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[wind whooshing]
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[man 1] Don't be afraid to dream big.
[pensive music playing]
Doesn't matter where you come from.
You can show the world…
nothing is impossible.
[music intensifies]
[slow dramatic music playing]
[man 2] There are only 14 mountains in the world higher than 8,000 meters.
The quest to climb these mountains is a story that goes back 100 years.
[pensive music playing]
[man 3] Above 8,000 meters in the death zone,
it's a very high-stakes game.
The cold, the wind, avalanches.
When a climber gets into trouble
without other strong climbers around them to help,
they're usually left to die.
[man 2] In the history line:5% of high-altitude mountaineering,
there is no one respected more than Reinhold Messner.
He was the first climber to summit all the fourteen 8,000-meter peaks.
-It took him 16 years. -[people applauding]
[Messner] Fear is always in you.
You have the feeling, "I am only safe if I'm back in base camp."
"Back in civilization."
Climbing all the 8,000-meter peaks in one lifetime is very hard.
[rousing music playing]
Normally, for a single eight-thousander, it's a major endeavor.
It's a huge two-month expedition just to climb one 8,000-meter peak.
But sometime in the spring of 2019,
the mountaineering world started talking about this crazy guy from Nepal.
[music continues]
He was someone that nobody had ever heard of.
Everyone was asking,
"Who the hell is Nims Purja?"
All right, mate.
[Nims] The fastest time to climb
all the fourteen 8,000-meter peaks was seven years.
If I can stay alive, I can do this in seven months.
This is about inspiring the human race.
The climbing community of Nepal
have always been the pioneers of eight-thousanders,
but they never got the respect they deserve.
I want to represent the Nepalese climbing community.
My mission was divided into three phases.
Phase 1 would be Nepal.
I would need to be the first climber in history
to summit six 8,000-meter peaks in the spring season.
Phase 2 would be in Pakistan,
where I would need to summit K2,
and you've got to be lucky to survive that mountain.
And for Phase 3, I would need to get permission
from the Chinese government to climb in Tibet.
I was told that my plan was impossible.
So I decided to name it Project Possible.
[whirring]
[woman] It was a crazy idea.
But it wasn't a surprise to me.
He's constantly thinking… He's constantly thinking of something.
I don't know what. But his brain doesn't rest at all.
[indistinct chatter]
[Nims] We got married line:5% when we were very young.
For her to let me go and do this huge project…
Suchi is an amazing human.
She's mentally super strong.
[chuckling] Well, I understood the risk,
uh, but I think it was in his character.
He's very driven.
[indistinct chatter]
Finally!
Yeah, finally we're going to do it. Don't worry, I'll be fine.
Make sure you look after yourself.
[Suchi] It was so dangerous.
But I knew it was gonna be life-changing for him.
[Nims] On this project, I will be supported by a team of Nepalese climbers,
who would climb with me
on different mountains throughout the expedition.
I have to trust these guys with my life.
But I also knew that it was going to be fun.
["Aisha's Dream" by Cadenza Collective playing]
Good morning, everybody, guys!
Project Possible team!
["Aisha's Dream" continues playing]
Mingma is the strongest climber I have ever met.
My right-hand man. Okay?
[Mingma In Nepali] For me, mountaineering is all about exploring.
[Nims in English] Geljen line:5% is the best dancer on the planet.
["Aisha's Dream" continues playing]
[laughter]
[Geljen in Nepali] Everyone in the team treats each other like brothers.
We party together.
-[upbeat music playing on speaker] -[yells]
[Nims in English] Lakpa Dendi, line:5% he can carry the size of a house.
[Lakpa in Nepali] I had hope that if we all pulled together, it was possible.
This was a good thing for Nepal.
[in English] Here's my brother Gesman! Hey!
[Nims] Gesman, he is willing line:5% to put everything on the line.
[Gesman in Nepali] No one had ever attempted anything like Project Possible.
We had to be part of this.
[cheering]
["Aisha's Dream" continues playing]
[laughter]
[song ends]
[man] The established way of behaving in mountaineering
is to be very humble and to understate one's goals.
Nims is very much the opposite. He's very outspoken.
This is me, I got abdomen, but this gonna go away, you know.
[Madison] When he told me about Project Possible,
it was just mind-boggling.
[grunts]
You're dealing with weather windows,
the logistics, the route conditions…
and it's extremely dangerous.
I thought, great ambition here, but not likely to succeed at all.
[Nims] Sometimes you got to focus on something that's very important to you.
I'll make this happen.
And it's going to go away for sure. Boom.
-[man laughing] -Yeah!
[dramatic music playing]
[inaudible]
[music continues]
It doesn't matter how many times you've been there
and how many times you've seen it.
Your mind just can't comprehend how big Annapurna is.
[dramatic music continues]
It gives you this sense of going to battle
and you're going to fight something pretty mean.
[dramatic music continues]
For every three climbers that make it to the summit,
one dies trying.
[music ends]
I'm Geljen Sherpa. I'm going to summit Annapurna.
Hello! I'm Mingma David Sherpa.
[Mingma in Nepali] I first came to hear line:5% about Nims through my uncle
with whom he climbed his first mountain, Lobuche Peak.
-[pants] -[camera beeps]
I told Nims, "I will support you as a brother,
and I will give everything I can for the project."
[indistinct chatter]
[Nims in English] I was leading the fixing team.
You set the ropes, opening the route for others.
This is what it takes to set fixed lines.
