Himalayan Quest: Ed Viesturs on the 8,000-Meter Giants

Ed Viesturs
**** 1/2
This is really a picture book with a few introductory pages and extended captions. I saw it at 3rd Place Books for not much money and picked it up along with True Summit. Having read Viesturs's No Short-cut to the Top just a a few days ago, I couldn't resist. The pictures fill out his text nicely and many of them are very good. Every caption is matter of fact. The pictures -- with rare occasions -- are undramatic in terms of human struggle. Viesturs is afflicted with being so good, he rarely gets into trouble. The most dramatic scenes in his accounts involve saving other climbers or coming upon their bodies. I like this book even if it isn't dramatic. I like pictures of high places.

True Summit: What Really Happened on the Legendary Ascent of Annapurna

David Roberts
*****
Annapurna by Maurice Herzog has had more impact on modern climbing than any other book -- by any measure. It is still in print after 57 years and has sold more than 11 million copies. I've had a copy for about 30 years, a little paper back that sits meekly on the shelf surrounded by more imposing volumes. It is truly one of the most gripping climbing books ever and read like a novel. Roberts himself was deeply influenced by Herzog's book and it must have been with a little pain that he de-constructed the story and filled it out with the accounts of Louis Lachenal (who summitted with Herzog) and Gaston Rebuffet (who did not, but played an important role in finding the route up the mountain).

In short, Herzog, suppressed other versions than his of the climb for almost 50 years. Starting from before the climbers left France, to even 1998. The climbers who went with Herzog had to literally swear solemnly that they would follow his orders and not publish anything about the climb for at least five years after they got back. Five years later Lachenal was just about to publish his version when he was killed in a climbing accident. After his funeral, Herzog was given the responsibility of preparing the manuscript for publication, handing over editing duties to his brother and the head of the French climbing institution that sponsored the Annapurna climb and assigned Herzog as leader. Both men expurgated any negative comments about Herzog -- of which there were more than a few, as well as mention of any "negative" that may have occurred on the climb.

I won't go into all the details, but here is the best example of Herzog's modus operendi, and the Chamonix guides's response to one instance of his show boating. When they reached the summit, Lachenal wanted to return quickly since he felt his feet freezing (He lost all his toes by the end of the climb). Herzog, however, wanted to take pictures of three pennants on the summit: the French tricolor, the French alpine club's flag, and finally the flag of the tire company for which he worked! This offended Lachenal who gave the roll of film containing the flag shot to Rebuffet. Rebuffet developed the film and returned all the images to the official expedition photographer -- except for the picture of the tire company's pennant. Herzog knew that Rebuffet had the roll and even had the expedition photographer search him before boarding a plane to France after the expedition. Because of Herzog's political connections and power within French alpinism, Rebuffet never again climbed in the Himalayas. So what was depicted in Herzog's account as a noble, transcendent expedition was really just another climb.
Roberts did an excellent job of staying true to the real accomplishment of the Annapurna climbers while unraveling the suppressed events. As usual he captures the real feel of an expedition as good as any other writer, even Herzog.