In just six months and six days, Nirmal "Nims" Purja summited the 14 highest peaks in the world — a challenge that the previous record holder completed in seven years.
The Nepalese climber started his big adventure — dubbed "Project Possible" — in late April, when he made his way to the top of Annapurna in Nepal. In May, he went up Everest, and he climbed five peaks in Pakistan in July. On Tuesday morning, Purja and his team reached the top of the final mountain, China's Mount Shishapangma. On that trek, they battled wind and snow, and trudged through 15 hour climbs.
"It's been a grueling but humbling six months, and I hope to have proven that anything is possible with some determination, self-belief, and positivity," Purja said in a statement. He crushed two previous records for climbing the peaks — Jerzy Kukuczka of Poland completed the challenge in seven years, 11 months, 14 days, while Kim Chang-ho of South Korea only shaved a month off of Kukuczka's time.
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