While his noteworthy climb will forever make him the Neil Armstrong of mountaineering, something must be said for his Buzz Aldrin… Tenzing Norgay. Sir Edmund Hillary is credited with being the first man to summit the tallest mountain on the planet, Mount Everest.

While his Muhammad Ali type chirps are mostly tongue-in-cheek, he should be given the same status, doing what most of his seasoned peers deemed impossible.

Jokingly referring to himself as Usain Bolt, the mountaineer’s chipper never-say-die attitude and fun sense of humour is as infectious as his mission is inspiring. Normally it would be a bucket list item and life’s dream for one person to summit any one of these 14 peaks… but to Purja it was a massive challenge he couldn’t resist. This doesn’t take away from the accomplishment, which is full of dangers and pitfalls, requiring a great deal of hoop jumping just to be able to be in the position to even take a shot. Using oxygen support near the top, his climbing strategy is a team effort as opposed to Messner’s often solo and unaided expedition. What separates Purja from the pack is that his quest was set to be accomplished in the space of just 7 months in 2019 when the world was going a little crazy with the onset of the pandemic.

This incredible achievement will live on with his name in the world of mountaineering and while he hasn’t become a household name as much as Sir Edmund Hillary, the living legend is testament to the endurance of the human spirit, summing up Purja’s historical achievement as a “unique statement in the history of mountaineers” worthy of all his respect. Messner is the first man to summit Everest on his own without oxygen, a climbing style he embraces as a purist. Scattered across Asia, the first climber to summit all 14 peaks was extraordinary Italian Alpine climber, Reinhold Messner, a feat that took 16 years to accomplish.

SPL!NG Movie Review: Father Christmas Is Backġ4 Peaks: Nothing is Impossible is a new biographical sports documentary, which journeys with Nims Purja and Project Possible… a seemingly impossible mission to summit 14 of the world’s 8000m plus peaks.

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