Nirmal Purja

Nirmal Purja (Nepali: निर्मल पुर्जा; 25 July 1983 – 30 July 2026), also known as Nims or Nimsdai, was a Nepali-British mountaineer. Before pursuing a career in mountaineering, he served in the British Army with the Brigade of Gurkhas and later in the Special Boat Service (SBS), the special forces unit of the Royal Navy. Purja climbed all 14 eight-thousanders – peaks above 8,000 metres or 26,000 feet – in a then-record time of six months and six days with the aid of bottled oxygen between April and October 2019; the record stood until broken in 2023 by Kristin Harila and Tenjen Sherpa. Purja continues to hold the record for the fastest ascent of all eight-thousanders without supplementary oxygen at two years and 150 days. Purja was the first person to reach the summits of Mount Everest, Lhotse, and Makalu within 48 hours. In 2021, he and a team of nine other Nepalese climbers completed the first winter ascent of K2. Considered one of the most accomplished climbers of his generation, Purja is widely regarded as a major figure in modern high-altitude mountaineering. In July 2026, Purja and nine other climbers died in an avalanche on the Pakistani side of Broad Peak.