Mission Accomplished! Nirmal “Nims” Purja smashes Bremont’s Project Possible

James Robinson

Bremont brand ambassador and former British Special Forces serviceman Nirmal “Nims” Purja has destroyed the world record for scaling Earth’s 14 tallest mountains, completing the amazing feat in just six months and six days, eclipsing the previous record, which stood for more than eight years.

Project Possible kicked off in April this year, and Purja proceeded to scale, in order, Annapurna, Dhaulagiri, Kanchenjunga, Everest, Lhotse, Makalu, Nanga Parbat, Gasherbrum I, Gasherbrum II, K2, Broad Peak, Cho You, Manaslu and finally Shishapangma.

All 14 of these mountainous peaks tower more than 8000 metres above sea level, which means that every single one of the summits is well and truly qualified as sitting in the “death zone” – an area in which it is said human life cannot survive.

Speaking about the astonishing accomplishment, Purja said, “I believed in this project and I made sure to surround myself with people who believed in it too. This was never just about me, which is the reason I’ve been able to overcome some huge obstacles on this journey. By achieving this goal, I knew I could inspire people from all generations, across the world. I hope to have shown that anything is possible when you set your mind to it.”

Perhaps unsurprisingly, the last six months has thrown up some spontaneous challenges for Purja, and in addition to this astounding and historic feat, the Nepalese mountaineer and former Gurkha has also acted as a traffic controller on the blistering peaks of Everest, and saved someone’s life atop Annapurna in the process.

Bremont Co-Founder Nick English said, “When I first met Nims through our military connections, at the time an unknown mountaineer who was setting out to challenge the potential of human endurance, he struck us as someone wholly determined and uniquely placed to achieve such a phenomenal feat. We’re incredibly proud to have been involved in Bremont Project Possible since the beginning, and to have seen the interest in the expedition grow in the way that it has, with the world watching Nims summit mountain after mountain, has been awe-inspiring.”

Mr English added, “Nims is a total inspiration and it goes without saying that what he has achieved is utterly remarkable. Never has a mechanical watch been quite so well travelled in such a short period of time! Our watches have a history of being tested to their limits in extreme environments and this is absolutely testament to their durability and reliability.”

Purja wore Bremont’s hardwearing Supermarine S300 diver’s watch throughout the storied journey, and we reckon any watch that can withstand this level of adversity on someone’s wrist and come out the other side still ticking away is one mightily impressive timepiece.

Congratulations to Bremont and Mr Purja on this record-breaking achievement.