On June 03, 2025, it will be 75 years since the first successful ascent of Annapurna – the first 8000er ever to be summited by Maurice Herzog and Louis Lachenal. Herzog describes the moment he touched the summit of Annapurna as,

"Could we possibly be there? Yes! A fierce and savage wind tore at us. We were at the top of Annapurna! 8075 meters. Our hearts overflowed with an unspeakable happiness. If only the others could know... If only everyone could know!"

The pride takes over Herzog, and understandably so. He and Lachenal were in fact was the first humans to ever touch the summit of an 8000-meter mountain. But in matter of minutes, his thoughts change. He afterwards says,

"Our mission was accomplished. But at the same time, we had accomplished something infinitely greater. How wonderful life would now become! What an inconceivable experience it is to attain one's ideal and, at the very same moment, to fulfill oneself. I was stirred to the depths of my being. Never had I felt happiness like this - so intense and yet so pure. That brown rock, the highest of them all, that ridge of ice - were the goals of a lifetime? Or were they, rather, the limits of man's pride?"

He eventually publishes a book of the Annapurna ascent – "Annapurna First Conquest of an 8000-meter Peak" which so far is the highest selling book in this genre – a staggering 20 million+ copies. The book concludes with this striking sentence,

"Annapurna, to which we had gone empty handed, was a treasure on which we should live the rest of our days. With this realization we turn the page: a new life begins. There are other Annapurnas in the lives of men."

Lachenal similarly published his account of the expedition in "Rappels - Du mont Blanc à l'Annapurna". This expedition marked the beginning of a new era in Himalayan mountaineering. Especially the 50s decade were followed by the completion of all 8000ers' first ascent (except Shishapangma), and Nepal's introduction to the world as the home of Himalaya and mighty mountain adventures.

The Annapurna region is the most popular trekking destination in Nepal and is widely known around the world. Annapurna circuit, sanctuary and other routes around Annapurna account for around 20% of the total visitors in Nepal. A big credit goes to Herzog, Lachenal and the first Annapurna expedition.

But what's saddening is that despite Annapurna's popularity and the growth in tourism around the region, Annapurna range rarely sees mountaineering expeditions. What's even more concerning is that the other Annapurnas have been completely left out as if they are invisible to the climbing community.

Let's talk about the other Annapurnas!

The three rarely talked Annapurnas – Annapurna II (7937 m), Annapurna III (7555 m), and Annapurna IV (7525 m) are high mountains in the Annapurna range.

Annapurna II is just 63 meters short of an 8000er. And a climber can understand that this makes it no less tough than them. In fact, Annapurna II is considered as a tougher climbing endeavor than the classical 8000ers as this is a pure climb without ladders, fixed ropes, in a totally uncharted terrain.

Annapurna II has been summited only 16 times and the last successful ascent happened in 2007. To compare this figure, Annapurna I, which is considered one of the toughest mountains on the planet, has been summited 514 times – multiple climbs attempted every year.

Annapurna III, despite being connected to Annapurna I via the same ridge, is equally overlooked. Annapurna III dominates the southern skyline from the villages of Humde, Bhraka, Manang, Khangsar enroute to the Annapurna Circuit. So far Annapurna III has been climbed 34 times with 9 fatalities.

Annapurna IV has a relatively higher stat. The mountain has been climbed a total of 138 times. The successful summits of all three Annapurnas combined is still lesser than Annapurna I. In the same range, connected over the same ridge, the other Annapurnas have always been under the shade of the parent peak Annapurna I which itself is in shade of Everest.

This is where Sophie comes in.

Sophie Lavaud is a French-Swiss and Canadian National and holds the identity of being the first French person, first Swiss woman and the first Canadian person to summit all 14 8000-meter mountains in the world. A rather unusual person in this genre, Sophie was neither born in high Alps or had any Alpine influence while growing up. Quite contrary to the mountain connection, she comes from the luxury hotel business. She worked as the Sales and Marketing Director for the luxury Hotel Richemond in Geneva and found the spark of heights in her later life.

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In 2023, with the successful ascent of Nanga Parbat, Sophie completed the 14 8000er journey. But something changed in pursuit of a relatively small peak. Sophie climbed Pisang Peak during the Covid winter in 2020. From the summit of Pisang, seeing all 4 Annapurnas in a single frame had Sophie think of something that would relate to her as a mountaineer. And thus, the idea sparked in – climbing the three Annapurnas on the 75th anniversary of the first Annapurna expedition. Coming from a French heritage, Sophie very well knows what the first French Annapurna expedition and the pioneers that made it happen mean to her. She is attempting to climb all 4 Annapurnas in honor of the First Ascent. She climbed Annapurna I during her 14 peaks journey and now the three remain. The 3 Annapurnas where expeditions rarely visit and where route has to be set by climbers themselves, Sophie attempts all 3 in a single year. She seeks to climb Annapurna II and IV on a single traverse in the spring of 2025 and Annapurna III in the autumn of the same year. The last time this feat was achieved was in 1989 by the Koreans – the expedition was successful in putting climbers in the summit but it did come at the cost of the lives of 2 climbers.

Sophie plans to begin the trilogy with Annapurna IV, climbing via the Northwest Ridge-the same line Bill Tilman's 1950 reconnaissance first identified. It will be a 7-member climbing party from France, Switzerland, and Italy with Sherpa team led by climbing guide Dawa Sangey Sherpa who accompanied Sophie in most of her 8000ers. From its summit, she and some climbing members with Sherpa guides will continue along the connecting ridge to attempt Annapurna II, a traverse that involves high exposure, uncharted terrain, and technical ridgeline at sustained altitude (7000m+).

As a mountaineering enthusiast, it's exciting to see expeditions like this-those that go beyond records and commercial peaks, and instead explore the less-traveled, message-driven corners of the Himalaya. Based on how I know her, Sophie says,

'Alone in the Himalaya, I'll go nowhere. No matter what happens on the mountain, the important thing is to get home to tell the story'.

And this, I believe, will be a story worth following.