Kriti Mehrotra
As a documentary film chronicling the race to accomplish the first-ever winter summit of K2, Apple TV+’s Amir Bar-Lev-directed ‘The Last First: Winter K2’ has everything from success to tragedy. That’s because what transpired on the world’s second-highest peak in early 2021 was the prime example of how ambition, ego, and ignorance can sometimes be as lethal as any mountain. However, none of it disregards the fact that history was indeed made on January 16 as a team of 10 Nepalese mountaineers/sherpas led by Nirmal “Nims” Purja made a triumphant ascent.
Nirmal “Nims” Purja Was in the Royal Navy Before He Chose to Follow His Passion
Nirmal “Nims” Purja was born on July 25, 1983, in the small village of Dana in Myagdi, Nepal, as the second youngest of Purna Kumari Purja and Nanda Bahadur Purja’s five children. According to records, they were a happy, tight-knit family, but they struggled financially to such an extent that there were times they couldn’t even afford flip-flops for the youngsters. They thus relocated near Kathmandu when he was around 4 years old for better opportunities – his mother was reportedly into farming, whereas his father served as a Gurkha soldier in the Indian Army.
The family’s fate gradually improved thanks to the military service, leading all 3 of Nims’ older brothers to also become Gurkha soldiers to establish themselves as protectors as well as providers. In fact, they helped fund his education at an English-speaking boarding school, enabling him to dream big, take up kickboxing as a hobby, and pursue further studies before he ended up enlisting, too. He was around 20 when he followed in his family’s footsteps to join the Gurkhas in 2003, only for his path to be drastically different from theirs as it took him to England and the Royal Navy.
Nims was accepted into the Special Boat Service (SBS) unit in 2009, becoming the first-ever Gurkha to be a part of the elite group before evolving into an internal cold-weather warfare specialist. He was still serving in the military when he attended Loughborough University in Leicestershire, England, from 2012 to 2014, ultimately earning a Postgraduate Diploma in Security Management. It was seemingly around this same time that he developed a passion for high-altitude mountaineering, leading him to summit the peak of Lobuche East in his homeland without any prior experience.
Nirmal “Nims” Purja Broke All Bounds of the Industry to Set Several Records
Although Nims only started climbing mountains in 2012, his admitted lack of fear about anything helped him make his first ascent of an 8,000er two years later – he summited Dhaulagiri in May 2014. His early success only shot up his confidence, driving him to summit Mount Everest on his very first try another two years later in May 2016, making him realize he could shift gears in his career. He subsequently led the Gurkha Expedition called G200E in May 2017, with the sole aim of summiting Mount Everest alongside 13 Gurkha soldiers to commemorate 200 years of their service.
Nims’ then made the rather difficult decision to resign from the Special Boat Service to focus on mountaineering full-time, especially since he understood he would be giving up his pension. After all, by this point, he was a happily married father of a young daughter who lived in the Eastleigh area of Hampshire, England, so he knew he had people who were dependent on him. However, he also felt like he had no choice because he had found his calling and next challenge – to climb all the 14 international 8,000ers in 7 months to break the previous record of 7 years. His wife was deeply concerned about his well-being throughout Project Possible 14/7, plus there was an added monetary risk since he had remortgaged their home to finance the expedition.
Nims used a large team and some unconventional methods, but he managed to summit all 14 of the world’s tallest mountains in 6 months and 6 days in 2019, a record he held until 2023. He documented this journey in his 2020 memoir ‘Beyond Possible: One Soldier, Fourteen Peaks — My Life In The Death Zone’ and in the 2021 Netflix documentary film ’14 Peaks: Nothing Is Impossible.’ As if that’s not enough, he continued mountaineering to achieve/break several more records, including that of the first winter summit of K2 in 2021, fastest ascent of all 8,000ers without supplementary oxygen in 2 years and 150 days in 2024, and the first person to summit Mount Everest, Lhotse, and Makalu within 48 hours. During this period, he also established the Nimsdai Foundation, Skydive Nimsdai, Mustang Helicopter Pvt. Ltd., the Nimsdai Store for apparel and equipment, and a commercial mountaineering/guiding company called Elite Exped.
Nirmal “Nims” Purja in an Avalanche on an 8,000er in 2026
When Nims was looking at his record of the highest number of 8,000er summits without supplementary oxygen at 29, he realized he could also be the first person to ascend them all twice. Therefore, before his carefully planned summit of Gasherbrum II on the border of Pakistan and China in July 2026, he decided to tick off the nearby Broad Peak while he was already there. His thinking was that if he carried it out, the only peak he would have to ascend again without supplementary oxygen to have another record would be Cho Oyu in the Himalayas on the China–Nepal border. Thus, along with 9 other climbers, he began his journey in late July, only for everything to take a turn for the worse while they were at around 6,600 meters between Camp 2 and Camp 3.
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According to records, the 10 mountaineers were on a slope at approximately 9:30 am local time on July 30, 2026, when an avalanche struck them hard. All of them reportedly lost their balance as all their satellite trackers recorded a fall; while some dropped a few thousand feet, others almost rolled down to Base Camp. A call for aerial search and rescue went out, but to no avail – it was confirmed on August 1 that all 10 climbers had sadly lost their lives as a result of getting caught in the avalanche. Nims’ remains were found at approximately 5,700 meters, meaning the 43-year-old free-fell roughly 900 meters or 3,000 feet. His family obviously continues to grieve their heartbreaking loss, with their only solace being that they know he died doing what he loved and having 57 8,000er summits under his belt. Nims is survived by his caring siblings, his loving wife Suchi Purja, and their adorable daughter Himani Purja.
Read More: Sajid Sadpara: Where is the High-Altitude Mountaineer Now?
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