Nirmal Purja, ex-Gurkha soldier, in his ambitious mission – "Project Possible", summited Shishapangma at 8:58am (local time) today morning. He completed 14 eight-thousanders in just 189 days (Annapurna 23rd April to Shishapangma 29th October, Summit to Summit - 6 month 6 days). He broke the record of Korean climber Kim Chang-ho, who summited 14 eight-thousanders in 7 years, 10 months and 6 days. However, Kim still holds the record of doing the same without supplemental oxygen.
Nirmal Purja had started his "Project Possible" in March of this year. He wanted to set a new record by climbing all 14 eight-thousanders in 7 months. In last Spring, he started this project and made the first summit of Annapurna on 23rd April and came to an end of Phase 1 with the summit of Makalu on 24th May. In between, he had summited Dhaulagiri, Kangchenjunga on 12th and 15th May respectively. Then on 22nd May, he scaled Everest and Lhotse. Besides this, as a part of the rescue team, Nirmal rescued Malaysian mountaineer Wui Kin Chin, who was stranded on Annapurna during his descent from the summit. By the end of Phase 2, Nirmal has summited 11 eight-thousanders in just 94 days (Annapurna 23rd April to Broad Peak 26th July, Summit to Summit). In the final phase, he summited Cho Oyu, Manaslu and Shishapangma on 23rd September, 27th September and 29th October respectively.
"Project Possible"
1. Annapurna on 23rd April, 2019
2. Dhaulagiri on 12th May, 2019
3. Kangchenjunga on 15th May, 2019
4. Everest on 22nd May, 2019
5. Lhotse on 22nd May, 2019
6. Makalu on 24th May, 2019
7. Nanga Parbat on 3rd July, 2019
8. Gasherbrum – I on 15th July, 2019
9. Gasherbrum – II on 18th July, 2019
10. K2 on 24th July, 2019
11. Broad Peak on 26th July, 2019
12. Cho Oyu on 23rd September, 2019
13. Manaslu on 27th September, 2019
14. Shishapangma on 29th October, 2019
Photo Courtesy: Nirmal Purja Facebook
