14 Peaks: Nothing Is Impossible

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 Tyler 01 Dec 2021

This film is now free to watch on Netflix, anyone else watched it? I thought it was interesting but not gripping or uplifting consider the scale of the achievement. I guess if things hadn’t really gone to plan there is no way he’d have achieved his schedule so a film with lots of drama would, presumably, have been a film about glorious failure.

It would also have been nice to see how many ascents his support team also clocked up during the project. 

The level of physical achievement is off the scale but I thought the most impressive feat was persuading his wife that they should remortgage the house so he can go on a climbing trip whilst otherwise unemployed!

In reply to Tyler:

Watched it the other night and enjoyed it. I thought that his partner was incredibly supportive and there was a good narrative arc about how she saw how determined he could be when chasing a goal. It felt like they made a good team. 

Overall, similar impression, unbelievable achievement, very interesting film not as gripping as might be expected perhaps but certainly worth the watch. 

Post edited at 13:16
 olddirtydoggy 01 Dec 2021
In reply to Tyler:

Read his book the other week and it was a fantastic read. The man's determination, self belief and approach to it like a millitary mission was inspiring. Can't wait to see it.

 Iamgregp 01 Dec 2021
In reply to Tyler:

> The level of physical achievement is off the scale but I thought the most impressive feat was persuading his wife that they should remortgage the house so he can go on a climbing trip whilst otherwise unemployed!

I think I've got more chance of climbing Kanchenjunga with a hangover in one day than I have of talking my other half in to allowing that

 nathan79 01 Dec 2021
In reply to olddirtydoggy:

I'm almost at the end of the book (doing that before watching the doc) and I don't like the way he comes across in it at times. The ego driven aspect isn't something unfamiliar in such books, but I just feel he often comes across in a bad way. I hope a lot of this is just the way the book has been written rather than how he actually is and comes across in the film.

The whole project is a fantastic achievement and I look forward to seeing all the footage.

 Graeme G 01 Dec 2021
In reply to nathan79:

It doesn’t. But the film acknowledges how, in climbing, we are attuned to normally being understated and humble. As opposed to recognising that we are really bloody good at something and should use this to inspire others. 
It’s a good watch. But I definitely felt there was something missing. It just all seemed effortless. As opposed to an amazing logistical and physical achievement.

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 TheGeneralist 01 Dec 2021
In reply to Tyler:

Ooh, glad someone posted this, but have forgotten what the second thing was that I wanted to say....

The first one was that I found it really annoying the repeated references to how he did something  in 7 months ( or whatever it was) that it took Messner 11 years ( or whatever it was). 

Which just isn't true. Messier did the 8s without oxygen. Nims didn't, so directly comparing the two is wrong.

Apart from that I liked it. Such an impressive feat, and great that the Nepalese team did it.  Liked that a lot.

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 olddirtydoggy 01 Dec 2021
In reply to nathan79:

It took me a good few chapters before I got past his ego. He's clearly a bloke who's very sure of himself but perhaps it's that part of him that pushed him to where he is. I read Kenton Cool's book a while back and found that very similar until the end where he reflects on what he'd done. What I can't be doing with is the fake humility that comes from some.

These characters are facinating as they often have backgrounds that shape them or other issues that cause them to be who they are. Most of the life stories of people I've enjoyed reading about are not the kind of people I'd hang around with but then again I doubt they'd be that interested in me either.

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 ERNIESHACK 03 Dec 2021
In reply to TheGeneralist:

Parts of this film would always be controversial and at least he does come across a little better in the movie than in the book.

You are right Messner done them all without oxygen and much more, no hour by hour weather forecasts, modern equipment, but more importantly, many of them were firsts by new routes or first ever ascents. I personally do not think you can compare the two and don't think the film is trying to undermine Messner. He took 16 years, not sure who the 7 year machine was. Messner was doing it for the adventure and spirit of mountaineering, then in the 80's the Poles came and done some of the first winter ascents, truly remarkable achievements.

 Messner said it was and of course it is an amazing achievement, but he made it clear it could not be done with the use of supplementary oxygen in such a short time period. Nims has demonstrated he can climb any 8000er without oxygen, but his enemy was always time, money and the logistics.

