Maurice Herzog , a celebrated French mountaineer who was the first person to reach the top of an 8,000-meter peak , died early Friday in France , the French presidential palace announced . He was 93 . Herzog and fellow climber Louis Lachenal arrived at the summit of the 8,091-meter ( 26,545-foot ) Annapurna in the Himalayas in June 1950 . They did not use oxygen masks during their ascent . In his best-selling book `` Annapurna , '' Herzog gives a painful account of the difficult descent , which cost him and Lachenal several fingers and toes due to frostbite . But without this expedition , Herzog said , `` I would not have had the life I had after . '' Back in France , Herzog , who had taken part in the resistance during the Second World War , turned his attention to politics . Under President Charles de Gaulle , Herzog became the French minister for youth and sport in 1958 , and he served a mayor of Chamonix from 1966 to 1977 . Herzog 's legendary status was marred in 1996 by the second publication of Lachenal 's `` Vertigo Notebook , '' which included sections omitted in the from 1956 version . The book challenged Herzog 's version of events and he was criticized for stealing the glory and ignoring the fact that the ascent had truly been a team effort . Reaction to Herzog 's death poured in from veteran mountaineers and high-powered politicians . `` He was a very complex character who was undeniably charismatic , and a number of gray areas will remain over his mountaineering career , '' Denis Crabieres , head of the French Mountain Guides Association , said in an interview with CNN affiliate BFMTV . `` He was a great mountaineer , beyond all controversy , who was able to reinvent himself and succeed in public action , '' former French Foreign Minister Michel Barnier told French radio RTL . French President Francois Hollande issued a statement expressing his condolences to Herzog 's family , and added that the climb was an `` exploit that will remain in our collective memory . ''
Maurice Herzog and a fellow climber reached the top of Annapurna in 1950 . Later he became the French minister for youth and sport . The first ascent was made by an Indian named Tenzing Norgay on May 16, 1953, who had been climbing with his friend John Freitas. `` He was a great mountaineer , beyond all controversy , '' a former French official says .