ever successfully climbed. The entire massif and surrounding area are protected within the Annapurna Conservation Area, the first and largest conservation area in Nepal. The Annapurna Conservation Area is home to several world-class treks, including Annapurna Sanctuary and Annapurna Circuit. For decades, Annapurna I Main held the highest fatality-to-summit rate of all principal eight-thousander summits; it has, however, seen great climbing successes in recent years, with the fatality rate falling from 32% to just under 20% from 2012 to 2022. This figure places it just under the most recent fatality rate estimates for K2, at about 24%. The mountain still poses grave threats to climbers through avalanche danger, unpredictable weather and the extremely steep and committing nature of its climbing routes, in particular its south face, renowned as one of the most difficult climbs in the world. It is also a dangerous peak for trekkers, as in the case of a 2014 snowstorm near it and Dhaulagiri which claimed at least 43 lives. As of 2022, 365 people had reached the summit of Annapurna I, while 72 had died in the attempt.


Etymology

The mountain is named after Annapurna, the Hindu goddess of food and nourishment, who is said to reside there. The name Annapurna is derived from the Sanskrit-language words ''purna'' ("filled") and ''anna'' ("food"), and can be translated as "everlasting food". Many streams descending from the slopes of the Annapurna Massif provide water for the agricultural fields and pastures located at lower elevations.


