I love watching documentaries about people that do extraordinary things. So, one evening, while I was scrolling my endless feed of Netflix I was served up 14 Peaks: Nothing is Impossible. It is about Nirmal ‘Nims’ Purja, a Nepalese mountaineer and former British soldier who had the dream to climb all 14, 8,000 meter mountains in six months. To put this into perspective, the last person who had climbed all 14 mountains took 16 years and was accomplished by Reinhold Messner in 1986.
If you pay attention to the underlining message that Nims is trying to showcase in the mountaineering community is that race is an issue. He is trying to bring forward and bring visibility to his people who don’t get the recognition they deserve. Sherpas have always been put into the background of westerns. Sherpas are the ones who literally carry them up the mountain. There is a story that the first person who climbed Everest wasn’t who you think it was. It was the sherpa who pulled him up there. Nims also brings forward that Nepalese are the top climbers in the world and this documentary literally shows that off. His entire team is Nepalese and through this project, he is giving hope to the next generation of Nepalese climbers that anything is possible if you put your mind to it.
Now, let’s talk about mindset. Nims is a perfect example of a person who has a vision, desire and dream to accomplish…the possible. There were many struggles he had to face to do what he did. The struggle of money, which I can only imagine, how much this project cost. There are clips of him reaching out to people for funding. But no one would help him. So, he and his wife remortgaged his house so he could do the impossible.
Money will always be an issue when you are trying to reach your dreams and you can clearly see this in the movie. There is a struggle in his family be, he is the breadwinner. Going on this adventure meant that his family would have no support. This was mostly for his mother who was going through a series of health issues. Meanwhile his wife, I don’t know how she managed not to have a nervous breakdown every time he attempted to make these deadly climbs. Which he did understand every time he looked at those summits. He could die doing this. But a simple statement of “Not today” was one of many things that excelled him onwards and upwards.
“So, are you going to start climbing?” a friend jokes. As I tell him what I did this weekend. “Ah, no”, I reply. I respect the amount of training it takes to do what they did. It’s definitely a lifestyle choice. It did make me think, what are my “14 peaks”? What is my mission possible? I personally think I’ve done 2 peaks: Bought a house and bought a cottage near the beach. And am climbing my third, renovating to sell. After that, my fourth peak will be to buy another income property this year. Now that leaves 10 more to go! Stay tuned as I take you on my journey to the summit:)
Highlights from Project Possible
Annapurna on April 23
Dhaulagiri on May 12
Kanchenjunga on May 15
Everest on Many 22
Lhotse on May 22
Makalu on May 24
Nanga Parbat on July 3
Gasherbrum I on July 15
Gasherbrum II on July 18
K2 on July 24
Broad Peak on July 26
Cho Oyu on Sept. 3
Manaslu on Sept. 27
Shishapangma on Oct. 29
Other than the fastest ascent with supplemental oxygen of the 14 tallest mountains in the world, Purja broke the following records: most 8,000-metre mountains in the Spring season, climbing six; most 8,000-metre mountains in the Summer season, climbing five; fastest summit of the three highest mountains in the world, Everest, K2 and Kanchenjunga; fastest summit of the five highest mountains in the world, Everest, K2, Kanchenjunga, Lhotse and Makalu; fastest lower 8000ers, Gasherbrum I, II and Broad Peak; fastest higher 8000ers, consecutive summits of Everest, Lhotse and Makalu in 48 hours (beats his own previous record of five days).
Richelle Sibolboro 