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Gurkha aims high in mountaineering marathon

Nirmal “Nims” Purja

A veteran British Army Gurkha is setting out to scale the 14 highest mountains in the world in just one seven-month climbing season.

Through Project Possible – 14/7, Nirmal “Nims” Purja aims to raise awareness of mental health issues and support children in need in Nepal.

If successful, he will break seven mountaineering world records and smash the current speed for climbing all the peaks over 8,000 metres in the Himalayas by an astonishing seven years. Project Possible will take place between March and October this year.

Record holder

Nims is the current holder of three mountaineering world records and was awarded the MBE in 2018 for his outstanding work in high altitude mountaineering, which includes saving the life of woman inside the notorious Everest “Death Zone”, and being lead instructor for the G200E Gurkha Everest expedition in 2017. He is the fastest man to consecutively climb Everest (8,848m), Lhotse (8,516m) and Makalu (8,481m), which he completed in just five days, and achieved the fastest time ever from the summit of Everest to the summit of Lhotse in 10 hours and 15 minutes, almost halving the previous record.

Despite being in some of the most remote and hostile environments on Earth, Nims won’t be out of touch with his supporters and social media followers as Inmarsat is providing him with a highly portable Cobham Explorer 710 BGAN terminal and IsatPhone 2 satellite phone, plus airtime.

He will be sharing his experience on social media, posting live videos and blogs to give followers and supporters a unique insight into one of the most extreme challenges ever attempted.

Champion causes

Commenting on his reasons for undertaking the project, Nims said: “I wanted to push myself way beyond my comfort zone by taking on something that no one has ever done before.

“The expedition also presents a fantastic opportunity for me to champion and support the causes that are important to me, including the importance of mental health, climate change and tackling child poverty in Nepal.

“With the support of Inmarsat, I will be live blogging and posting videos and updates on social media from some of the most inhospitable places on earth, with the hope of promoting these issues to a large, global audience. I couldn’t have achieved this without Inmarsat.”

For more information contact [email protected].