Famous French Mountaineers

Maurice Herzog was a French administrator and mountaineer. He is best remembered for leading the French Annapurna expedition in 1950, which scaled the Annapurna peak of over 8000m for the first time. Maurice Herzog reached the peak along with Louis Lachenal and wrote a best-selling book titled Annapurna after his return.

Refused entry in the Tour de France because she was a woman, French athlete Marie Marvingt finished the course by herself. An aviator and mountaineer, too, she later made many sporting records. She was the first female fighter pilot. She had also been a journalist, a medical officer, and a ski school instructor.