Like you, I loved the film too, especially seeing Rheinhold, as he always say great things, it was never fun, just pain and suffering. Try and read his book, he is right there with all the greatest of humanity, Ranulph Fiennes, Scott, Amundsen, Jerzy Kukusczka and now Nims Purja.

I just hope he gets to live long enough to make more history. Go Nims.

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 GrahamD 04 Dec 2021
In reply to Tyler:

I enjoyed the fil. But also felt the difficulty (in terms of speed / endurance) of any of those ascents is not made as stark as it could have been.  Also, as others have said, an idea of what his support team achieved (in terms of ascents) would have been interesting.  I presume he is now OK to pay off his mortgage- not sure how you go about convincing a mortgage company that you have a solid repayment plan!

 Robert Durran 04 Dec 2021
In reply to Tyler:

> This film is now free to watch on Netflix, anyone else watched it? 

How do I watch it? I am not on Netflix and gave never before watched anything on Netflix.

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 Rob Parsons 04 Dec 2021
In reply to Robert Durran:

> How do I watch it? I am not on Netflix and gave never before watched anything on Netflix.

See info at https://www.netflix.com/gb/

 Pedro50 04 Dec 2021

Nothing is free on Netflix is it?

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In reply to Pedro50:

I think he means it is free once you have signed up for nexflix. considering you can do that for 5.99 for a month and ther eis a lot of other great climbing and non climbing films and tv you can watch thats pretty good. I've just signed up to see this and a few other things on my watch list. 

Will help me through the winter evenings and will cancel in March.

 gazhbo 04 Dec 2021
In reply to Robert Durran:

> How do I watch it? I am not on Netflix and gave never before watched anything on Netflix.

Get Netflix

 Robert Durran 05 Dec 2021
In reply to mountain.martin:

> I think he means it is free once you have signed up for nexflix. considering you can do that for 5.99 for a month.

So not free, but not expensive. On the other hand there is more good stuff than I am ever going to watch on normal telly........

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In reply to Robert Durran:

Which isn't free because you have to pay a license fee...

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 Robert Durran 05 Dec 2021
In reply to pancakeandchips:

> Which isn't free because you have to pay a license fee...

I didn't say it was!

 gimmergimmer 05 Dec 2021
In reply to nathan79:I wonder whether the 'ego' thing is a cultural difference. I was brought up on taciturn bearded chaps rolling their own roll ups whilst understating everything, taking the mick and perhaps staring silently between grunts. But I suspect just as ego driven. Plus the British/Western climbing experience was always portrayed as an anti -establishment, drop out from the rat race sort of  thing in scruffy clothes- but if you come from one of the poorest(rather than richest) countries in the world  that probably doesn't cut much ice. The alternative sounds a bit brash and show offy but I suspect the Western understated scruffy drop out thing (with no real underlying money problems) sounds a bit false to a third world audience. Just a thought.

 Suncream 05 Dec 2021
In reply to gimmergimmer:

I also wonder whether he would have achieved what he did without the ego. He struggled enough as it was to fund his goal; imagine having done that whilst being modest about one's own abilities. It does come across as a little crass to my sensitivities but it doesn't diminish his success at all, and he's had such a different upbringing from me I'm definitely not going to judge him on his etiquette.

In reply to Tyler:

I haven't read his book, so can't comment on how he comes across in that. But I thought he came across well in the film. 

It was an amazing acheivemnt made even more amazing considering where he come from and the hurdels he had to overcome. He obviously respected Messner greatly seeing how much he featured in the film and they mentioned that Messner completed without oxygen and mentioned at least twice that Nims was using oxygen, which is understandable given his need to climb several peaks in quick sucession, Everest, lhotse, Makalu in 48hrs, thats incredible. 

I liked the fact that his mother was such a big part of his life and the film, and really liked the fact that he twice put the project and his life in danger by getting involved in rescues near the summits. That is so much more than most of the western peak baggers would do.

