Timeline Nirmal Purja

Nepalese mountaineer and former British Special Forces soldier, known as Nims or Nimsdai, who became one of the most celebrated climbers in history. In 2019, he completed Project Possible, summiting all fourteen of the world's 8,000-metre peaks in just six months and six days — a feat that had previously taken the fastest climber almost eight years. The achievement was documented in the Netflix film 14 Peaks: Nothing Is Impossible. In January 2021, he was part of the team that made the first winter ascent of K2. He was killed by an avalanche on Broad Peak in Pakistan at the age of 42.

All

Person

Event

Conflicts

Disaster / crisis

Science

Culture

Companies

Countries

Dashed left edge = started before this timeline · Dashed right edge = still ongoing

Nirmal Purja 11

1983 Nirmal Purja born in Dana, Nepal Born Nirmal Purja in Dana, a village in Nepal's Myagdi district, beneath the shadow of the Himalayas. His father and three older brothers all served as Gurkha soldiers in the British Army.
2003 – 2012 Brigade of Gurkhas Joined the Brigade of Gurkhas in 2003, following his family's military tradition. Served for nearly a decade, developing the discipline and physical resilience that would define his mountaineering career.
2012 First Summit: Dhaulagiri Climbed his first 8,000-metre peak, Dhaulagiri (8,167m), while still serving in the British military, igniting his passion for high-altitude mountaineering.
2012 – 2018 UK Special Boat Service Selected for the UK's elite Special Boat Service, one of only a handful of Gurkhas ever admitted. Trained in extreme environments and served on classified operations. Received an MBE for his military service.
2017 Everest Rescue During a summit of Everest, abandoned his own climb to rescue a Malaysian climber stranded in the death zone at over 8,000 metres, carrying the man on his back to safety.
2018 Left the Military Resigned from the Special Boat Service to pursue mountaineering full time. Mortgaged his house to fund Project Possible, his audacious plan to climb all fourteen 8,000-metre peaks in seven months.
2019 Project Possible — All 14 Peaks in 189 Days Completed all fourteen 8,000-metre summits in just six months and six days, shattering the previous record of seven years, ten months and six days. Along the way, he summited Everest, Lhotse and Makalu in 48 hours — a feat many considered impossible. A photograph he took of a queue of climbers on Everest went viral worldwide.
2020 14 Peaks: Nothing Is Impossible The Netflix documentary 14 Peaks: Nothing Is Impossible was released, bringing his story and Nepali-led mountaineering to a global audience of millions.
2021 First Winter Ascent of K2 Part of the ten-member all-Nepali team that made the first winter ascent of K2 (8,611m), the world's second-highest mountain. They sang the Nepali national anthem on the summit in temperatures below minus 60 degrees Celsius.
2024 All 14 True Summits Without Supplementary Oxygen Completed all fourteen true summits without supplementary oxygen in two years and 150 days, adding another extraordinary achievement to his record.
2026 Death on Broad Peak Killed by an avalanche while climbing Broad Peak (8,051m) in the Karakoram range of Pakistan at the age of 42. Broad Peak was one of the fourteen mountains he had summited during Project Possible in 2019. Nepal declared a national day of mourning.