Climbing expeditions

Annapurna I was the first peak to be climbed.
Maurice Herzog Maurice André Raymond Herzog (15 January 191913 December 2012) was a French mountaineer and administrator who was born in Lyon, France. He led the 1950 French Annapurna expedition that first climbed a peak over 8000m, Annapurna, in 1950, and r ...
and Louis Lachenal, of the French Annapurna expedition led by Herzog (including Lionel Terray,
Gaston Rébuffat Gaston Rébuffat (; 7 May 1921, Marseille – 31 May 1985, Paris) was a French alpinist, mountain guide, and author. He is well known as a member of the first expedition to summit Annapurna 1 in 1950 and the first man to climb all six of the ...
,
Marcel Ichac Marcel Ichac (22 October 1906 - 9 April 1994) was a French alpinist, explorer, photographer and film director. Born in Rueil, France, Ichac was one of the first people to introduce electronic music in cinema with Ondes Martenot for ''Karakoram'' ...
,
Jean Couzy Jean Couzy (9 July 1923 – 2 November 1958) was a French mountaineer. He studied aeronautical engineering at the École Polytechnique. At age 27, he was a member of 1950 French Annapurna expedition, Maurice Herzog's 1950 expedition to Annapurna. P ...
, Marcel Schatz, Jacques Oudot, Francis de Noyelle), reached the summit on 3 June 1950. Ichac made a documentary of the expedition, called ''Victoire sur l'Annapurna''. Its summit was the highest summit attained for three years, until the first successful ascent of Mount Everest (although higher non-summit points – at least – had already been attained on Everest in the 1920s). The south face of Annapurna was first climbed in 1970 by
Don Whillans Donald Desbrow Whillans (18 May 1933 – 4 August 1985) was an English rock climber and mountaineer. He climbed with Joe Brown and Chris Bonington on many new routes, and was considered the technical equal of both. Early life Born and brought ...
and Dougal Haston also without using supplementary oxygen, members of a British expedition led by Chris Bonington that included Ian Clough, who was killed by a falling
serac A serac (from Swiss French ''sérac'') is a block or column of glacial ice, often formed by intersecting crevasses on a glacier. Commonly house-sized or larger, they are dangerous to mountaineers, since they may topple with little warning. Even ...
during the descent. They were, however, beaten to the second ascent of Annapurna by a matter of days by a British Army expedition led by Colonel Henry Day. In 1978, the American Women's Himalayan Expedition, a team led by Arlene Blum, became the first United States team to climb Annapurna I. The first summit team, composed of
Vera Komarkova Vera Komarkova ( cs, Věra Komárková) (25 December 1942 - 25 May 2005) was a prominent Czech-American mountaineer and botanist. Credited as a pioneer of women's mountaineering, she was the first woman to summit Annapurna and Cho Oyu. Early life ...
and Irene Miller, and Sherpas Mingma Tsering and Chewang Ringjing, reached the top at 3:30 pm on 15 October 1978. The second summit team, Alison Chadwick-Onyszkiewicz and
Vera Watson Vera Watson (1932 – October 17, 1978) was an American computer programmer, mountaineer and rock climber who made the first woman's solo climb of Acongagua, the highest mountain in the Americas. She also made several first ascents in the Kenai Mou ...
, died during this climb. In 1981 Polish expedition Zakopane Alpine Club set a new route on Annapurna I Central (8051 m). Maciej Berbeka and Bogusław Probulski reached the summit on 23 May 1981. The route called Zakopiańczyków Way was recognized as the best achievement of the Himalayan season in 1981. On 3 February 1987,
Polish Polish may refer to: * Anything from or related to Poland, a country in Europe * Polish language * Poles, people from Poland or of Polish descent * Polish chicken *Polish brothers (Mark Polish and Michael Polish, born 1970), American twin screenwr ...
climbers Climber may refer to: *Climber, a participant in the activity of climbing *Climber, general name for a vine *Climber, or climbing specialist, a road bicycle racer who can ride especially well on highly inclined roads * Climber (BEAM), a robot that ...
Jerzy Kukuczka Józef Jerzy Kukuczka (24 March 1948 in Katowice, Poland – 24 October 1989 Lhotse, Nepal) was a Polish alpine and high-altitude climber. Born in Katowice, his family origin is Silesian Goral. On 18 September 1987, he became the second m ...
and
Artur Hajzer Artur Henryk Hajzer (28 June 1962 – 7 July 2013) was a Polish mountaineer. Hajzer climbed seven eight-thousanders, several via new routes (Manaslu’s NE face in 1986, Shishapangma’s east ridge in 1987) and made the first winter climb of Anna ...
made the first winter ascent of Annapurna I. The first solo ascent of the south face was made in October 2007 by Slovenian climber
Tomaž Humar Tomaž Humar (February 18, 1969 – ), nicknamed Gozdni Joža (akin to Hillbilly), was a Slovenian mountaineering, mountaineer. A father of two, Humar lived in Kamnik, Slovenia. He completed over 1500 ascents, and won a number of mountaineering an ...
; he climbed to the Roc Noir and then to Annapurna East (8,047m)."Annapurna South Face Routes"
russianclimb.com, accessed 13 October 2013.
On 8 and 9 October 2013 Swiss climber
Ueli Steck Ueli Steck (; 4 October 1976 – 30 April 2017) was a Swiss rock climber and mountaineer. He was the first to climb Annapurna solo via its South Face (though this is disputed by some), and set speed records on the North Face trilogy in the Alps ...
soloed the Lafaille route on the main and highest part of the face; this was his third attempt on the route and has been called "one of the most impressive Himalayan climbs in history", with Steck taking 28 hours to make the trip from Base Camp to summit and back again.


Flights

Several airlines offer sightseeing flights over Annapurna.


Fatality rate

Along with K2 and Nanga Parbat, Annapurna I has consistently ranked as one of the most dangerous of the principal eight-thousander summits. Climbers killed on the peak include Britons Ian Clough in 1970 and Alex MacIntyre in 1982, Frenchman in 1992, Kazakh Russian Anatoli Boukreev in 1997, Spaniard Iñaki Ochoa in 2008, and Korean
Park Young-seok Park Young-seok (: November 2, 1963 – October 2011 on Annapurna) was a South Korean mountaineer. In May 2005, he became the first person in the world to complete a True Explorers Grand Slam. He climbed the world's 14 eight-thousanders, the ...
in 2011.


See also

* Dhaulagiri * Manaslu *
Tilicho lake Tilicho Lake () is a lake located in the Manang district of Nepal, as the crow flies from the city of Pokhara. It is situated at an elevation of in the Annapurna range of the Himalayas. Another source lists the elevation of Lake Tilicho as bein ...


References


Bibliography

* *


Further reading

* * * * Chapter 7.


External links

* * {{Authority control Eight-thousanders of the Himalayas Mountains of the Gandaki Province