Annapurna I (8091m) was the first 8,000-metre (26,200 ft) peak to be climbed. Maurice Herzog and Louis Lachenal, of a French expedition reached the summit on 3 June 1950. Its summit was the highest summit attained on Earth for three years, until the first successful ascent of Mount Everest. (However higher non-summit points—at least 8,500 meters (27,900 ft)—had already been attained on Everest in the 1920s.) In 1978, The American Women's Annapurna Expedition, a team led by Arlene Blum, became the first American team to climb Annapurna I. The expedition was also remarkable for being composed entirely of women. Annapurna peaks (Annapurna South, Annapurna I, Annapurna II, Annapurna III and Annapurna IV) are among the world's most dangerous mountains to climb because of the avalanches for which the mountain is known.
