The Hiking World

Mountain guide · Peak · 2026

Annapurna I

A complete guide to the peak, from an adjudicated evidence sheet. Sourced or not recorded — never estimated.

Annapurna I from orbit, Nepal

This is a guide to the peak, not a trail record. Passes, lakes, forts, and base-camp walks stay on trail pages.

Quick Facts

Origin & Geology

  • Formation / geology

    Tethyan Himalayan Sequence: early Paleozoic sedimentary and metasedimentary rocks dipping north (Ordovician limestone, dolomite, calc-schist of the Nilgiri Formation at the summit; Cambrian Annapurna Yellow Formation and Sanctuary Formation below). Former Indian-margin shelf of the Tethys Ocean, incorporated in the Himalayan orogeny.

    en.wikipedia.org · verified 2026-09-21

  • Name origin

    Hindu goddess of food and nourishment. Sanskrit anna (food) + purna (filled): everlasting food.

    en.wikipedia.org · verified 2026-09-21

  • Cultural history

    The massif lies in the Annapurna Conservation Area (Nepal's first and largest conservation area). Circuit and sanctuary walks are trail records, not this peak.

    en.wikipedia.org · verified 2026-09-21

Climbing History

Success & Statistics

559 summits, 75 deaths — fatality rate ≈ 13.42% (as of February 2025). Source: Guinness World Records, cited via Wikipedia (accessed 2026-09-21) — "As of February 2025, 559 people had reached the summit of Annapurna I, while 75 had died in the attempt … a current fatality rate of approximately 13.42%." Note: older aggregations (MountainIQ, mixed 1900–2021 data) put Annapurna's historical rate as high as ~27.2%, reflecting far fewer early summits; the recent dated count above is the more concrete figure. Authoritative records are held in the Himalayan Database (https://www.himalayandatabase.com/).

Pros / Cons

Generic editorial notes. No peak-specific crowding, cost, or hazard claim is invented here.

For

  • A named summit is a distinct objective from any related walking approach.
  • Elevation, range, location, and first-ascent facts appear here only when the evidence sheet cites them.

Against

  • Altitude, weather, and terrain can turn a day. Hazards belong on the trail record where we hold them — not as invented peak-specific warnings here.
  • Permits, fees, and route grades stay Unverified on this page until an official source is cited. This is not a route plan.

Logistics

  • Best season

    Nepal DoT royalty seasons: spring, autumn, winter/summer (schedule effective 1 Sep 2025). Typical expedition windows are not separately certified here.

    tourismdepartment.gov.np · verified 2026-09-21

  • Routes and grades

    Unverified

  • Permit

    Nepal DoT mountaineering royalty for foreign climbers, peaks over 8000 m except Everest and Manaslu: USD 3,000 spring, USD 1,500 autumn, USD 750 winter/summer per person (effective 1 Sep 2025). Confirm live.

    tourismdepartment.gov.np · verified 2026-09-21

  • Fitness

    Unverified

These are expedition-grade mountaineering objectives, not trekking peaks; no trail record is implied.

Also in this desk: Mountain guides · Himalayan altitude · How we verify.