 Howard J 05 Dec 2021
In reply to Tyler:

It's a pity that they seemed to be moving so fast they didn't have time for more filming.  Each segment seemed to go from partying at base camp to them being on the summit, with not a lot of the intermediate climbing being shown. With the possible exception of the K2 segment, the effect was to underplay the physical and technical difficulty and make it look easier than it was.  Apart from bureaucratic problems with China there wasn't much sense that it was ever in doubt.

I enjoyed watching it but I won't be rushing to see it again.

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 broken spectre 05 Dec 2021
In reply to Tyler:

Enjoyed it! The music also (which is on streaming services like Spotify and the like).

 gooberman-hill 05 Dec 2021
In reply to Tyler:

The guy is absolutely nails. Doing all 14 8000m peaks in a season is amazing, let alone doing Everst, Lhotse and Makalu in 48 hrs. 

One further thought. The big Alpine enchainments that were first done 20 or so years ago tended to be classic N faces, first climbed in the 30s. The big Himalayan peaks were first climbed in the 50s, with oxygen. So, by that measure, clearly a step up.

Steve

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 GrahamD 05 Dec 2021
In reply to gimmergimmer:

I don't think it's western cultural.  I think it's northern European. 

In reply to Robert Durran:

> So not free, but not expensive. On the other hand there is more good stuff than I am ever going to watch on normal telly........

They used to do a months free trial with the option to cancel. If that is still the case you could watch this then cancel.

 Greenbanks 06 Dec 2021
In reply to Tyler:

I was mainly impressed by his wife - absolute stalwart; I'd have liked to have known more than just the rather superficial stuff explaining her support for Nims.

A magnificent achievement of endurance and logistics of course. But the preoccupation of doing the 14 within a set period of time is off-putting to me: it seems inconsistent with the magnificence of the 8000'ers.

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 EarlyBird 06 Dec 2021
In reply to Tyler:

I watched it last night. To climb all 8000m summits in 6 months is a magnificent achievement, but the film is a hagiography. 

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 Iamgregp 06 Dec 2021
In reply to pancakeandchips:

No you don't.  You're allowed to own a TV and watch non-live streaming services without a TV license.

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 Robert Durran 06 Dec 2021
In reply to DubyaJamesDubya:

> They used to do a months free trial with the option to cancel. If that is still the case you could watch this then cancel.

Thanks. I might have a look at that. A few months ago I heard about something else on Netflix which I might watch too.

 jam_butter 08 Dec 2021
In reply to Tyler:

 I just watched it!

 elliot.baker 08 Dec 2021
In reply to Tyler:

[MILD SPOILER ALERTS WARNING]

[MILD SPOILER ALERTS WARNING]

Got half way through this now - and yes the guy is mega confident, but I think being in the SBS and getting the best score they've ever seen on altitude lab testing will do that for you!

My favourite bit so far is when he rocks up to K2 and says: "when you say you're ****ed, you're actually only about 45% ****ed.", that cracked me up I can forgive all his self-confidence (which seems fair anyway) for this one comment, which I'll probably use for the rest of my life. 😂

Also the bit with the parachute where he takes the time to radio through that he's going to have to go to his reserve chute before actually doing it, probably just a military exercise but it reminded me so much of Ad Astra with Brad Pitt (which I just watched last week, and enjoyed) where he falls and needs to parachute and they say "you have a 44bpm resting HR and it didn't go above 80bpm during that fall" (which also cracked me up, knowing mine got to 182 last night running up a gentle hill in Belper). 😅

 Iamgregp 08 Dec 2021
In reply to Iamgregp:

Dunno why I got dislikes for this?  You really don't need a TV License to watch Netflix, or any other non-live streaming service https://www.tvlicensing.co.uk/faqs/FAQ104 

Thought this might be useful info for anyone who would like to watch this, but doesn't want to have to buy a license to do so.  Just trying to help?!

 Robert Durran 08 Dec 2021
In reply to Iamgregp:

> Dunno why I got dislikes for this?  You really don't need a TV License to watch Netflix, or any other non-live streaming service https://www.tvlicensing.co.uk/faqs/FAQ104 

Yes you do. For BBC iplayer.

