14 Peaks: Nothing is Impossible (2024)

14 Peaks: Nothing is Impossible

Can you mention the first individual to climb Mount Everest without going online? If Sir Edmund Hillary comes into your mind, Nirmal “Nims” Purja wants you to realize that Sir Edmund was only able to reach the summit of the tallest mountain in the world because he went there with Tenzing Norgay, a Nepali Sherpa mountaineer. In his documentary film “14 Peaks: Nothing is Impossible”, Purja seeks to do something that neither Sir Edmund nor Norgay would ever think about doing. He wants to bring an entire group consisting of all Nepalese people up to the peak of 14 highest mountains on earth, each standing more than 8000 meters above sea level.

That is why we use mountain metaphors for tasks beyond possible limits which are sometimes called “insurmountable”. Only a few have climbed all fourteen 8,000-meter peaks. Reinhold Messner became the first one who managed to scale all fourteen summits in just 16 years while Purja decided it would be done during seven months. Any of these mountains usually consume two months as one specialist from this documentary states us.

Moreover, apart from such unthinkable challenges posed by each mountain like physical, emotional and financial issues associated with accomplishing them within such a short period; weather unpredictability; geopolitical/diplomatic problems involving Nepal, Pakistan and Tibet/China whose mountains brandish some of these heights—there is also an issue of how high Purja climbs minus supplementary oxygen where the normal air pressure tends to fall by two thirds compared what we breathe daily. One of them regularly takes four days but he does it in twenty-four hours – with a hangover!

“I was told my project was impossible” says Purja who decides to name it Project: Possible.” To demonstrate that climbers from Nepal deserve credit for their efforts and make sure they get better compensation than Western alpinists do is what he aims at. This will improve his team’s CVs in addition to providing more chances.

It is important because of this that while introducing us to his brothers, Purja introduces the whole team as if each person had a special attribute. Throughout the movie, we observe how determined he can be and yet how magnanimous, assisting those who had already given up on reaching the summits as well as stopping to help climbers suffering from frost bite or altitude sickness although this would have meant failing to meet his own deadline.

They stumble upon one during one of their descents from their first peak so they go back for them. “You just climbed one of the most dangerous peaks in the world and now you’re going to climb it again?” another climber asks, acknowledging that he was hoping that the stranded climber was dead so they would not have to take him/her to hospital. He adds: “I’ve never left anyone behind” when talking about his time in the military.

“I wasn’t going to start doing it up here.” The critical patient calls for Purja and his team spending all night awake by him. They arrive at base camp with him at six in the morning where he is picked up by a helicopter. In some time, there’ll be another fallen climber who won’t be so lucky.

Purja happens to be an ex-member of Nepali Gurkha special forces and comes from a loving family where he was always highly competitive even among siblings.

He has a 75-pound pack and runs twenty kilometers every morning before going to the gym after work until late in the night. In one scene, we see a high altitude specialist who was visibly amazed at his physical condition.

Those of us who will never make it to the top of one of these peaks will get an unprecedented opportunity to see what the top of the world looks like with pristine images of stunning clarity and grandeur captured by Purja himself. They will be almost as awe-inspiring for viewers as if they actually climbed up to that height panting away their breaths.

With 14 mountains plus backstory in just over 90 minutes we do not get to spend a lot of time learning the specifics of each mountain, but we do get to see some individual differences; here six feet of snow, there treacherous rocks or vertiginous tors. Mount Everest is packed with climbers while the others are almost empty. A photograph Purja took showing people queuing all along Everest’s ascent goes viral around the globe. However I wanted extensive information on complex negotiations with China, intricacies faced in climbing each mountain and how the team adjusted itself accordingly.

A lot is referred to by Director Torquil Jones using animation expertly for near-death experiences and less skillfully through special effects and editing that suggest HACE: high altitude cerebral edema alters reality. Comments from experts have been well selected and there is mention too about another climber whom Project Possible assisted summiting a mountain.

His family includes Purja’s brother who warns him about taking financial risks or dangerous outdoor pursuits, although he adored his very sick mother who traveled along with him all over again. Messner does not mince words about this. “People will say it is fun,” he says, “It isn’t fun I tell you it’s a place where you learn how to bear pain”. On the other hand though Purja together with his team have a massive following, they are very clear on the dangers and always show warmth and cheer.

“I do not want to hear any climber say ‘my Sherpa helped me,’” says Purja. The Sherpas are also known by their names. According to him, “without these names they turn into ghosts.” If a Westerner managed these climbs, it would be in every newspaper worldwide. What this film demonstrates is the teamwork, commitment, nationalism, breath-taking landscapes and why Purja’s group is as famous as Sir Edmund Hillary if not more.

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