 maurice herzog (15 january 1919 &ndash; 13 december 2012) was a french mountaineer and administrator who was born in lyon, france. he led the expedition that first climbed a peak over 8000m, annapurna, in 1950, and reached the summit with louis lachenal. upon his return, he wrote a best-selling book about the expedition. ==ascent of annapurna i: a historic exploit== on 3 june 1950, herzog and louis lachenal became the first climbers in modern history to climb a peak over 8000m when they summited the himalayan mountain annapurna i, the 10th-highest mountain in the world. the ascent was all the more remarkable because the peak was explored, reconnoitred and climbed all within one season; and was climbed without the use of supplemental oxygen. it is also the only 8000 meter summit that was reached at the first attempt. herzog was awarded the 1950 gold medal of the sociÃ©tÃ© de gÃ©ographie.  the event caused a huge sensation that was only matched when everest was summited in 1953 by edmund hillary and tenzing norgay. the two-week retreat from the peak proved very challenging. both climbers had opted for light boots for the summit dash. this, combined with herzog losing his gloves near the summit and a night spent bivouaced in a crevasse on the descent with o
1919_births 2012_deaths French_mountain_climbers French_politicians Grand_Officiers_of_the_LA(c)gion_d\'honneur International_Olympic_Committee_members Sportspeople_from_Lyon