Project Possible Update: Shishapangma Summit Schedule Set

Tuesday, October 29, 2019, might be a history-making day in the world of mountaineering given that Nirmal Purja and the team have now established their Shishapangma summit schedule.

As usual, they are climbing in one push, aka alpine style, bypassing any acclimatization. In order to achieve his timeline of seven months for all 14 of the 8000ers he needs to summit Shish by November 23. He posted on Instagram and Facebook:

Now it’s confirmed that, we will be heading for the summit bid on the 29th. Tomorrow early morning, we will leave for camp 2. 28th we are planning to reach camp 3. 29th – “the summit day”.

The weather looks acceptable with extremely cold temperatures but marginal winds with no precip.

Of course, the crux will be the final climb across the knife-edge traverse. As shown in this image from edviestures.com, the main summit is in the right distance. The ridge is about 100-meters/300-feet long leading to the true summit which is only about 15-meters/ 45-feet higher than the central summit. It should take about an hour for Nirmal Purja to cross, then he has to return the same way.

Veikka Gustafsson on the knife-edge ridge to Shishapangma Main Summit April 30, 2001 – Himalayan Quest Ed Viesturs on the 8,000-Meter Giants book

If he summits on the 29th, he will have summited all 14 in 190 days.

These are the usual camps:

  • Base Camp (BC) 5000m, 16,400 feet: BC – ABC 9 miles, 6 hours start of the trip, 4 hours end of the trip
  • Advanced base camp (ABC) 5600m, 18,375 feet: ABC – C1 3.7 miles, 8 hours the first time, 6 hours thereafter (one way)
  • C1 6400m, 21,000 feet: C1 – C2 .6 miles, 4-5 hours
  • C2 7100m, 23,300 feet: C2 – C3 .6 miles, 3-5 hours
  • C3 7500m, 24,600 feet: C3 – Summit .6 miles, 7 hours

See my previous post for details on the climb.


Your Opinion

What is your personal opinion of Nirmal Purja Purja Purja's accomplishments on Project Possible?

  • Fantastic! Makes him one of the best climbers in history. (73%, 838 Votes)
  • Wonderful! He is a great climber but not in the top tier. (11%, 126 Votes)
  • Pretty good! I love his positive attitude. (6%, 69 Votes)
  • OK! But he used supplemental oxygen, helicopters and standard routes. (4%, 44 Votes)
  • So,So! It is a stunt but I admire his ambition. (3%, 37 Votes)
  • Don't Like! It is another selfish climber looking for publicity. (3%, 33 Votes)

Total Voters: 1,147

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Project Possible

Of course, we all know Nirmal Purja’s project is to summit all 14 of the 8000ers in seven months. In order to achieve his timeline, he needs to summit Shish by November 23. If he summits on October 29th, he will have summited all 14 in 190 days.

These are the 8000ers Nirmal Purja and team have summited thus far:

  1. Annapurna – April 23
  2. Dhaulagiri – May 12
  3. Kanchenjunga – May 15
  4. Lhotse – May 22
  5. Everest – May 22
  6. Makalu – May 24
  7. Nanga Parbat – July 03
  8. Gasherbrum I – July 15
  9. Gasherbrum II – July 18
  10. K2 – July 24
  11. Broad Peak – July 26
  12. Cho Oyu – September 23
  13. Manaslu – September 27

The other members with Nirmal Purja for Shish includes Mingma David Sherpa, Gesman Tamang, Gyalzen Sherpa and Jangbu Sherpa.

In 2013, Korean climber Kim Chang-ho set the current record for all 14 in 7 years, 10 months, 6 days. The previous record was set in 1987 by Polish alpinist Jerzy Kukuczka climbing all 14 in 7 years, 11 months, 14 days.

Best of luck to everyone!

Climb On!
Alan
Memories are Everything

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2 thoughts on “Project Possible Update: Shishapangma Summit Schedule Set

  1. Hi Alan, thanks for the update, as always. I have a question. I saw a recent article asking the question if Nirmal Purja actually made the true summit of Manaslu. According to the article, the majority of people summiting Manaslu don’t actually make the true summit, especially in autumn, for a number of factors. For one, they just go to where the ropes end and assume it is the summit. