Jean-Marie Perthuis

The French Alpine Club's film about the French expedition to conquer Makalu (8481m) via the west pillar in Nepal, which began on February 24, 1971. Composed of 11 mountaineers, Robert Paragot (expedition leader), Georges Payot, Lucien Berardini, Yannick Seigneur, Claude Jager, Jean-Paul Paris, Jean-Claude Mosca, François Guillot, Bernard Mellet, Robert Jacob and Jacques Marchal (surgeon), it took twenty-five days of walking on the Himalayan trails with 460 porters and 18 Sherpas to transport 14 tons of equipment to reach the base camp. Finally, it was Mellet and Seigneur who managed to reach the summit on May 23, 1971: 8481 m, temperature - 30°, oxygen 30%, no wind.

Retrospective of four major peaks climbed by French expeditions: Annapurna (8078m) in 1950; Makalu (8481m) in 1955; Mustagh Tower (7273m) in 1956 and Le Jannu (7710m) in 1962. A film by Lucien Berardini and Jean-Marie Perthus with the support of the French Alpine Club and the FFME (French Mountain and Climbing Federation).