Nirmal Purja

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Career

2019: a world record

Nepalese sets record, scales 14 highest peaks in 6 months

Kathmandu:

A Nepali mountaineer on Tuesday smashed the speed record for summiting the world’s 14 highest peaks, racing up all “8000ers” in just six months and six days, organisers said.

The previous record for the 14 mountains above 8,000 metres (around 26,250 feet) — completed by Nirmal Purja at 8.59am (1259 GMT) on Tuesday — was almost eight years.

“MISSION ACHIEVED! says @nimsdai from the summit of #Shishapangma,” read a post on Purja’s Facebook page, while a statement quoted the former British elite soldier as being “overwhelmed and incredibly proud” after his 189-day feat.

“It has been a gruelling but humbling six months, and I hope to have proven that anything is possible with some determination, self-belief and positivity,” the 36-year-old said.

Starting with Italy’s legendary Reinhold Messner in 1986, around 40 climbers have climbed the Earth’s 14 highest mountains, but none have come close to Purja’s speed.

The late Polish climber Jerzy Kukuczka took seven years, 11 months and 14 days in 1987. South Korean Kim Chang-ho completed the challenge one month faster.

Purja, a former member of the Gurkhas — a brigade of Nepalis in British army — as well as the elite Special Boat Service, kicked off “Project Possible” in April. In the first part of his record attempt, Purja ticked off Annapurna, Dhaulagiri, Kanchenjunga, Everest, Lhotse and Makalu in just one month.

He was not alone on Everest, reaching it on May 22 with 320 others and snapping a photo of a traffic jam of climbers on the world’s highest mountain that went viral.

A month later, Purja headed to Pakistan for the second part, where he first tackled Nanga Parbat at 8,125 metres.

Purja said he was almost sprinting up and down five of Pakistan’s highest peaks including Gasherbrum I, Gasherbrum II and K2, the second highest in the world.

Twenty-three days later he was standing atop Broad Peak, his fifth and final mountain of the second phase.

Purja began his final push in September, reaching the tops of Cho Oyu and Manaslu within a week. AFP