See how tired he is, my brother.
You know, and see the sun. It's been a struggle today.
Don, my brother. [chuckles]
[Don] I was on Annapurna at the same time as Nims.
[Nims laughing]
This is my friend Don,
trying to trailblaze on six feet of deep snow.
I've made five different attempts
over 13 years to try to make it to the top of this mountain
and haven't been able to do it.
[rumbling]
There is no other climb that I've ever been on
where the mountain is literally crumbling down on top of you.
It's terrifying.
[Nims] Okay.
[Don] You feel like you have no control.
[rumbling in distance]
[Nims] Just in time.
Well, that's just off our shoulders.
[mellow music playing]
[Mingma in Nepali] The weather was good,
but because of the amount of fresh snowfall, it was really hard.
[Nims in English] It's super deep.
Somewhere it's waist-deep.
[Mingma in Nepali] After fresh snowfall, there are frequent avalanches.
[Don in English] That was super tough.
There was a point where I gave up,
and I just said, "Nims, this is not going to work."
Giving up is not in the blood, sir. It's not in the blood.
[Don] That was the first daylight line:5% for me about his project.
This guy believed that they were going to do it.
And they pushed through.
[Nims] Summit!
[sweeping orchestral music playing]
Yes.
See that, man?
[Don] I couldn't be prouder of this guy.
Every time I was like, "Eh, man, things don't look like
they're gonna go through on this, uh, Annapurna climb."
He's like, "I believe." Here we are standing on the summit.
-Thank you so much. -Love that.
Love you, brother. That means a lot to me.
Yes!
Look at that view.
I was so happy at the summit.
But I was like, "Well, Nims,
the clock starts now."
[Don] We came down from the summit, got to Camp 4, and slept that night.
In the morning, Nims poked his head inside the tent.
He said, "We got a problem."
"There's a climber from a different team, he didn't come down in the night."
"He's still up there."
[tense music playing]
There was a helicopter that was flying in to see where he was.
[helicopter engine humming]
[helicopter whirring]
This is a really morbid thing to say.
We were hoping that he had passed in the night.
To consider that he had survived that long at that altitude,
and without oxygen was a pretty horrific thought.
[tense music continues]
He waved as we went by.
I just started to cry.
[speaking indistinctly]
[Nims] I thought, you know, line:5% "What if that was me?"
He was just gonna die in hope.
So we made the decision that we had to help.
Who's gonna be on the rescue team?
Me, Mingma, Gesman and Geljen.
[pilot] It's almost on the margins of the helicopter's limit.
[helicopter engine humming]
[Mingma in Nepali] line:5% I've been a mountaineer for 10 years.
I've been involved in more than 100 rescues.
[Geljen] We were tired line:5% and didn't have much energy.
I was scared about how the helicopter
would drop us from above. I was very nervous.
[tense music continues]
[Don in English] Bravery doesn't even remotely describe
what those guys had to do to go back up.
You finally summit one of the most dangerous mountains in the world,
and now you gotta go back up there?
It is a roll of the dice.
[tense music continues]
[Nims, muffled] Hello!
Your friends are here, okay?
You go home now.
Don't worry. Oxygen, oxygen, we'll give oxygen.
[in Nepali] Quick, quick!
[in English] Every second means a life to him.
We knew that the helicopter couldn't come at night.
So, we had to get him down to Camp 4 as fast as possible.
You're very strong!
We go home, okay?
[somber music playing]
[in Nepali] Gesman, make a pillow for him.
[in English] That night we just had to slap ourself to keep us awake,
and we just took him down to Camp 3 at 6:00 a.m.
Only five minutes before the helicopter came.
[helicopter whirring]
[Don] I immediately went over and I put my hand on his neck.
He was alive and breathing, but barely.
[Nims] We had to get him to the hospital as soon as possible.
[Don] Those guys were really, really risking their lives.
That is a testament to the character that they have.
[birds chirping]
This is the house that I grew up as a kid.
-[in Nepali] Hello. Are you well? -Yes, we are.
[Nims in English] The security is very tight here.
Mum used to lock this, you know,
so there were no nights out and stuff. You know?
Hello, hello! Mummy?
I was born in a poor family.
My mum and dad gave everything for us.
Hello, Mum. Thank you. Thank you.
My mum wasn't a soft mum. She was tough for a reason.
I was always getting into trouble.
There wasn't a single day where I wasn't beaten by the teacher.
[laughing] Because I was a naughty boy.
[Kamal] Because he had three line:5% older brothers, he was very competitive.
He was a fighter.
If there is any challenge,
he wanted to face, and then he wanted to win.
[Nims] Four years ago, my dad had a heart attack
which made him half-paralyzed.
He had been a Gurkha.
[narrator] Considered one of the toughest fighting men in the world,
Gurkha regiments have fought valiantly in the British army for many years.
[machine gun firing]
[Nims] In Nepal, you had limited opportunities.
Being a Gurkha meant you could travel the world.
[automatic gunfire]
The Gurkhas are steeped in history,
and they're unique soldiers.
The amount of effort that individuals
put into getting into the selection process is huge.
[man] Go!
[panting]
[military colleague] So they've always had that additional layer of pride.
[Nims] In early life, I always used line:5% to compete against other people.
I never knew how to back off.
[military leader shouting in Nepali]
[Nims] When I joined the Gurkhas, line:5% the biggest thing I learned
was I have to compete against myself.
To be better than who I was yesterday.
