International
oi-Ashish Rana
The World famous mountaineer Nirmal Purja also known as ‘Nims Dai’ was missing while attempting to climb Broad Peak in Pakistan’s Karakoram range. Now after a few days, his company has declared that he died at avalanche in Pakistan. He was 43 years old, born in Nepal later turned a British citizen.
Nepalese-British mountaineer Nirmal Purja, famous for completing “Project Possible” by climbing all 14 peaks over 8,000m in 189 days, has died aged 43 in an avalanche during a Broad Peak attempt in Pakistan.
Purja was famous for redefining high-altitude mountaineering. He did multiple record breaking expeditions and he always took pride in his Gurkha and military background.
From Gurkha Soldier to Global Mountaineering Icon
Nirmal Purja always spoke about being Gurkha as his pride and greatest ambition, while writing a book he wrote, “Being a Gurkha was my only dream… It was the only thing I wanted to do.”
He was born on 25 July, 1983 in Dana Village of Nepal’s Myagdi district, he spend his most of childhood in Chitwan. His father and three elder brothers served in Gurkha regiments, which later became his inspiration to join Gurkha.
Finally he joined Gurkha regiment of British Army in 2003 at the age of 18 and then he became the first Nepali to be selected for elite British Special Boat Service. Completing his 16-years of military career, he later spend his whole for mountaineering. He was appointed as the member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) for his military services and achievements in climbing mountains.
Project Possible Changed Modern Mountaineering
Nirmal Purja became a famous name after completing all 14 of the world’s peak above 8,000 metres in just 189 days in 2019. This project was named Project Possible that broke the long-held assumptions of what the great mountaineers can achieve. Later an Netflix documentary was made on his 14 Peaks: Nothing is Impossible.
While showing his missions, Nirmal Purja said, “I gave up my job in the United Kingdom. I gave up my pension and sold my house for this high-altitude, high-speed quest.”
He added, “Nobody believed it could be done. Everyone was laughing at me when I launched Project Possible.”
However, his speed record was broken in lately, however, his expedition remains one of the most important achievement in modern Himalayan climbing.
Career Built on Extraordinary Himalayan Success
Nirmal Purja started his mountaineering in 2012 unexpectedly when he planned a Everest Base Camp turned into a summit attempt. He completed climbing Mount Everest for the first time 2016 and then he did world’s highest speak several times in 2017, 2019, 2021, 2022 and 2026.
He hiked multiple expedition like Everest, K2, Annapurna, Dhaulagiri, Kanchenjunga, Lhotse, Makalu, Nanga Parbat, Gasherbrum I, Gasherbrum II, Broad Peak, Manaslu, Cho Oyu and Shishapangma across Nepal, Pakistan and Tibet in 2019.
He also play pivotal role in all-Nepali team that became the first successfully summit K2 during winter in 2021, a record that popular as one of the greatest achievement in Himalayan climbing.
Legacy Extends Beyond Records
Nirmal Purja is now survived by his wife, Suchi Purja and their daughter Himani who was born in 2022. After his record-breaking climbs, Nirmal Purja co-founded Elite Exped with his fellow climbers Mingma David Sherpa and Tejan (TJ) Gurung to prompte the high-altitude expeditions and adventure tourism.
