Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
A younger generation of journalists, long jaundiced by the chauvinism of the de
Gaulle era, critical of the neocolonial prejudices that lingered in French culture, was
only too delighted to see the sacred cow of the Annapurna myth come under attack.
But even in their revisionist glee, these writers saw that the new revelations did not
simply undercut the grandeur of the 1950 accomplishment: they raised the contribu-
tions of the three Chamonix guides to a new level of respect. By 1996, Rébuffat was far
from the most famous guide in Europe; even Terray's reputation had lapsed into ob-
scurity. Reviewing the two new books in
Dimanche 8,
journalist Frédéric Potet wrote:
It is neither a lie nor an aspersion to say that history has superbly, magnificently, royally
forgotten them. Gaston Rébuffat, Lionel Terray, Louis Lachenal: three names that continue
to awaken faint memories in certain hearts. Three names that one somehow knows were as-
sociated with the grand history of alpinism. But more than that? . . . The whole world re-
members Maurice Herzog, the first biped to have trod, in 1950, atop a mountain of more
than 8,000 meters. The others—Rébuffat, Terray, Lachenal? Who were they? Where did
they come from? What did they do?
Such mainstream publications as
Le Monde, Libération,
and
L'Equipe
weighed in
with major pieces on the controversy. The furor crossed international waters, with
the British journal
High,
the American magazine
Climbing,
and the
American Alpine
Journal
publishing essays sympathetic to the debunkers. Wrote Patrick Barthe in the
last publication, reviewing Guérin's
Carnets,
“I am sorry we had to wait so long for the
true story. All around us we can see the damage done by false information. We have
an obligation to tell our children the truth of our days. We don't have to be afraid of
it.”
In France, the climbing journals dug deep.
Montagnes
magazine ran a seven-page
analysis entitled “Annapurna: The Other Truth.” Its writers discovered long-buried
details that even Ballu and Guérin had not brought to light. They quoted a letter
from one Pierre Chabert to Terray's father, explaining the reason that Terray had been
passed over for the Legion of Honor:
I have received formal confirmation that if your son, who saved the whole Himalayan mis-
sion, was not decorated, that was because of the position taken by the president of the CAF
[Devies] and by M. Herzog. I swear by this information, but ask you to treat it confiden-
tially.
The editors also discovered an obscure, forgotten article published in the regional
newspaper
Dauphiné Libéré
in June 1950, even before the Annapurna team had re-
turned to France. Its author, Phillippe Gaussot, complained that while gossip was rife
