Surprised this has not come up already on here - what this guy did is absolutely INSANE. I am reading his book right now.
The naysayers will say that he did it with oxygen and talk smack but the reality is that using O2 is a perfectly valid way to do it - just as is doing it without O2. Of course you cannot compare speed with the two methods (meaning obviously doing it with O2 should help you do it faster) but at the top elite level there is nobody actually looking down on those who use bottled oxygen. This guy basically assembled a superhuman team of climbers and perfectly executed a style of climbing I might describe as semi-Alpine style and achieved in 7 months what used to take people 10 years.
The other awesome thing about this is that the Sherpas have essentially been doing this for years and years and never really getting the kind of credit and attention they deserve - all the big ascents we remember the western explorers who are paying for their help - but in fact pretty much every ascent relies on their skills. They are superstars in their hometowns but Nims has really brought them more into the spotlight and that is just awesome. I don't do much social media or follow really any famous people but if you checkout the Instagram accounts for example of some of the more active Sherpas it is actually super interesting.
In terms of Nims himself a very interesting part of the book / various documentaries is the sheer amount of funding work he was able to accomplish and also the just ridiculous amount of red tape and permitting and logistics that he pulled off. To top all off this is during Covid lockdowns which of course throws a whole wrench in planning. And they filmed the entire thing!
He did it with oxygen with fixed ropes and having a whole bunch of elite climbers leading for him, setting the ropes, so he could follow them up. He's a fit guy for sure, but there's nothing groundbreaking here. No new ascents/routes, not leading at all, basically throwing bodies at the problem + oxygen.
Messner did it all 40+ years ago, without any modern tech/gear, without oxygen, often on new routes (not the standard ascents), and leading the climbs himself. He's another breed entirely to Nims.
Yours is a pretty terrible take. Even if what you said is all true (it very well might be) the accomplishment alone (n peaks in x months) is a great feat.
It's as if saying the moon landing wasn't impressive because it was financed by the USA and used as a propaganda tool. "Its simply money"....
The dude climbed FIVE 8k peaks in LESS THAN 2 WEEKS (12 days). That alone is absolutely insane.
Fixed lines, Nims wasn't leading, standard routes/ascents, tons of money and tech used.
Messner could make the same ascents today at 70+ years old given all those advantages. But Messner did it all 40 years ago, leading the climbs himself, without oxygen, and often on new routes/first ascents.
You spent one month to prepare huge party for your 100 people extended family, just alone and spending 1000€
Vs
You did the same with 200 people crew, while spending 200 000€. It took one day.
What you praise on him is praising money :-/
Edit: He did, while on oxygen, being teleported by heli (sic!) directly between base camps with literally 100+ support team (including on climbs) all WHILE SPENDING 10+ MLN USD ON IT. The other (previous) guys did not.
Please go check and read mountain community opinion on him.
Rich Westerners doing rich people stuff. I hope this coming economic crisis will put at least a temporary hold to all this craziness of more and more people trying to ascend those mountains and, in so doing, leaving lots of trash behind them, but I have my doubts.
It will be interesting to see how the process for applying to climb the China peaks will go. Nims had to rally so, so many people to get the chance, I hope she sees a favorable outcome as well.
I am rooting for her of course but the political and logistical hurdle of getting those final permits may screw her over. I hope this article is outdated and she already has them
Sun is MUCH more intense actually so protection is paramount - at these elevations you are getting absolutely blasted in much higher amounts of UV - and on top of that snow also reflects tons of UV and light which makes it even worse. They do these climbs of course in summer when the weather windows open so this is a seriously intense problem. Quality glacier glasses / lenses really opened up this whole world immensely - up until this point people had to fashion weird things like putting little slits in clothing and covering the face and still tons of people go snowblind. Based on my (limited) experience with mountaineering I would guess that while sunscreen is most likely a factor they are covering up their faces with high UPF clothing.
Someone else will be able to give a scientific explanation, but the sun is just different at heights. I used to have famiy both in La Paz and Quito and just 15 days in one of those places -- dressed for cold --made me as brown as two months going to the beach in coastal Brazil.
Sun at altitude is much, much more potent because of decreased atmospheric protection you get from UV rays. UV exposure goes up by about 4% every 1000ft increase, so living in Denver I get about 20% more UV exposure than someone at sea level!
Along with Nim's fantastic movie on Netflix, Id recommend this youtube video for a sense of what its like to climb K2: https://youtu.be/l-dMVvvIt8M One of my favorites after watching ALOT of this stuff during Covid at home time, shows the beauty, the danger, and the actual climbing really well. And all the while watching these, remember to ask yourself "who put those ropes there and how?"
Related, I thoroughly enjoyed "Into Thin Air"[1], a first person account of one of the worst mountaineering disasters that took place in 1996 on the slopes of Mt Everest. The author masterfully interweaves the history of Mt Everest, his personal journey as a mountaineer, and the events of May 1996.