 Tom Briggs 08 Dec 2021
In reply to EarlyBird:

> I watched it last night. To climb all 8000m summits in 6 months is a magnificent achievement, but the film is a hagiography. 

I'm not really sure what you mean by this, but Nims is this very open 'larger than life character', i.e. the polar opposite of the classic Sherpa demeanour. People find that unsettling, even before he proves what he can do at high altitude, both physically and in terms of his flexibility/decision-making. There's so much of a herd mentality on 8000ers that for someone to come along and more than once chuck the 'rule book' out of the window is pretty interesting to watch. The last feature length mountaineering film I watched was The Last Mountain (well, I couldn't finish it I found it so disturbing). What a contrast.

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 Iamgregp 08 Dec 2021
In reply to Robert Durran:

Yes, to be fair I should have said any non-live streaming service other than iPlayer...

I'm a big supporter of the BBC, and one of the criticisms often levied at it is that it's unfair as if you have a TV and watch anything (i.e. non-BBC stuff), you must have a TV license. 

This is not the case, there are hundreds of thousands of quality programmes available to stream without needing a licence.  With the arrival of so many streaming providers that criticism is increasingly less valid!

 C Witter 09 Dec 2021
In reply to Tyler:

I thought this was an enjoyable film and a fantastic achievement. The footage was stunning and really communicated the harshness of the conditions and their determination even when conditions were against them. However, I feel it was made for a "general" audience rather than a mountaineering audience, so there are aspects I would have loved to understand more deeply that weren't really delved into. I also thought that some of the staged scenes of Nims sat at a laptop and of likes and comments on social media were a bit tiresome.

I don't have any problems with Nims' personality; I think he comes across as likeable, enthusiastic and very supportive of others, particularly his own team. I wouldn't like to comment on why some people think he is brash. The interviews with his family and Messner also work very well: the first to humanise the story and ground it in the context of Nims' everyday life; the second to articulate the scale of the achievement. However, I agree with the general sentiment that the scale of the achievement was hard to fully appreciate within the duration of the film - and some of Nims' near-death incidents, e.g. when he fell 100m or when he got HACE, were also brushed over lightly. Perhaps there is scope for a longer cut?

 

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 VictorM 12 Dec 2021
In reply to Tyler:

After reading the comments I was positively surprised by the movie when I watched it yesterday. 

Nims comes across as self-confident but I wouldn't want to call it brash or arrogant -  merely the confidence that comes from experience and capability. 

The one thing I missed (aside from some deliberation about how difficult it actually must have been, some major achievements were indeed brushed over and some massive dangers treated as an aside) is some explanation as to WHY it took Messner that much more time aside from not using bottled O. He did it in the seventies. Imagine how 50 years worth of gear and tech innovation has changed high altitude mountaineering. Gear is massively better and weather forecasting has improved by leaps and bounds. That I missed a bit. 

 philipivan 12 Dec 2021
In reply to VictorM:

I really enjoyed it and loved the psyched, positive attitude of Nims which as has been said is pretty unusual among Nepalis who are normally fantastic but quite  reserved and unambitious. 

I watched Jurek a week or so later also in Netflix, haven't that discussed here but in some ways a better film and an interesting contrast. 

 Hannah V 13 Dec 2021
In reply to VictorM:

> After reading the comments I was positively surprised by the movie when I watched it yesterday. 

> Nims comes across as self-confident but I wouldn't want to call it brash or arrogant -  merely the confidence that comes from experience and capability. 

> The one thing I missed (aside from some deliberation about how difficult it actually must have been, some major achievements were indeed brushed over and some massive dangers treated as an aside) is some explanation as to WHY it took Messner that much more time aside from not using bottled O. He did it in the seventies. Imagine how 50 years worth of gear and tech innovation has changed high altitude mountaineering. Gear is massively better and weather forecasting has improved by leaps and bounds. That I missed a bit. 

....well for a start, Messner didn't get helicoptered from one base camp to another. That tends to save a bit of time and might help catch a weather window!

