The great Nepalese mountaineer talks about himself at the Sports Festival, from the beginnings without money to K2 in winter: “Alone you will never get the energy that will allow you to go further”
Nirmal Purja is truly the man who makes the impossible possible. For example, forty-eight hours before taking the stage of the Trento Festival he was on the top of Dhaulagiri. “I did the best I could, there were avalanches that made us lose four hours and so I didn’t take the first plane”. The Nepalese mountaineer talks about him in front of a full hall, who shudders to hear him explain how it was possible to climb 14 8000m peaks in less than 7 months and climb the last of the great mountains still untouched in winter, K2.
“I have humble roots, I come from a poor family, we didn’t have shoes – he attacks -. My first dream was to join the Gurkhas, the Nepalese special corps that serve the Queen. Every year 32,000 try, I was among the 230 who made it on that occasion. And then I became the first Nepalese in 200 years to join the British Special Service, the Special Boat Service. When I said I wanted to try it, everyone told me Three 8000ers in 5 days ‘No look, it’s impossible’. But I did it and it is the demonstration that it can be done “.
The first 8000er
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Nirmal recounted his approach to the 8000ers. “My first was from Dhaulagiri. Then with other Gurkhas we climbed Everest in 2017 for 200 years of body service for the Queen. That year, however, the Sherpas weren’t getting any fixed ropes and there were two risks for us if we failed: the reputation of the Gurkhas themselves and the fact that someone in London would have to object to how we spent the money. So I led the group and it went so well that once I got off, in five days I climbed Everest, Makalu and Lhotse. After doing them I had to return to London as soon as possible to get back to work, but the bad weather didn’t make the helicopter fly. I could not help but return to the first city. Instead of seven days of trekking, I returned in 18 hours ”.
The turning point
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There Nirmal decided that her life would change. “I didn’t have time for myself in the special forces then. So I told myself I wanted to climb the 5 highest mountains. The SBB didn’t give me permission because it was too risky. So I asked myself some questions. Leaving that job meant losing all certainties and a slice of the pension that would soon be my turn. And then I left the special forces and decided to leave with the project of the 14 peaks in 7 months. Preparing that project was crazy. I gave up my job, sold the house, didn’t sleep to plan everything that was needed. Climbing was the simplest thing “. The Nepalese has repeatedly insisted on the need to see the positive side of things, to believe in them, to avoid a pessimistic and critical view. “We are all human, we all tend to seek excuses. I only started mountaineering in 2012, not so long ago. Besides, I didn’t have the money. We forget, however, that as humans we can survive in any environment. Of course, you need to have the courage to sacrifice something. And then we must remain human and avoid unnecessary criticism. Throwing m… towards others does not make you stronger. Something useful, necessary, must be done. Take off your own oxygen cylinders, give them to those in need, for example. I happened to do it. Only when you do this type of action do you understand that criticizing others and making controversy is absurd ”. Two images strike the audience. One is the one taken by Nirmal on the crest of Everest, with over 200 people in front of him. “Many criticize, they say that it is now a highway, but guys I assure you that that mountain is still dangerous, dozens of people have died there”. And then the video of him talking on the summit of K2, for a minute, without oxygen.
K2 in winter
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And then after “Project possible” the time has come to tell the other company, the one that made it go down in history. The images of the ten Nepalese climbers who reach the summit, side by side, are moving. “If you have the ambition to do something great, you have to go beyond your own selfishness. Alone, you will never get the energy that will allow you to go further. All the money received from the sponsors I shared with the Sherpas. These are people who had to live, who can live on this. I met several great mountaineers, people who reach well up to 6000 meters, but remember that no one moves better than the Nepalese above 6000. Ours was a team success, period. But there were people who made a controversy, friends who maybe are healthy on the Annapurna thanks to the ropes I put on, but who a minute after our summit on social media asked if I had used oxygen or not. He hasn’t even thought of celebrating ”.
10 October – 16:34
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