Kathmandu - A 36-year-old Nepali became
the fastest climber to summit the world's 14 highest mountains
on Tuesday, scaling all the mountains in just over six months,
his hiking agency said, a feat other climbers have taken several
years to complete.
Nirmal Purja scaled Mount Shishapangma at 8,027 metres
(26,335 feet) in Tibet, six months and one week after he climbed
his first in the campaign, Mount Annapurna I, kicking off his
“Project Possible”.
Mingma Sherpa of the Seven Summit Treks agency that provided
logistics to Purja's team said he was accompanied by three
sherpa climbers to the Sishapangma summit.
“Mission achieved,” Purja posted on his Instagram from the
summit in Tibet, the world's 14th highest mountain.
Agency official Sherpa said all summiteers were on their way
to base camp and expected to return to Kathmandu this week.
"This is the world record," he said.
After climbing Annapurna, the tenth highest peak, on April
23, Purja took on the other "8,000ers", climbing Dhaulagiri,
Kanchenjunga, Everest, Lhotse and Makalu in the following month.
He then went to Pakistan, where he climbed Nanga Parbat,
Gasherbrum I, Gasherbrum II, K2, and the Broad Peak.
Purja climbed another two peaks in Nepal - Cho Oyu and
Manaslu before heading to Tibet, climbing officials said.
A long queue of mountain climbers line a path on Mount Everesti n May 2019. Picture: Nirmal Purja/@Nimsdai Project Possible via AP
Of the world's 14 highest peaks eight are in Nepal, five in
Pakistan and one in Tibet.
Climbing experts say barely over three dozen mountaineers
have climbed all the 14 peaks so far.
The record for the fastest ascent was previously held by
South Korean Kim Chang-ho who completed all "8,000ers" in seven
years, 10 months and six days, said blogger Alan Arnette.
Purja, who served with British special forces as a Gorkha
from Nepal, in May took a photograph showing scores of climbers
linked up on the summit ridge of Mount Everest, which went viral
exposing the traffic jam in the so-called death zone of the
world’s highest mountain.
That photograph led the Nepali government to draft a new set
of climbing rules aimed at reducing the crowd on Everest,
following criticism by climbers who said it was undermining the
safety and issuing permits to anyone who paid $11,000.