Nirmal Purja: 12th 8,000-Meter Peak Without Oxygen

Famed mountaineer Nirmal Purja keeps grabbing attention by conquering his 12th peak above 8,000 meters without supplemental oxygen. On September 29, 2023, Purja reached the top of Mt Dhaulagiri together with 10 other climbers, including American Anna Gutu. While Gutu used oxygen support, Purja stayed true to his no-bottled-oxygen approach during the ascent.

Hailing from Nepal and now a British citizen, Nirmal Purja – also called Nims or Nimsdai – boasts an impressive background in the British Army. He served in the Brigade of Gurkhas before joining the Special Boat Service (SBS), a Royal Navy special forces unit. Interestingly, Purja climbed all 14 eight-thousanders (peaks over 8,000 meters or 26,000 feet) in six months and six days using bottled oxygen – a record at that time, which was broken in 2023 by Kristin Harila and Tenjen Sherpa in just 92 days. Nevertheless, Purja is the first to climb Mount Everest, Lhotse, and Makalu within an amazing 48-hour window.

Throughout his mountaineering career, Nirmal Purja has reached several incredible milestones. In 2021, he and nine other Nepalese climbers achieved the first-ever winter ascent of K2. He also holds records for the fastest climbs of Mount Everest, Lhotse, Makalu in less than 48 hours as well as Everest, Lhotse, and Kanchenjunga in eight days, 23 hours and 10 minutes in May 2022 - both impressive accomplishments were made without additional oxygen support.

Now Nirmal Purja's eyes are on the over-8000-meter peaks Cho Oyu and Shishapangma, intending to summit both next month, this time without O2 assistance. If successful, these feats would make him the world's quickest climber to tackle all 14 peaks without using O2, completing the challenge in an astonishing 17-month timeframe.