A Tragic End on the Slopes of the Karakoram. The world mountaineering community is grieving after it was confirmed that the legendary British-Nepali mountaineer Nirmal 'Nimsdai' Purja died in an avalanche. Broad Peak, the 12th highest mountain in the world (8,051 meters in Pakistan’s Karakoram range) was destroyed during a summit push and a multi-national expedition team under the command of Elite Exped was shocked by an avalanche that hit the upper slopes. A number of people died in search of the mountain, including Purja's trusted climbing companions and guides, Pur Bahadur Gurung and Nima Sherpa. Elite Exped also had to confirm the heartbreak and paid tribute to those who lost their lives and asked for privacy for the grieving families.
Born in Myagdi district of Nepal and raised in Chitwan, Purja’s path to global icon status was as unorthodox as it was extraordinary. He had a decorated 16-year military career and served with distinction with Britain’s elite Brigade of Gurkhas before moving on to work in the Royal Marines’ Special Boat Service (SBS) as a cold-weather warfare specialist.
He got into mountaineering almost by chance. In 2012, when he was in the military he climbed Everest Base Camp without any previous experience. His passion for the mountains led him to push past the base camp and to summit Mount Everest instead. That one decision was enough to ignite a dormant desire and lay the foundation for a career that would remake the history books of extreme high-altitude mountaineering forever.
Redefining Human Endurance: Project Possible and World Records. In 2019 Purja became renowned worldwide with his revolutionary campaign “Project Possible”, which took him to the top of 14 mountains above 8,000 meters in 6 months and 6 days (189 days) which broke the record of nearly 8 years. This historic feat was later chronicled in the Netflix documentary.