Into Thin Air is fantastic. There's a follow up book by Anatoli Boukreev, one of the expedition guides, who comes off particularly badly in Krakauer's book. Unfortunately he comes off even worse in is own book.
I'm fairly active on /r/mountaineering, and the opinion of him isn't very high on there. He's an impressive dude for sure, but his ego has really gone to his head.
A question - how difficult is to climb Cho Oyu? Climbing one 8,000er is on my bucket list and from the research I did it looks like Cho Oyu might be the most accessible one - how does it compare to other mountains/sports wrt its difficulty?
Also, is it a good idea to get a megadose of vitamin B1 before entering the death zone in order to offset the lack of oxygen? B1 is known to help prevent/treat HAPE and seems to have significant effect in boosting metabolism and preventing pseudohypoxia.
I don't have personal experience beyond 6K meter peaks but Cho Oyu seems to be regarded as probably the "starter" 8K meter peak.
That said, any 8K meter peak is still incredibly challenging for most people even on a well-supported climb. Don't believe the sherpas basically carry you up narrative.
Even ~6K meter peaks are pretty challenging. I've been up a few in that general range (Nepal, Ecuador, Russia)--some are more technical than others--but none are exactly straightforward in the grand scheme of things. Something in that range was probably about my limit even when I was younger.
Can't/won't speak to medical advice in general. Some people get altitude sickness at ski areas in the western US.
Cool stuff and I may actually attempt some of these myself - that being said 14k feet is a whole different ballgame compared to the 8000m peaks (26,000 ft). Generally 4000m peaks are considered the amateur mountaineering ones, 6000m intermediate and still super respectable, and 8000m the elite.
Altitude is definitely a challenge, but I don't agree that peaks below 4000 m are amateur mountaineering and elite is reserved for 8000ers. As an example, Marc-André Leclerc made some incredible first solo ascents below 4000 m like the Corkscrew on Cerro Torre, at 3128 m (10,262 ft). The Alpinist [1] is worth watching if you are into mountaineering!
Difficult climbs are a different challenge to altitude. It's climbing vs mountaineering.
For example I believe Cho Oyu (8188m) has few if any technical climbing sections - you basically walk up. That's a very different challenge to a technical climbing. Have a look at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grade_(climbing) for more info.
An astounding accomplishment no doubt, but Nims is clearly very arrogant and self-centered. In addition, he didn’t reach the true summit of Manaslu, and has likely lied about other aspects of his climbs (for example, claiming to have climbed Kangchenjunga without supplemental oxygen)
Isn’t arrogance a practical requirement for attempting to best a world record by such an audacious amount? I don’t hold that against him for the same reason I don’t hold it against Michael Jordan or Tiger Woods or any of the greats.
I haven’t read about him not reaching the true summit of Manaslu. I just found an article on ExplorersWeb but it doesn’t say he didn’t reach it, just that photos hadn’t been released showing it. Is this now confirmed?
>But in a controversial move, they [the Himalayan Database] also decided that previous ascents to the foresummit of the mountain would still be considered as true summits. This has vast implications for a generation of record-chasing mountaineers, including media personality Nirmal Purja or ‘Nimsdai’ who only reached the foresummit during his heavily publicized ascent of all 14 8,000 meter peaks in just over six months. For now, their records still stand.
If you are the best of the best the world has to offer I think some arrogance is allowed. Not to mention he has also really brought to the forefront a lot of other Sherpas who might not otherwise ever get the spotlight they deserve.
They also have rescued countless climbers (even while attempting this insane goal) so I do not think we have much standing to judge this guy at all.
If I did, would it change anything? The interviews he has done, as well as the interactions he’s had with others on Instagram, are all public information and speak very clearly to his personality.
I would hope it would change a lot. All I know for sure is that a social media persona can be made into a fake facade very easily, and it can go both ways too!
The naysayers will say that he did it with oxygen and talk smack but the reality is that using O2 is a perfectly valid way to do it - just as is doing it without O2. Of course you cannot compare speed with the two methods (meaning obviously doing it with O2 should help you do it faster) but at the top elite level there is nobody actually looking down on those who use bottled oxygen. This guy basically assembled a superhuman team of climbers and perfectly executed a style of climbing I might describe as semi-Alpine style and achieved in 7 months what used to take people 10 years.
The other awesome thing about this is that the Sherpas have essentially been doing this for years and years and never really getting the kind of credit and attention they deserve - all the big ascents we remember the western explorers who are paying for their help - but in fact pretty much every ascent relies on their skills. They are superstars in their hometowns but Nims has really brought them more into the spotlight and that is just awesome. I don't do much social media or follow really any famous people but if you checkout the Instagram accounts for example of some of the more active Sherpas it is actually super interesting.
In terms of Nims himself a very interesting part of the book / various documentaries is the sheer amount of funding work he was able to accomplish and also the just ridiculous amount of red tape and permitting and logistics that he pulled off. To top all off this is during Covid lockdowns which of course throws a whole wrench in planning. And they filmed the entire thing!