BREMONT AMBASSADOR NIRMAL PURJA MBE SETS NEW WORLD-RECORD SUMMITING ALL 14 ‘DEATH ZONE’ MOUNTAINS IN JUST 6 MONTHS

Earth’s 14 tallest mountains, all higher than 8,000m, enter the ‘death zone’ which is so-called because human life cannot exist there. This did not deter Nims, who joins a list of just 40 climbers to have completed what could be considered the ultimate mountaineering goal.

Bremont Co-Founder, Nick English, comments, “When I first met Nims through our military connections, at the time an unknown mountaineer who was setting out to challenge the potential of human endurance, he struck us as someone wholly determined and uniquely placed to achieve such a phenomenal feat. We’re incredibly proud to have been involved in Bremont Project Possible since the beginning and to have seen the interest in the expedition grow in the way that it has, with the world watching Nims summit mountain after mountain, has been awe-inspiring. Nims is a total inspiration and it goes without saying that what he has achieved is utterly remarkable. Never has a mechanical watch been quite so well-travelled in such a short period of time! Our watches have a history of being tested to their limits in extreme environments and this is absolutely testament to their durability and reliability.”

Nims began Bremont Project Possible when he reached the top of Annapurna on 23^rd April this year and has accomplished this extreme feat of mountaineering with a rotating support team made up of exclusively Nepalese climbers.

The previous world records for one individual climbing all 14 peaks was 7 years, 11 months and 14 days held by Jerzy Kukuczka in 1987, and South Korean Kim Chang-ho who beat Kukuczka’s record in 2013 by just 1 month and 8 days.

The clock stopped on Nims’ attempt as he reached the summit of Shishpangma on 29^th October at 8:58 hrs local time (00:58 GMT) beating the world record by 7 years 5 months and 8 days. Nims’ incredible achievement consisted of 14 summits in 189 days:

1. Annapurna summited 23^rd April
2. Dhaulagiri summited 12^th May
3. Kanchenjunga summited 15^th May
4. Everest summited 22^nd May
5. Lhotse summited 22^nd May
6. Makalu summited 24^th May
7. Nanga Parbat summited 3^rd July
8. Gasherbrum I summited 15^th July
9. Gasherbrum II summited 18^th July
10. K2 summited 24^th July
11. Broad Peak summited 26^th July
12. Cho You summited 23^rd September
13. Manaslu summited 27^th September
14. Shishapangma summited 29^th October

On 22^nd May, Nims reached the summit of Mount Everest, one of the most dangerous climbs, along with 320 other mountaineers. It was on this climb that he took the photo seen around the world of a ‘traffic jam’ to reach the summit, bringing global attention to the mountain’s dangerous overcrowding. 

• The fastest summit of the three highest mountains in the world
• The fastest summit of the five highest mountains in the world
• The fastest summit of the lowest 8,000m mountains (Gasherbrum 1, Gasherbrum 2 and Broad Peak)
• The fastest summit of the higher 8,000m mountains, with consecutive summits of Everest, Lhotse and Makalu in 48 hours (beating his own previous record of 5 days)

The Bremont Project Possible team included Nirmal ‘Nims’ Purja and his Nepalese companions Mingma David Sherpa, Geljen Sherpa, Lakpa Dendi Sherpa, Gesman Tamang and Halung Dorchi Sherpa, along with Dawa Sherpa who acted as a base camp manager.

Bremont Project Possible also gave Nims’ Nepalese team of Sherpa guides the chance to have their own achievements recognised on the world stage, with Mingma David setting the record for the youngest person to summit all 14 of the Earth’s highest mountains (completing 9 of these summits during the project).

On 23^rd April, just days into his world-record attempt and descending Annapurna, Nims led a successful rescue attempt to find fellow climber Dr Chin Wui Kin, who had been separated from an accompanying expedition and left without food, water or an oxygen bottle for 40 hours. On 15^th May, having made it to the summit of Kanchenjunga in just 21 hours, Nims and his team rescued a further two climbers from a height of 8,400m and sacrificing their own supplementary oxygen to the climbers in need.

Nims has a history of carrying out daring rescues during his expeditions, and in 2016 saved the life of an Indian climber in the Mount Everest death zone, taking her down 500m from an altitude of 8450m single handedly.

Bremont caught up with Nims ahead of his final push on Phase 3...

About Nims & Bremont Project Possible

Nims was born in the Dhaulagiri region of Nepal, at an altitude of 1600m, and grew up in Chitwan. He joined the legendary Brigade of Gurkhas in 2003 before passing the UKSF selection to become the first ever Gurkha to make the rank of SBS in 2009.

Although always in the outdoors and mountains, his climbing career started in Dec 2012, where he set out on a trek to Everest Base Camp. Once he arrived, instead of sticking to the schedule and returning to Kathmandu, he made a bold choice to summit Lobuche East (6,100m) without any previous climbing experience. At the Lobuche village, he was fortunate enough to be taught to use crampons on grass by the late Sherpa legend, Dorje Khatri.

In 2018, Nims was appointed a Member of the British Empire (MBE) by the Queen for his outstanding work in high altitude mountaineering.

Bremont stepped up to be the title sponsor of ‘Bremont Project Possible’, the extreme mountaineering feat that Bremont ambassador Nims Purja has embarked on.

There are only 14 mountains on earth higher than 8,000m – the ‘death zone’ – and they are all located in the Himalayas. Bremont Project Possible was an extraordinary attempt by Nirmal Purja (Nims) to climb all 14 peaks in just 7 months.

Nims completed the expedition with a rotating support team of Nepalese climbers. Bremont has made this commitment to Nims as what he’s doing is not only truly remarkable but pushes the boundaries of human endeavour.

FIND OUT MORE ABOUT NIMS HERE