[speaking Nepali]
My mum is in really ill health.
She has to go to hospital twice a week.
Me being the youngest son,
I have always been Mum's boy.
[speaking indistinctly]
[Nims] I need her support
because this is the biggest challenge I have ever taken.
[Mum in Nepali] There is no one more special than you in this world, son.
Bless you.
[Kamal] Nirmal was telling us,
"I want to climb to show Mum what your son can do because of you."
[Nims] What did I get from my mum?
A lot, man.
Yeah. A lot of things.
[soft music playing]
Coming from Nepal, I knew that I had the best team in the world.
I made sure they were paid more money
than they would get from a Western expedition.
Climbing eight-thousanders is also a chance
for them to build their careers.
[in Nepali] Nepali mountaineers have line:5% a long history of mountaineering,
but when it comes to taking the lead on the international platform,
we haven't been able to reach that level.
There is a big difference between climbing
for a foreign mountaineer and a Nepali one.
We are immensely proud that our leader is Nepali.
[Nims in English] We started making good progress,
but in the distance, I could see a huge cloud cover coming towards us.
[wind gusting]
We were carrying a really heavy pack.
We had to take our tent, oxygen tanks, the rope, everything.
You got to question yourself. Are you doing the right thing?
[in Nepali] At that stage, line:5% we were climbing despite the fear.
One wrong move and we were gone. It was that kind of a situation.
[wind whooshing]
[Nims in English] I said to them, "Guys, this is my idea."
"If you feel like it's stupid and if you feel like you're gonna die,
you don't have to come with me."
But they kept going.
Yeah!
We left for the summit push at 9:00 p.m.
[wind gusting]
Hoping that we would summit the next morning.
[breathing heavily]
We summitted around 6:00 p.m. the next day.
It took 21 hours.
One of the hardest things I have ever done.
Yeah.
[cheering]
Oh.
Oh, man. Pure by force today.
If the team were not equally good, no summit.
Very tired today.
-Yeah, summit day! -[Geljen] Yup.
[gags, laughs]
He doesn't drink normally. So thanks, man.
-What a day! -[Geljen] What a day, yeah.
[pensive music playing]
[Nims] After serving six years with the Gurkhas,
I decided to apply for the UK Special Forces.
[Suchi] That was the first time I saw him working towards his goal.
And how crazy he is.
[alarm beeping]
He used to wake up 2:00 or 3:00 in the morning,
run for 20 kilometers,
carrying 75 pounds on his back.
Work all day, and then he would be off to the gym.
He wouldn't be back until 11:00.
That's how it was for six months.
[Nims] I became the first Gurkha in history
to be selected for the Special Boat Service.
Being in the Special Forces representing Nepal, wow!
1,000, 2,000, 4,000, 5,000, 6,000, 8,000!
Come on.
I learned quickly, whatever the situation is,
you have to stay in control.
I'm going to have to cut away.
The whole experience gave me confidence to take on massive challenges.
[soft music playing]
But in 2011…
[foreboding music playing]
I was in a gun battle.
[slow dramatic music playing]
I was on a rooftop, providing fire support.
All of a sudden…
[music increases in tempo]
I'm falling through the air.
I hit the ground.
I thought I had been shot in the face.
It was a sniper aiming for my neck.
But luckily, the bullet hit the extender of my weapon.
And the gun saved my life.
A couple of centimeters either way,
that's the difference between life and death.
[Suchi] My friends ask, "How do you do all of this?"
My answer is always, "If I am constantly worrying about him,
then it's not going to do any good to me."
I would break down.
You have to be strong.
I've never wanted to deviate him from his dream or his goals.
He knew what he wanted to do in life.
People today, if you ask them, "Why you go to the high peaks?"
They say, "Because it's fun." I don't believe them. It's not fun.
It's a place where you have to learn to cope with pain because it's painful.
[soft music playing]
[Nims] Eight o'clock in the morning, we reach base camp.
Helicopter fly to Kathmandu yesterday. Party. No sleep.
[all laughing]
-Project Possible. -Project Possible, brother.
[all laughing]
[Nims] After we summitted Dhaulagiri, we had been partying in Kathmandu.
I was struggling a bit, and I was hungover.
Most people climb this mountain in stages.
They go to Camp 1. They'll sleep over there.
Camp 2, sleep over there.
Camp 3, Camp 4, and then to the summit.
Because of the weather window, we had to climb in one day.
[Chin] For Nims to climb Kanchenjunga
in a single push from base camp to the summit
while hungover is, uh…
[laughing] I mean…
I don't know what to think of that.
It's completely absurd.
[Nims] Now, we are here at Camp 2.
The plan is to go and hit the summit directly.
So we won't be sleeping.
[Chin] Expeditions to 8,000-meter peaks take a huge toll on your body.
Once you get above 8,000 meters,
you're in what is called the death zone.
You're breathing about a third of the amount of oxygen
you're normally breathing at sea level.
The biggest danger of climbing with oxygen is,
you become dependent on it.
If you run out,
your body is in an environment that it's not adapted to.
Imagine not being able to breathe.
[Nims groans]
Bloody hell.
Yeah, we summitted one of the best mountain in the world.
I'm doing some crazy stuff.
Look… [exhales] I got nothing more to give.
Bye-bye, Kanchenjunga.
[pensive music playing]
One hundred meters below the summit,
we found another climber completely messed up.
He had run out of oxygen.
[Nims] Be strong. We'll go home.
