Can a climber who has lost most or all of his/her toes climb at a level roughly commensurate with his original level?

Question

This question is prompted by my recent rereading of Maurice Herzog's Annapurna, his account of the first climb of an eight-thousander in 1950. Herzog lost all his toes to frostbite and substantial parts of his hands. In the book, he seemed to be planning on easy climbs as a way to stay outdoors and active.

I searched Herzog's life post-Annapurna, and although he had a distinguished career in sports administration and policy, I saw nothing about his climbing.

First, does anyone know whether Herzog climbed after Annapurna? And second, is there information from other climbers who lost toes about whether a mostly toeless climber can climb at a high level? (Herzog's expedition doctor told him that walking would be difficult at first, but that he would get used to walking without toes.) Herzog's hands might have been more of a problem than his lack of toes, but I saw nothing on this point.

Answer 1

Rheinhold Messner lost 7 toes on Nanga Parbat in 1970 due to frostbite and went on to be the first mountaineer to summit all 14 peaks over 8,000 meters. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reinhold_Messner

Bronco Lane lost five fingers and 10 toes on Everest in 1976 after sumitting and continued mountaineering, climbing in the Canadian Rockies in 1978-9 and Mount Kenya in 1983. In 1984 he led an expedition to Everest Tibet and was deputy leader of the Joint Services Everest Nepal 1992. He has also been involved with several Antarctica expeditions. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bronco_Lane

There are other examples of mountaineers losing some or all there toes and still continuing at the same level afterwards.