Page 31 - 2022 AMA Summer

BEYOND POSSIBLE
By Nimsdai Purja / Reviewed by Darren Edkins
Ifirst met Nimsdai Purja a few years back and the first thing that struck me was that he had an energy surrounding him. It was
hard to describe but it was such a positive, energising energy that was infectious. I had been so excited about reading the book after following Nims’s challenge during the planning and fund-raising stages.
‘Beyond Possible’ tells the amazing story of a world breaking achievement that no one believed was even possible. Nims and his team scaled all 14, 8000m mountains, within seven months – let that sink in. There had been a previous record of nearly eight years to complete what they achieved in seven months.
Nims was born and raised in Nepal and grew up wanting to follow his older brothers and his father into the Gurkhas and at the age of 18, Nims joined the Brigade of Gurkhas, where he spent 6 years honing his skills. Nims had always had his eyes on
bigger things which led him to become the first ever Gurkha soldier to join the Special Boat Service (SBS) where he continued to gain his skills over the next 10 years. During some time off from the SBS he first climbed to Everest base camp then tackled Lobouche East, his first 6000+m mountain, which started to develop his passion for mountaineering.
In the years that followed, Nims led the first team of Gurkhas to a successful summit of Mount Everest followed in quick succession by his first world record breaking attempt – summiting Everest, Lhotse and Makalu within five days. Nims was awarded an MBE in 2018 following a high altitude rescue he was involved in and for his outstanding work within moun- taineering.
Project Possible became the name Nims gave to this record-breaking attempt to summit the 14 highest peaks in the world.
Not only did Nims smash the previous record but he also broke another six world records at the same time.
This book is a must read for everyone. You do not need to be a mountaineer or a climber to understand and be inspired by his journey. ‘Legend’ is a term often overused in life, however in this instance it is fully justified. Nims is an inspiration to many, an outstanding mountaineer, and a true ‘Legend’.
FILM REVIEW
THE ALPINIST
Directed by Peter Mortimer and Nick Rosen / Reviewed by Al Mason
Everyone has heard of Alex Honnold and his incredible endeavours free climbing up El Cap, as well as
numerous other routes. But imagine Alex Honnold moving his solo rock climbing skills to ice and mixed routes in remote, committing, high altitude settings; Alex hasn’t done this, but a solo climber called Marc-André Leclerc has.
Leclerc came to the world’s attention via Alex Honnold after he beat Alex’s local
speed climb record by a huge margin. Alex then posted about this other solo climber, and very quickly people started becoming winterested in the reclusive Marc-André Leclerc.
Leclerc grew up in
Canada and engaged
in rock climbing
from an early age,
encouraged by his
family. On leaving
home he committed full time
to climbing and became the archetypal dirt bag climber, earning just enough to survive in order to fully focus on what really mattered – climbing. However, for Leclerc rock wasn’t enough and he soon began to explore his local area in winter and quickly became as proficient on ice as he was on rock. This then expanded to the Canadian alpine peaks in winter, creating the perfect training ground for even more ambitious peaks such as Cerro Torre in Patagonia. All this made sense as a natural progression for a talented climber
– but what is different in this case, is all Leclerc’s climbing was done solo, onsite, on ice and often at
altitude.
Inevitably Leclerc feels the need to increase the complexity and commitmentofhisclimbing, and this leads to a climax
vividlyretoldinthefilm.
What is particularly endearing aboutthisfilmisthecalmand unassuming nature of Leclerc, his relentless passion and determina- tion to succeed, and finally his incredible composure and technique demonstrated when tackling some of the world’s most
demanding and dangerous routes.
In summary, I would strongly recommend this film to anyone with an interest in a genuinely touching story of human endeavour focusing on a person who epitomises the very essence of what climbing should be all about, even in this modern age.
ARMY MOUNTAINEER / 31