[Mingma in Nepali] We need to get to Camp 4 now.
[Nims in English] Go, go. Go.
When you come off the oxygen at that altitude,
it is extremely dangerous.
But without oxygen, you'll never be able to survive this.
In the military, I have never left anyone behind.
I wasn't gonna do that on the mountains.
So we gave the climber our oxygen.
And we made the radio contact on all the camps saying,
"Hey, guys, we need help."
[suspenseful music playing]
There were a lot of climbers at Camp 4,
and I said, "Look, just bring the oxygen."
[base camp in Nepali] I'm trying to contact them,
but no one is picking up the radio.
[Mingma] The wind is getting stronger and his oxygen is almost finished.
[base camp on radio] Don't risk your life. Come down now.
[Nims] It's not in my blood to leave a person behind.
[suspenseful music continues]
[Nims in English] The climber was massively struggling,
but I can't see any head torches coming towards us for help.
-[Nims] Does anybody have oxygen? -[Mingma] There's no more oxygen.
[Nims] There's no oxygen left.
[sick climber coughs]
[Mingma] Nims, brother…
If we stay any longer, we'll die as well.
[Nims] What can I do, brother? No one has come to help.
[in English] Brother…
I was told people were coming.
Brother…
I was told so many times.
Oh my God.
No one is coming.
[dramatic music plays]
[music ends]
[footsteps tredding]
[Suchi] I was at home and my phone rings.
I could hear Nims' voice.
And my heart sank.
He said, "He died in my arms."
"Nobody came to help us."
It was really scary.
He's got such a big project.
But he will always be the first person to offer help to anyone.
[Nims] I was making my way down.
Mingma and Gesman were far ahead of me.
I had been off oxygen for more than 11 hours.
[ominous music playing]
[dramatic music playing]
I started developing HACE.
[narrator] Can mere man overcome the relentless forces of nature?
[rousing music playing]
[Nims] HACE is high-altitude cerebral edema.
You can't control your movements.
[narrator] Can they contend with altitude that robs a man of energy and will power,
and makes him move in a slow-motion dream?
[Nims] I don't have enough power. I don't have enough strength.
I just felt helpless.
I was scared, to be honest.
I needed to get down the mountain quickly.
It's a matter of life and death.
[rousing music continues]
Suddenly, I started to lose control.
[growls]
I saw a huge figure standing tall.
A big monster with the hair of a Yeti.
If I don't do something, I'm going to be dead.
I said, "Hey, can you hear me?"
He's like, "Help."
"Help."
He was a climber who was lost.
He had HACE as well.
I had to gather all my energy and resources to help him down to Camp 4.
I was mentally and physically drained.
For the first time, I started to question my plan.
[siren wailing in distance]
[breathing heavily]
I didn't set foot on the mountains until 2012.
That's when I realized
how strong a climber I was.
I just fell in love with the physical and mental challenge.
[Nims inhaling and exhaling]
[Barber] We're here today, line:5% testing Nims' ability
to get through three minutes at 6,000 meters while cycling
to see how his body reacts to a lack of oxygen
whilst also making decisions quickly and accurately.
For context, we've had world-record, ultra-endurance cyclists
who've only been able to manage about 90 seconds
before we've had to cancel the test.
Keep going, Nims. One… One more minute to go.
[Nims] Physically, I believe I have a natural gift.
I can climb with no sleep or rest at all.
It doesn't matter how extreme the challenge is.
I'm not going to give up.
[intense music playing]
[Barber] Last ten seconds. Try and get through this one.
Last ten seconds.
Five, three, two, one.
And stop there. Relax there, relax there. Stop there.
[panting]
[Barber] We can't underestimate how strong it is
that he was able to get through the three minutes.
His physiology means he's got more oxygen available to him
for physical work by the muscles,
and also for decision-making to use his brain.
Which means he's able to operate at a far higher level.
This is your blood-oxygen saturation here.
-[Nims] Yeah. -In the blue. What's interesting…
I've not seen better results than Nims'.
[Nims] Have you done yours?
-Have I done mine? -[Nims] Yeah.
Yes. [laughing]
-[Nims] How is it? -[laughing]
-Not like that. [laughs] -Not like that? Good then, awesome.
[Kamal] He came to my house.
He said he wanted to leave the Army.
I said, "Nirmal, no. You cannot do this."
Mum was very seriously ill,
and Nirmal is the biggest financial asset for the family.
[somber music playing]
He had just six years left in the Army.
I said to him, "Make sure you get the pension,
then afterwards, whatever you want to do, we do not stop you."
But he doesn't listen to me.
And he quit the Army.
We had a bitter row.
I didn't talk to him for three months.
[somber music continues]
[Nims] For my family, it was very uncertain.
Normally, the youngest son look after their parents in Nepal.
But climbing eight-thousanders had become my passion.
I wanted to show the world what a human can do.
[somber music continues]
[Kamal] I said, "Waste of time."
"Waste of money."
I said to him, "You're only thinking of yourself."
"You don't think about your family, how we feel."
I love my brother so very much.
I don't want my brother to die.
[soft pensive music playing]
[Suchi] There was no funding.
And we only had a few months to raise the money.
[chiming]
In the Nepalese culture, you give.
So asking for money was one of the toughest things he's done.
When he was approaching potential sponsors,
he basically sounded like a lunatic.
The project will prove the power of possible.
The amount he needed was huge.
But nobody believed he could do it.