In reply to Hannah V:

Yep silly to compare, this was done in the worst style possible, aside from the parachuting in to base camps, fixed ropes, bottled O2 on all peaks, all  a peak baggers wet dream, this guy is the new talisman for all those vacuous adventure tourists, the Bear grylls of the Himalaya, the general public lap this stuff up, not climbers who think style matters, they are dismissed as elitist, the trailer set the bar pretty low so wasn't expecting to much, such a modest understated individual flame away!

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 EarlyBird 13 Dec 2021
In reply to Tom Briggs:

It was a criticism of the film, not the man. 

 jt232 13 Dec 2021
In reply to Andy Clarke1965:

If the bar is set too low you could aways go out and raise it? 

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In reply to Andy Clarke1965:

> this was done in the worst style possible, aside from the parachuting in to base camps, fixed ropes, bottled O2 on all peaks, all  a peak baggers wet dream, this guy is the new talisman for all those vacuous adventure tourists, the Bear grylls of the Himalaya, the general public lap this stuff up, not climbers who think style matters, they are dismissed as elitist, the trailer set the bar pretty low so wasn't expecting to much, such a modest understated individual flame away!

Did you watch the film, or just the trailer?

I don't know it it does, but if the film portrays the truth then your comments about worst possible style and bear grylls are nonsense.

By the look of the film, Nims and his smallish team broke trail and installed ropes on substantial sections of a considerable number of the peaks as well as instigating two major rescues near the summits, of climbers from other teams, putting his team and his project in jepordy.

I look forward to hearing about your attempt to better his acheivement without using oxygen, while cycling between base camps, and studiously avoiding all existing fixed ropes.

Post edited at 21:15
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 Hannah V 14 Dec 2021
In reply to Andy Clarke1965:

Yes it was a different style of climbing the 14 8000ers, but I don't think anyone can argue about the fact that Nims has a phenomenal ability to recover between ascents. Probably even the fittest "normal" people would need several weeks or months just to recover from summiting one 8000m peak (I wouldn't know, I've never done an 8000er), whereas Nims was summiting several 8000ers within days of each other eg Everest, Lhotse & Makalu. I  can't even begin to imagine how on earth he did that....

Post edited at 05:15
 GrahamD 14 Dec 2021
In reply to Andy Clarke1965:

At least they weren't relying Sherpas to guide them and carry their loads.  Oh, wait a minute ....

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 Wooj 14 Dec 2021

Just to follow up on his achievement. He has now become the first person to climb K2 in the winter. Beast! 

 Cobra_Head 15 Dec 2021
In reply to philipivan:

> ............and unambitious. 

Except I suppose for everyone of the would be Gurkhas?

 Suncream 15 Dec 2021
In reply to Wooj:

> He has now become the first person to climb K2 in the winter.

*One of the first ten. 

Not to diminish his achievement, but three different teams collaborated and they made a point of summiting at the same time.

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 Wooj 15 Dec 2021
In reply to Suncream:

Yes it was a group but he also was the only one not using oxygen. Cant imagine him letting anyone else actually get to the summit first! 

 philipivan 15 Dec 2021
In reply to Cobra_Head:

I'm not sure how much time that you've spent in Nepal. On a 2nd trip there I met only one local who aspired to do anything touristy and a very limited number who wanted to get into outdoor activities and then only to make money. That's not meant as a criticism, most of the people have much more pressing issues than how best to entertain themselves. 

 Abu777 16 Dec 2021
In reply to TheGeneralist:

Also doing it first, with less advanced kit, communications, transport and weather monitoring, set against doing something many people have done before, albeit very quickly - not comparable I agree. Two totally different, but both very impressive, achievements. I guess they needed to try and put it in some sort of context, but there are so many different variables at play, comparisons in mountaineering are exceptionally difficult.

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In reply to Tyler:

I found it unbelievable he did Everest, Lhotse in same day and then summited Makalu 48 hours later, as if he was doing a backpacking trip in the lakes!  It did seem to skip over this a bit in the documentary and not really big it up as to how difficult and dangerous even attempting to do 3 8000'ers in 2-3 days is never mind the physical and mental effort required to do that!

very sure of him self, yes thats just his personality.

