Annapurna I Expedition

Annapurna is a series of peaks 55 km long with the highest point, Annapurna I, which stands 8091m in altitude, making it the 10th-highest summit in the world, located in a spectacular setup, east of a great gorge cutting through the Himalayas by the Kali Gandaki River, which separates it from the Dhaulagiri massif lies only 34 km west. Annapurna I was the first 8,000m peak climbed by a French Expedition led by Maurice Herzog, who reached the summit on 3 June 1950. It took 20 years for another team to succeed on the same mountain summit. The 1970 ascent of the South Face of Annapurna by Chris Bonington’s team was a landmark in the history of mountaineering. This is a mountain that is among the most familiar of mountains, yet one that is very rarely climbed.

Annapurna in Sanskrit literally means “full of food” but is normally translated as ‘Goddess of the Harvests’.

The trip starts with a flight from Kathmandu to Pokhara and from there following the trail to Annapurna Base Camp via the Tirkheduna, Ghorepani, Lete, Hum Khola and Mistri Khola to finally reach the Annapurna Base Camp at 4130 meters. Annapurna I is considered one of the most dangerous peaks to climb due to its unstable and broken glaciers. This is mostly in the section frombase Camp to Camp I & II. The third camp requires more than a 1000 meters of fixed rope from Camp II. Summit bid is done from Camp III and summit attempt is on exposed ridge but it doesn’t require fixed ropes, it is done as free ascent.