In reply to BusyLizzie:
I've gone over it in my mind so many times, trying to justify it from his point of view - still can't.
But... France being ripped apart in the First World War. So many lives dreadfully lost. The horror and ignominy of the occupation. The prevailing nationalism of Himalayan mountaineering back then (e.g. Everest as 'the British mountain', Nanga Parbat as 'the German mountain'), the condition whereby no 8,000 metre peak had yet been climbed. Maybe he regarded Lachenal as unfortunate 'collateral damage' if the worst happened - just one more life when so many had already been sacrificed.
In my mind Annapurna is always linked with Bien Dien Phu. The latter a deadly cocktail of nationalism and arrogance. And then, as on Annapurna, the sheer, unbridled heroism shining through.
But still the age-old question, "Is it worth it?" And so often the answer is, "No... it's not."
Mick