Thank you all for being here.
All he was getting was disappointment.
[man over phone] I'm in awe of your desire to want to do it,
but there hasn't been any money forthcoming.
It's not investable.
[solemn music playing]
[soft pensive music playing]
[Suchi] It was time to make a decision how we're going to do this.
Nims gets this idea.
The idea was to remortgage the house.
Everything was on the line.
But I believed in him.
[dramatic music playing]
[Nims] I'd only summited three mountains.
My next target,
the highest mountain in the world.
[dramatic music continues]
[indistinct chatter]
[Nims] On Everest, the mountain is run by the Sherpas.
They work so hard to support the Westerners.
They take a massive risk.
Without their support, there wouldn't be a climbing season.
[dramatic music continues]
[Chin] The guided route on Mount Everest in the spring
is pretty far removed from anything else in mountaineering.
There are literally hundreds of climbers trying to get to the top.
You clip into a fixed line that has been set by Sherpas.
And it's a highway up to the summit.
[speaking Nepali]
[Nims] I knew that there were loads of people on the mountain,
I was wary of that. But I also knew that I had the speed.
[climber] Here's to the mission, Everest, and Lhotse, and Makalu.
-[Nims] Thank you, brother. -Cheers.
-Mmm. -Oh!
-Oh my God! -Oh my!
[laughing]
For you! Only for you!
[motivational music playing]
[Nims] I wasn't planning on just climbing Everest.
I wanted to climb Everest, Lhotse, and Makalu,
the world's first, fourth,
and fifth highest mountains within 48 hours.
No one has ever done that before.
[breathing heavily]
We overtook 95% of the people on the way up.
We summited quite early in the morning around 5:30.
[heavy breathing continues]
On the summit…
your soul becomes part of the mountain.
It makes you feel alive.
[Madison] Spring 2019 Everest line:5% was a perfect storm.
There was a weather window, but only for May 22nd and May 23rd.
So you've got 400 climbers, plus another 400 Sherpas,
all planning their summit attempts, in this two-day weather window.
[Nims in Nepali] No one is moving at all.
Hey, boys, what are you trying to do?
[in English] The queue was so intense.
People were fighting who needs to have the priority over going up or going down.
[in Nepali] These guys, man.
[in English] We started to descend down.
I look back
and took a picture.
[shutter clicks]
I posted the photo online.
It went viral around the world.
[reporter 1] On the way to the top of the world…
[in German] Traffic jam on Mount Everest.
Look at this, 300 climbers queuing to make the summit.
[reporter 2 in French] A single file on the roof of the world.
[reporter 1] The astonishing photo was taken by Nims Purja.
[reporters speaking indistinctly]
Hundreds of climbers…
[Nims] Things just went absolutely crazy.
But I was so focused. Bring it on.
[dramatic music playing]
[breathing heavily]
In the death zone, I come alive.
Yeah, brother. No messing around!
Everest, Lhotse, and Makalu in 48 hours.
The new world record.
It's been epic.
I know many people didn't believe me when I started,
but I'm here right on top of Makalu,
and it ends the first phase of Project Possible.
[whistling]
Hello, Mummy.
[grunts, laughs]
[Mum in Nepali] How many mountains have you climbed?
Six.
I've climbed Annapurna, Dhaulagiri, Kanchenjunga,
Mount Everest, Lhotse, and Makalu.
How many left to climb?
Still eight mountains to go.
[in English] When it comes to Mother, line:5% she's our heart.
But we don't know how long she's going to be here with us.
[in Nepali] I asked where my son is, and they showed me your video.
[chuckles]
You were in the mountains, and you were breathing heavily.
Yeah.
[mimics heavy breathing]
[exclaims]
[Kamal laughing] Yeah.
I got really scared.
[Kamal in English] Nirmal is so close to Mum,
but she was obviously very worried because he wanted to climb.
[in Nepali] Why are you crying, Mother?
Don't cry, Mother.
I am doing good work.
The world is learning so many things.
This is for Nepal and all the Nepalese.
[solemn music playing]
[crowd cheering]
[narrator] Edmund Hillary and Tenzing line:5% Norgay set foot where man has before.
They join history's greatest adventurers.
They conquered unconquerable Mount Everest.
[Nims] Tenzing Norgay climbing Everest was a huge thing.
[narrator] How did Tenzing feel up there on top of the world?
[speaking Nepali]
[interpreter] He's very happy.
[all laughing]
[wind whooshing]
[Nims] So many Western climbers have climbed with a huge help from the Sherpa.
[wind whooshing]
What I have heard most of the time is, "My Sherpa helped me." And that's it.
That is wrong because he has a name.
What they should be saying is Mingma David helped me.
That's Mingma trying to find the old ropes.
Snow is too deep, right, brother?
Or, "Gesman Tamang helped me."
Me and my brother Gesman, uh, we set up the fixed lines.
And now we're just going to head back to base camp.
Yes, brother.
[Nims] If not, you are a ghost.
Nims representing this new generation
of underappreciated and under-recognized Nepali climbers
is totally exciting.
This is their moment.
Yeah!
[Nims] If every Nepalese climber and people from the poor background
see me doing this project,
they would be like, "I could be that guy."
[indistinct chatter]
[rousing music playing]
[Chin] Pakistan's 8,000-meter peaks
are some of the most inaccessible and difficult in the world.
First you have Nanga Parbat, the Killer Mountain,
which has claimed the lives of so many climbers.
