louis lachenal

There are a lot of adjectives in the title of this post. What does it mean, precisely? There was a time in history when neither Everest nor the other 10 highest mountains in the world had been climbed. What was the highest mountain ever climbed back in those days? And what was the one before that? If you’re intrigued to find out then read on

In 1950 a French team led by Maurice Herzog made the first ever ascent of an 8000m peak when they climbed 8091m Annapurna, during one of the first mountaineering expeditions to Nepal. It’s possible to view their ascent in one of two ways.

I’ve been fascinated by the legend of George Mallory, and whether he was the first person to climb Everest, since long before I became a mountaineer. Many years and many mountains later I finally had the chance to follow in

A chronological list of the 10 highest confirmed mountain summits ever climbed

An early history of the 8000m peaks: the first ascent of Annapurna

What climbing Everest taught me about George Mallory’s final hours