In April 2019 this man set out to climb all 14 of the world’s mountains over 8,000m, with a deadline of seven months but only 5% of the budget that he would eventually need – I interviewed him to ask how Nims Purja did the impossible?
I wanted to show the world what is humanly possible if you put your mind, heart and soul into it
Nims Purja is the former British Army Gurkha and SBS special forces operative who led a team comprised of Nepalese sherpas to smash the world record for climbing all of the world’s mountains over 8,000m. There are 14 of them and the former record was seven years – Nims did it within six months.
This feat wasn’t just impressive, it was previously though to be physically impossible, and shook the world of high altitude mountaineering to its core. And that was before his most recent world first, leading a team to the top of K2 in winter. So I interviewed him, for The Red Bulletin, to find out how Nims Purja did the impossible, and also tell his story here…
Setting a new world record for climbing the world’s 8,000m+ peak took huge sacrifices and massive drive – what was your motivation?
I just really wanted to show the world what is humanly possible if you put your mind, heart and soul into it, and equally I wanted to highlight the name of Nepalese climbers. For the last 100 years, we have been at the background of these things.
You know, high altitude mountaineering, that is our ground, our playground and I didn’t really feel that justice was done for the Nepalese climbing community… I represent the climbing community in Nepal, 100%.
You’ve only been climbing since you were 29, so when did you realise that you had an exceptional talent for high-altitude mountaineering?
Well, in 2014 I climbed Dhaulagiri in 14 days without any prior acclimatisation, and lead 70% of the route. Then, in 2016 I was one of the instructors for the Gurkhas trying to climb Everest to celebrate 200 years of history, but the leader of the team failed to set the fixed lines. So, I decided to lead the fixing team, even though nobody knew at that point who I was.
I led thirteen members of the exhibition to the summit and returned to Kathmandu with the team to celebrate. Then, I went back to Everest base camp to climb Everest again, and also climbed Lhotse Makalu in five days with two days of partying in between.
I was supposed to get a heli ride from there to go on a Special Forces mission, but the heli didn’t come because of the weather. I had to run all the way from base camp, which is six days’ worth of trekking and I did that in 18 hours, running through the night. So, that point I was like: “Oh, OK I think I’ve got something.”
The human body cannot sustain itself above 8,000m, which is why it’s called ‘The Death Zone’ – in the past, you have pushed yourself too hard here. In 2016 on Everest you got life-threatening pulmonary odema (fluid on the lungs). What was that like?
You resigned from the SBS when you were told your idea to climb the five toughest mountains within 18 days was too dangerous, but how much of an obstacle was raising sponsorship for Project Possible, particularly as an unknown Nepalese climber?
When I got on the plane to fly to my first Project Possible climb, I only had 5% of the funding I needed, and that was after remortgaging my house.
Only three months prior I was told by a friend who was leading the funding side of the project: “Nims, I’m sorry, there isn’t any funding.”
I had only two months to raise 750k… I remember having to pull over on the M3 – I never cry, but there were tears running from my eyes. I was thinking: “Why I am doing this project in the first place?” It was torture.
Someone said to me: “Maybe you didn’t get sponsorship because you’re not white?” And it hit me – maybe that’s right, you know?
How much pressure did that put you under, having to begin your bid to climb 14 8,000m peaks without enough funding, and then on top of all that your mother became sick and was in the in hospital – how did you carry on?
I went back to the reasons I was doing this project in the first place and it’s not about me. So I could take on this burden because I’m doing it for a bigger reason…
I am climbing this mountain, I have still got no funding; my mom is very sick in the hospital on ventilation…
When you are climbing on this kind of scale you need a purpose, if it was just for me I would never have been able to do it because at some point – being frank – it was so painful, so hard, so tough that I just wished that avalanche would come and kill me, because that would kill all the pain.
You achieved Project Possible with a large team of Nepalese Sherpas’ who you have described as a brotherhood and shared the credit with – is there a moment that sticks in your mind from early in the challenge?
Dhaulagiri was my second mountain but we heard that Dr Chin was still alive on Annapurna [the Malaysian mountaineer survived for more than 43 hours alone at 7,500m], so we abandoned and went to rescue him.
We lost the weather window and had to climb Dhaulagiri in these brutal conditions. It took us five days because – you literally couldn’t see one metre.
At one point I stopped the boys and said: “Guys, of course, this is my mission. If you feel like you are putting your life at risk for me you don’t have to. You can turn around, but if you still want to come with me, there are no fixed lines, there’s no fixed rope,” you know.
They just laughed and were like: “Eff off Nims! Come on boy; you go we go,” haha! So I said: “I come from a Special Forces background, everything we are doing here I am tracking and I can pinpoint every shape, so as we go up and come down it’s on my back, you can trust your life with me.” Everyone was smiling and yeah, it was crazy! We went and summited.
It is possible if you have the right mindset – we are all project possible!
Did you have any moments of doubt in your own abilities during Project Possible?
Yes, at K2 Base Camp [the mountain had not been climbed at all in what was looking like a close-out season.] The best climber there, who was Nepalese, showed me the video of where people had given up and said it’s impossible. That’s when it gets me and I’m like f*** can I make it, you know?
I had a team of six but now I said: “Guys, this is now different, we start now. I am going to go with these two boys,” because everybody’s scared. Even my team members were like is Nims making the right decision?
I can see the intensity, I can feel the energy and now I’m doubting my ability as well. Then I remembered was the process for special forces selection; 200 of the best soldiers from Marines, Air Force, Army, Navy. Sometimes only four or five make it and if you listen to those 196 who failed, you’re never going to try.
And what happened next?
So I briefed my boys: “You two are coming with me, we’re going to go camp four to that point. If we can’t make it we’ll come back down, you two will have a rest, and I will take you two up. We go up again, if we don’t make it I’ll come back down and I’ll take you two.”
I said it’s going to be six rotations at least before I think about giving up and the guys were looking at me like, “well hello”, haha! So that’s kind of my mindset. We got to the summit in the first push.
You have a passion for re-defining what’s possible but you have also been vocal about the challenges of the climate crisis. Do you think that it’s a solvable problem?
I climbed Ama Dablam, in 2015 and then returned in 2018. The first time we still had snow at Camp One to melt and cook food. In 2018, we had to carry up gallons of water. At that point you think: “This is real!”
I have this voice and I now know my real drive, my real motivation. I believe we’ve got these next two decades to make change, and if we don’t make that change we will suffer.
There is a solution to every problem, 100%. You just have to take this personally. If everybody starts thinking it’s a personal problem and we all act, then we can do it.
You could come from nowhere like me, and still be someone, if you believe in yourself. We all have our own mountains to climb in life, and it’s possible if you have the right mindset. But it’s you who controls that mindset, no one else. We’re all project possible!
A version of this article originally appeared in The Red Bulletin
If you’re inspired to read more about impossible feats made possible, then check out my interview with free solo climber Alex Honnold on how he climbed 1000m with no ropes up Yosemite’s El Capitan… read it here.
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