Then you head into the Karakoram.
Gasherbrum I, Gasherbrum II,
Broad Peak.
And then you have K2, which has a notorious reputation.
[music continues]
[Nims in Nepali] All right, boys, keep coming down.
[climber] How will we come back up here later like this?
[Nims laughing] This guy nearly died by slipping away, the bastard.
Shit! My legs are shaking, Mingma.
[Nims] It's really dangerous, right?
My hands and fingers are freezing using the camera.
[in English] Today, it's snowing quite heavily.
So I just made the call that we're gonna camp up here.
If the weather clears up, we're gonna go head up.
[wind whooshing]
[climber] Kinshofer Wall. It's very technical.
[in Nepali] If you fall from here, you'll fall all the way down.
[Nims] That's right, it's very dangerous.
[in English] I always say to myself, "I'm not gonna die today."
"Maybe tomorrow, but not today."
[groaning]
[exclaims]
The mountain doesn't say you are Black,
you are white,
you're weak, you're strong.
It's one rule for everybody.
[wind whooshing]
If you give up… you die.
The next day, I was climbing back down to base camp.
[suspenseful music playing]
Suddenly I slipped.
I was going faster, tumbling down.
I lose the full control.
But then, I saw a rope.
I have to grab this.
So I used all my strength. I just went boom!
I hold on to it for dear life.
I had fallen around 100 meters.
Not today, Nims. Not today.
It was a horrible experience, mate.
It shook my confidence massively.
As a leader, the team have to have faith in you
to make the right decision.
Sometimes you have to hide your weakness.
There were moments when I was struggling, but nobody saw that.
Here we are!
The day is absolutely beautiful today, and it's quite stunning.
[upbeat music playing through headphones]
[Chin] In the world of mountaineering,
the way in which you climb the mountain matters.
[soft music playing]
The absolute purists believes that climbing 8,000-meter peaks
should be done full Alpine style,
which means no use of oxygen.
It's a constant debate.
Nims' team is climbing in the hybrid style,
where they're using oxygen above 8,000 meters.
[breathing heavily]
They're often putting in the fixed lines to the summit,
and they're carrying all their own climbing equipment,
so they're totally self-sufficient.
[Nims] People saying that it's so easy to climb with oxygen.
That is bullshit.
The other mountaineers were basically waiting for us
to fix the ropes for them, and they could just follow.
It is so much easier.
[Gesman] Hi, guys!
-Summit! Congratulations! -[Gesman] Summit, Nims! Congratulations!
[Chin] Reinhold Messner line:5% climbed all fourteen 8,000-meter peaks
without the support of oxygen.
But this took him 16 years.
[soft music playing]
[Messner] Some climbers criticized Nirmal, but I did not understand why.
He was doing it in this way,
otherwise it's not possible in such a short time.
I like people that do and not chat.
You have to be willing to try.
Trying means also, you have a chance to fail.
In terms of Pakistan, we've completed Nanga Parbat,
G1, G2, and what is left to complete the second phase
is Broad Peak and K2 right behind over there.
[suspenseful music playing]
I like watching the faces of other climbers
when they get their first glimpse of K2.
You see this monumental pyramid of stone.
[dramatic music playing]
You know the thought that's going through their head is,
"This is a really bad idea."
[solemn music playing]
[Madison] Before Nims arrived, line:5% we had really struggled on K2.
There were actually three avalanches
where climbers were swept down the mountain.
We, along with all the other teams, made the decision to turn back.
[dramatic music playing]
[woman] It was my third attempt of K2.
We were all thinking,
"You have to respect the mountain. Sometimes it doesn't want you up there."
"And you need to turn around and go back."
The atmosphere was super depressive.
But then, something happened.
[climber] Ah, you fucker! [laughs]
-[Nims] Hello! How are you? -Hello. How are you?
[Nims] Yes, I'm really good.
-Nice meeting you. -Nice to meet you too.
[Nims] Hello.
Uh, we went to Camp 4 and come back.
-No problem. We are here now. -[all laugh]
Project Possible is here. Okay?
When I arrived at the base camp, those mountaineers were stressed out.
-Yeah. So, as a friend… Okay? -Oh! Here's the thing.
[Nims] So I started to do a big wild party, mate.
-Cheers, brother! -Ah, cheers!
[climbers laughing]
[upbeat music playing]
[Klára] This is the thing that distinguishes him and his team
from the others.
He don't give a damn what other people do or what they think.
Tonight we drink, tomorrow we plan!
-Cheers! -[all cheering]
[Klára] You're going to make it happen.
[indistinct chatter and whooping]
[cheering]
-Guys, one life, yeah? We live it. -[man] Yeah! Yeah!
[whooping]
Early morning tomorrow, we're going to be heading towards Camp 2, then Camp 4.
And our plan is to set up the fixing lines by at least, you know, 1200 hours.
The climbers who had tried to summit, they didn't want to go back up.
I can see fear in their eyes.
The people are giving up because three people were in an avalanche.
[Nims] Yeah, I got that.
And this condition does not change in the last five days.
[Nims] Well, we'll go and see.
Nims, you're a great boy, and this is lovely propaganda,
but you don't change the mountain.
Of course, I never said that I'm gonna change the mountain.
As a leader, you've got to present yourself
with so, so much confidence.
I've been coming from mountain to mountain,
and sometimes you feel like you're fucked,
but when you say you are actually fucked, you are only like about 45% fucked.
A lot of people have turned around, right?
