The Grey NATO - 88 - A Chat With Nirmal "Nims" Purja

Today’s episode is a special one because it consists entirely of a chat Jason had with the mountaineer, Nirmal “Nims” Purja. Nims is a former Gurkha Regiment soldier and Special Forces operator in the British military who has set out this year to climb the 14 highest mountains in the world in just seven months. To put that in perspective, the current record for such a feat is over eight years. He calls this ambitious goal, “Bremont Project Possible”, which obviously takes the first part of its name from his primary sponsor, Bremont Watch Company. In fact, when I spoke to Nims a couple of weeks ago, he was in London for a short break after completing 11 of the 14 climbs, and he recorded his side of our call from Bremont’s London boutique (our apologies for the background noise).

Even if you haven’t heard of Nims, you’ve probably seen a photo he took. After a particularly tragic climbing season on Everest, the news media turned its attention to the issue of overcrowding of guided climbing clients, and a photo Nims took of the queue of climbers on the South Ridge became famous, appearing everywhere from the New York Times to CNN. Nims and his small team were the first to put up ropes to the summit of K2 this year, and along the way to several other peaks, he’s led rescue efforts to aid stricken climbers, even as he’s been chasing his own record.

Nims is heading back to the Himalayas shortly after this episode airs, with three mountains left to climb: Cho Oyu, Shishipangma, and Manaslu. You can follow his progress by checking out his Instagram feed at @nimsdai. Thanks so much for listening, just press play and please consider supporting Bremont Project Possible via the links below!

00:30 Nims' Page bit.ly/2KXUcFU
1:33 Nims' Instagram bit.ly/2ZEvtyQ
3:00 The Ghurkas bit.ly/2zrkf1W
20:10 Bremont Watches bit.ly/2CETCZ0
28:00 Elite Himalayan Adventures bit.ly/2L29oSG