The Annapurnas are a series of Himalayan peaks, a 55 km (34 mi)-long massif with the highest point, Annapurna I, standing at 8,091 meters (26,545 ft), making it the world's tenth-highest summit and one of the 14 "eight-thousanders". It is situated east of a massive gorge cut through the Himalayas by the Kali Gandaki River, which separates it from the Dhaulagiri massif. Annapurna is a Sanskrit name that means "full of food" (feminine form), but is commonly translated as the Goddess of Harvests. In Hinduism, Annapurna is the goddess of fertility and agriculture. The Annapurna peaks are among the world's most perilous to climb, with a 40% fatality rate.
Annapurna, located in Nepal's central Himalaya region, is significant in that it was the first 8000-meter peak to be climbed. The 1950 first climb via the North Face was immortalized in Maurice Herzog's book 'Annapurna", which is considered the pinnacle of mountaineering literature.
It took 20 years for another team to succeed on the mountain. 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. With a fatality rate of 54%, as of 2005, just 103 successful summits had been completed, resulting in the loss of 56 lives, many of which were due to the mountain's avalanches. Climbers who died on the peak include Russian climber Anatoli Boukreev in 1997, Christian Kuntner in 2005, and Iñaki Ochoa in 2008. Tomaz Humar, a Slovenian climber, completed the first solo ascent on the South Face in October 2007.The summit of Annapurna is highly coveted ground. Annapurna has had the fewest attempts or successful summits of all of the world's fourteen 8000-meter mountains. To date, fewer than 160 people have stood on her peak, compared to almost 3000 Everest summits and 265 K2 summits. Maurice Herzog successfully ascended the peak in 1950, four years before Everest's summit was achieved, demonstrating the mountain's tough character and elusive reputation.