A lot of people have failed.
We have to unite, and we have to go together.
[indistinct chatter]
[Klára] There was this friend of mine, very experienced mountaineer,
saying, "Klára, it's 50% chance we make it,
and it's 50% chance we die."
And hearing that as a woman and as a mother of two children,
I'm thinking, "What the hell am I doing here?"
[speaking indistinctly]
But then Nims said, "Don't listen to the others."
"You need to take chances, and you need to take the risk sometimes
in order to make things happen for yourself."
That was the moment when I realized, "Damn it."
"I will blame myself for the rest of my life
if I don't give it one more try."
[indistinct chatter]
[Madison] Above Camp 4 on K2,
there's the Bottleneck section which is considered the crux of the route.
There's a giant overhanging ice cliff just above it called the serac.
[soft music playing]
This wall of hanging ice sometimes releases and sweeps
all the way down to base camp.
You could have your whole team swept away.
We thought there's no chance anyone will summit K2 this season,
but Nims had so much riding on this project,
he was ready to go up there and risk his life
and give it his best shot.
[Nims] A lot of people had tried to set the fixed lines
just around the Bottleneck in the daylight,
but that's an avalanche prone area.
My plan is to be on that part
where everybody had given up exactly at one o'clock at night.
The snow will be like concrete.
[soft pensive music playing]
This was the first time where I had doubted my ability
because everyone had given up.
But the biggest strength I have is, I have no fear.
I'm gonna go up there
and make my own assessment.
Today Camp 2.
Tomorrow, Camp 4. Next day, summit.
[music increases in tempo]
[music decreases in tempo]
[Messner] Most of us are forgetting that from the beginning of our life…
we are approaching death.
Life is absurd…
but you can fill it with ideas.
With enthusiasm.
You can fill your life with joy.
[Nims] When you are in the mountains, you find out who you really are.
Any mistake I make, it could be death.
[music increases in tempo]
[groaning]
And when it comes to that moment…
you want to survive.
You want to live.
I climb so I can live every moment of my life.
[Messner] In such a concentrated situation,
climbing and meditation is the same.
When the pain is really forcing you to go down…
you keep going up.
You are really on the edge of possibilities.
The edge of life and death.
[dramatic music playing]
[wind blowing]
Today, five of us, all the Nepalese mountaineers,
made it to the summit.
And we made it not only for us, we made it for everybody.
[Madison] To go through the Bottleneck commands respect.
But on top of that,
a lot of people summited following in his footsteps.
Ah.
Nice photo.
[indistinct conversation]
[Nims] Yes!
[Klára] The conditions line:5% on the mountain did change.
[in Czech] We did it.
[in English] Twenty-four climbers line:5% reached the top in two days.
It was Nims and his team that made it possible.
[all cheering]
Good, good.
[speaking indistinctly]
-Congratulations. -[Nims] Thank you.
[laughing]
Congratulations, eh.
Congratulations.
Welcome to base camp.
Congratulations. Welcome to base camp.
[in Nepali] I have climbed line:5% a lot of mountains in my life,
but this is my best moment.
[indistinct chatter]
So many people had told us we couldn't do it,
which motivated us more.
Ten down, including K2, five to go.
No, four to go.
-Make that correction, yeah? Four to go. -[climbers laughing]
[upbeat music playing]
Thirty-six hours later…
…we were on the summit of Broad Peak.
We are here, myself, Mingma David
and Halung Dorchi Sherpa.
This will mark the end of second phase.
We had summited the five highest mountains of Pakistan
in just 23 days.
I felt like I could do anything.
-[Nims] Yes! Let's go! -[Mingma] Okay!
[Nims] I am the Usain Bolt of 8,000 meters.
Success!
No one can defeat me.
[laughs]
[Suchi] During the gap between Phase 2 and 3,
Mum's health went downhill.
She had a heart attack.
[Kamal] The doctor said she can go at any time.
It would be wise for you to call all your family here.
[in Nepali] Our options are either do surgery or make her stable.
A lot of people have died on the surgery table.
From what I understand, Mum's chances of being revived are completely zero.
[Suchi] Eventually, the doctor said we can't operate on her
because she is so vulnerable.
Nims is so close to his mum.
If anything happens, the project is over.
[horns honking]
[Nims] It was so tough.
I just felt like I'm doing this inspiring, positive endeavor.
But as a son, I felt I had failed.
I just said, "Don't lose your heart," you know?
"She is proud of you."
[indistinct chatter]
It was a miracle.
She survived.
[in Nepali] May God always protect you, my son.
Mum, don't worry about me.
-Continue to be more successful, my son. -Mmm.
May the world recognize you.
I'm going to summit the mountains, Mum.
[soft music playing]
[in English] I was touched so emotionally.
I have another chance.
My mum said to me, "Nims, complete this for me."
[laughing and whooping]
[Suchi] The plan for Phase 3 was to summit Manaslu in Nepal first.
And then to enter Tibet to climb Cho Oyu and Shishapangma.
But nothing goes as planned on the mountains
which we should have known by then.
[drumming and chanting]
[drumming and chanting continues]
[Nims] We got two bits of bad news.
One, my permit request for Shishapangma has been rejected.
[dramatic music playing]
The Chinese government were saying the mountain is closed for this year.
Problem two, I was in the base camp of Manaslu,
but Cho Oyu will be closed next week.
I had to move fast.
There's no time for stopping, brother.
