“What ignorance of Himalayan conditions! What an accumulation of errors of judgement! In the event it took Maurice and I three days of top-class climbing to reach even the first pinnacle of a fantastic ridge of purest snow lace, utterly invisible from below. We were beaten again” (Lionel Terray, Conquistadors of the Useless). Annapurna northwest ridge from the surrounding ridge from the first French Annapurna North Base Camp.