But it definately shows Nepalese and Sherpa's as the fittest people in the world even if he did use oxygen in a hybrid style as he called it(only near or above 8000m i think he said)

Now time to change my wallpaper backgrounds on my windows to something equally mountainous and inspiring.

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 Earlgreytea 17 Dec 2021
In reply to Hartlepool Anthony:

WTF?????Really?

How on earth???? A super human....

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 veteye 28 Dec 2021
In reply to Tyler:

I just watched the film last night, and as others have, I found it very bitty. It had no flow to it. As already stated, it glossed over too many things.

How come he fell descending? What lead to that? It was strange how that part was related, without full evaluation of the uncommonly lucky way that he survived the fall.

I agree with much that has gone before.

 Marmolata 30 Dec 2021
In reply to Andy Clarke1965:

Completely agree with you. 

This endeavour seems very much against the current trend of low impact, by fair means, low CO2 footprint that all other mountaineers try to achieve. The compressor route of the 8000s, except he really summitted. 

Would have been more interesting to see what a guy with his stamina and drive can achieve with a different set goal. Maybe his winter ascent of K2 is a start to a better way. 

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 gazhbo 30 Dec 2021
In reply to Marmolata:

> low impact, by fair means, low CO2 footprint that all other mountaineers try to achieve. 

Really?! All others?

1
climbingnoob 31 Dec 2021
In reply to Marmolata:

If the feat was done by a white guy i’m sure no one would have any problems with the CO2. This is just some kind of racist mentality. It’s prevalent in the climbing and especially it seems the mountaineering scene where white people think they are superior to non-whites. Glad this guy proved the world wrong! Non whites can be phenomenal climbers and mountaineers and this guy proved it hands down. Hopefully it inspires other minority groups into the sport.

Also, why didn’t this make bigger/any headlines at the time? I’m convinced the fact that it’s because Nims is non white and Nepalese. If it was a white guy it would have been front page news around the world. 
 

Also, if you cared about people’s carbon footprint so much, maybe you should look at your own. I read you are planning a trip to Namibia. Totally hypocritical to call out the carbon footprint of others when your trip will have a massive one!

Post edited at 04:41
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climbingnoob 31 Dec 2021
In reply to Tyler:

I think the documentary rushed a lot of the peaks. I hope there is a followup documentary about how he climbed some of the lesser known peaks and the troubles if any he encountered climbing those. He seems like such a cool guy! 

 GrahamD 31 Dec 2021
In reply to climbingnoob:

I guess it must have been hard getting footage.  The nearly throwaway line for me was something like having to do Kanchenjunga in a day to make the weather window ! Unbelievable. 

 Marmolata 31 Dec 2021
In reply to climbingnoob:

I agree to the hypocrisy but not the racism. 

 James Allan 31 Dec 2021
In reply to Andy Clarke1965:

> Yep silly to compare, this was done in the worst style possible, aside from the parachuting in to base camps, fixed ropes, bottled O2 on all peaks, all  a peak baggers wet dream, this guy is the new talisman for all those vacuous adventure tourists, the Bear grylls of the Himalaya, the general public lap this stuff up, not climbers who think style matters, they are dismissed as elitist, the trailer set the bar pretty low so wasn't expecting to much, such a modest understated individual flame away!

"Whaaaaaa Waaaa Waaaaa...he didn't do it in the way I wanted..."

Fact is... If he did it in the way YOU wanted, he'd probably still smash the record.  He put his house on the market, his money where his mouth is, and his life on the line...

He did something you are clearly incapable of doing and it shows.

As Reinhold Messner says: "I like people that do, and not chat" Turns out you are the latter.
 

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climbingnoob 03 Jan 2022
In reply to Marmolata:

There is definitely racism in mountaineering. How westerners treat the Nepalese sherpas now and in the past can only be described as racist. They are seen as second class mountaineers by western parties coming into their country to climb mountains. They are also underpaid for the work they do and the risk they take. Of course there are some that see beyond the skin colour and race, but most don't. It's pretty obvious when you look at how the westerners treat the Sherpas and how much they are paid. You can also see the differing dynamics in all of these various mountaineering documentaries.

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