We're heading back to catch our flight,
so that we can enter Tibet by tomorrow evening.
[Suchi] Most people normally plan for one expedition,
but here we're planning for 14.
The logistics were very stressful.
[Nims] The vehicle can't go any further than this.
[dramatic music continues]
The deadline is running out of our hands,
and I could see how much pressure he's going through.
[horn honking]
[music continues]
So, we are at the Cho Oyu base camp. [exhales]
[Suchi] We were all worried about him.
Yeah, it's an absolute pleasure to be here on the summit of Cho Oyu.
And, uh, in few days' time, I'll give you the summit of Manaslu.
Whoo!
[dramatic music playing]
[Suchi] For Nims as well, behind the scenes,
his mum was on his mind.
It was a constant worry for him.
[Nims] Standing on top of Manaslu, line:5% I was obviously happy.
But inside my chest…
I was feeling that it could be my last mountain.
[Chin] The one thing at this point that could stop Nims from finishing…
was access to the final mountain, Shishapangma.
To any normal person,
the Chinese government giving you a hard no
would be a moment to, you know, walk away.
[in Nepali] They have said no climbers are allowed on Shishapangma.
But if it goes through a Nepali government official,
they may allow it.
[Suchi] Nims was non-stop meeting politicians.
What can we do for humanity? To prove that power of possibility.
The former prime minister.
Sir, as a Nepali, I thought of this project as this country's project.
But this could take four, five, six months.
[Nims in English] This is for everyone here in this room.
Everyone who is in Nepal.
I'm no one compared to the power of China.
[camera clicking]
But I was never gonna get fazed by that.
I took two routes.
One, the political process.
The second was…
I asked my followers for help.
[Suchi] Many wrote to the Chinese government.
[dramatic music continues]
From all over the world.
[Nims] I also started to get support from the mountaineering community.
-Yeah! Hey, Nims. Conrad. -Jimmy. [laughs]
Shout-out to you, man. You've got Shishapangma.
You're the man. Crush it.
It is a project not only for himself,
but for Nepal, for the Sherpas, for mountaineering.
[Suchi] The Chinese government saw the whole world is supporting him.
[Nims] Finally, the news came through that
the Chinese were opening the mountain for me and my team.
One mountain to go.
Let's do this.
[soft music playing]
[dramatic music playing]
[crows cawing]
This is my last mountain.
Let's take it slow.
Let's make it really easy.
That was the plan. [chuckles]
[wind gusting]
[screams]
[in Nepali] What's up with this weather?
Gesman. Gesman, brother.
We need to tie the ropes.
[in English] It was horrendous.
[in Nepali] We were really worried.
No one had climbed Shishapangma since 2014.
[rumbling]
[Nims in English] It's an avalanche.
[in Nepali] Who is my team? line:5% Can we do this?
These are the questions you ask yourself in this kind of situation.
But the project had become our dream,
and we were focused on making it come true.
[dramatic music playing]
[Nims in English] In life, you have to keep doing what you believe.
You have to ask yourself, do you really want this from your heart?
Is it for the self-glory?
Or is it for something bigger?
Sometimes, the idea that you come up with
may seem impossible to the rest of the world,
but that doesn't mean it's impossible to you.
[music increases in tempo]
And if you can inspire one or two people in a good way,
then you can inspire the world.
[music intensifies]
[wind gusting]
Yes! Shishapangma! Yeah!
Whoo!
When I was on the summit, I got on the radio.
[in Nepali] Mum…
[in English] I said, "Mum, you know that project I was talking about?"
"That is over."
We did it.
[indistinct chatter and laughter]
[helicopter hovering]
[Kamal] Mum obviously was very ill.
But she's a very stubborn lady.
She hang on, she fight, she fight, she fight until her youngest son succeeds.
[mellow music playing]
[Nims] For her to be part of that moment of success
and to be able to celebrate that together,
nothing can beat that, bro.
[Kamal] My mum said, "Kamal, he has got godly spirit."
[inaudible]
She was… [sighs]
[somber instrumental music playing]
[inaudible]
[indistinct chatter]
[Nims] Hi, Mingma.
-[man] Congratulations. -Thank you. Thank you.
-Congratulations. -Thank you.
[Suchi] I always knew he doesn't give up.
I had so many gray hairs because of the stress that I was going through.
It was a roller coaster.
[cameras clicking]
[in Nepali] We made the impossible line:5% possible by our teamwork.
Good leadership is also required to achieve success,
and Nims demonstrated that very well.
[Nims shouts excitedly]
[cheering]
[Mingma in Nepali] Reaching that international level
is a big help for Nepali climbers in the future.
[clamoring]
Hey, guys. Now we have climbed 14 highest mountains in the world. Right?
Let's be brutally honest,
if this was done by some European or Western climber,
the news would have been ten times bigger than this.
Let's give the justice to the people who really deserve the justice.
And you guys have the power.
Let's unite, let's make a difference.
[in Nepali] Thank you.
[crowd cheering]
[cheering]
[Nims in English] Project Possible team!
He has all my respect.
He did this with his strategy.
[laughing]
[Messner] And he did it first.
This was a unique statement in the history of mountaineering.
[indistinct chatter]
Thank you.
What's next, mate?
Well, I haven't even started it.
And you know what? Next, we go even bigger.
Yeah.
[laughing]
Go.
See you soon, okay?
Just wait and see.
And I mean it.
See us again.
[upbeat Nepali song playing]
[song continues]