French Conqueror of Annapurna Dead at 93

Maurice Herzog, the French climber who conquered Annapurna in the first recorded ascent of a peak above 8,000m, has died aged 93, the French Climbing Federation said Friday.

Herzog led the ascent of Annapurna in 1950, reaching the Himalayan peak's summit without oxygen along with compatriot Louis Lachenal in a feat that caused a sensation around the world.

The achievement was eclipsed three years later by Tenzing Norgay and Edmund Hillary's conquest of Everest.

But Herzog went on to become a government minister, a member of the International Olympic Committee, a businessman and a best-selling writer of books on climbing.