Annapurna, Mountain summit in Gandaki Province, Nepal

Annapurna is a summit in the Himalayan range within Gandaki Province in Nepal, reaching 8,091 meters above sea level and ranking among the ten tallest mountains on the planet. The mountain forms the center of a massif with several other peaks, surrounded by deep valleys and glaciers that create a rugged landscape of rock and ice.

On June 3, 1950, French mountaineers Maurice Herzog and Louis Lachenal became the first people to reach the top, marking history as the first ascent of an 8,000-meter peak. Later expeditions opened new routes on other flanks, though these remain among the most dangerous climbs in the world due to frequent avalanches and rockfall.

The name derives from Sanskrit: anna means food or grain and purna means filled, so Annapurna is "she who gives food", an epithet of the goddess Parvati. The massif and its surroundings form Annapurna National Park, covering 7,629 km², where several trekking routes pass villages of the Marsyandi and Kali-Gandaki valleys.

Climbers need a permit and usually attempt the ascent in spring or autumn when weather conditions pose fewer hazards. Many visitors choose trekking routes around the massif that require no technical climbing and offer views into the high mountain environment.

Annapurna I was the first 8,000-metre peak ever climbed, by Maurice Herzog and Louis Lachenal on 3 June 1950, three years before Everest. The pair lost all twenty fingers and toes to frostbite. By March 2012 only 191 climbers had reached the top, against 61 deaths, a toll linked to the scarcity of commercial expeditions and the frequency of solo, alpine-style and oxygen-free attempts.