Project Possible: Ascending 14 peaks in 7 months
nimsdai.com
nimsdai.com
The naysayers will say that he did it with oxygen and talk smack but the reality is that using O2 is a perfectly valid way to do it - just as is doing it without O2. Of course you cannot compare speed with the two methods (meaning obviously doing it with O2 should help you do it faster) but at the top elite level there is nobody actually looking down on those who use bottled oxygen. This guy basically assembled a superhuman team of climbers and perfectly executed a style of climbing I might describe as semi-Alpine style and achieved in 7 months what used to take people 10 years.
The other awesome thing about this is that the Sherpas have essentially been doing this for years and years and never really getting the kind of credit and attention they deserve - all the big ascents we remember the western explorers who are paying for their help - but in fact pretty much every ascent relies on their skills. They are superstars in their hometowns but Nims has really brought them more into the spotlight and that is just awesome. I don't do much social media or follow really any famous people but if you checkout the Instagram accounts for example of some of the more active Sherpas it is actually super interesting.
In terms of Nims himself a very interesting part of the book / various documentaries is the sheer amount of funding work he was able to accomplish and also the just ridiculous amount of red tape and permitting and logistics that he pulled off. To top all off this is during Covid lockdowns which of course throws a whole wrench in planning. And they filmed the entire thing!
The website says the climbs occurred "Between April and October 2019"?
This is money project.
1. Financial side of his project (sponsors, movies, advertising) is tremendous. This is financial project done mainly for money, while hiding it.
2. Listen to any of his live interviews. Dude is arrogant as hell.
3. Whole Sherpas motiv is virtue signaling (and clever fake shield for do not criticise me) - this was even written about!
4. Check his media presence: i t is massively huge. Done for revenues and attention.
5. Difference between him and Kukuczka original feat is only one: MONEY (Ok maybe two: Nims ego)
6. Check what of him thinks mountain guides, and people say on r/mountaineering/ - disdain and criticism.
Money buys things like that. And is the main cause of it, while being mentioned in fine print only (another sign of fakeness)
T h i s i s s i m p l y m o n e y.
And ego. A lot of ego with arrogance sauce :-(
It's as if saying the moon landing wasn't impressive because it was financed by the USA and used as a propaganda tool. "Its simply money"....
The dude climbed FIVE 8k peaks in LESS THAN 2 WEEKS (12 days). That alone is absolutely insane.
You spent one month to prepare huge party for your 100 people extended family, just alone and spending 1000€
Vs
You did the same with 200 people crew, while spending 200 000€. It took one day.
What you praise on him is praising money :-/
Edit: He did, while on oxygen, being teleported by heli (sic!) directly between base camps with literally 100+ support team (including on climbs) all WHILE SPENDING 10+ MLN USD ON IT. The other (previous) guys did not.
Please go check and read mountain community opinion on him.
Messner could make the same ascents today at 70+ years old given all those advantages. But Messner did it all 40 years ago, leading the climbs himself, without oxygen, and often on new routes/first ascents.
As they say: money buys confidence.
https://www.climbing.com/people/nirmal-nims-purja-the-man-wh...
Messner did it all 40+ years ago, without any modern tech/gear, without oxygen, often on new routes (not the standard ascents), and leading the climbs himself. He's another breed entirely to Nims.
https://explorersweb.com/gasherbrum-i-summits-keep-speed-rec...
Mountaineering comes with obvious risks, and other less obvious risks.
Also, is it a good idea to get a megadose of vitamin B1 before entering the death zone in order to offset the lack of oxygen? B1 is known to help prevent/treat HAPE and seems to have significant effect in boosting metabolism and preventing pseudohypoxia.
That said, any 8K meter peak is still incredibly challenging for most people even on a well-supported climb. Don't believe the sherpas basically carry you up narrative.
Even ~6K meter peaks are pretty challenging. I've been up a few in that general range (Nepal, Ecuador, Russia)--some are more technical than others--but none are exactly straightforward in the grand scheme of things. Something in that range was probably about my limit even when I was younger.
Can't/won't speak to medical advice in general. Some people get altitude sickness at ski areas in the western US.
For example I believe Cho Oyu (8188m) has few if any technical climbing sections - you basically walk up. That's a very different challenge to a technical climbing. Have a look at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grade_(climbing) for more info.
Be kind. Don't be snarky.
Comments should get more thoughtful and substantive
Eschew flamebait. Avoid unrelated controversies, generic tangents, and internet tropes.
I haven’t read about him not reaching the true summit of Manaslu. I just found an article on ExplorersWeb but it doesn’t say he didn’t reach it, just that photos hadn’t been released showing it. Is this now confirmed?
>But in a controversial move, they [the Himalayan Database] also decided that previous ascents to the foresummit of the mountain would still be considered as true summits. This has vast implications for a generation of record-chasing mountaineers, including media personality Nirmal Purja or ‘Nimsdai’ who only reached the foresummit during his heavily publicized ascent of all 14 8,000 meter peaks in just over six months. For now, their records still stand.
They also have rescued countless climbers (even while attempting this insane goal) so I do not think we have much standing to judge this guy at all.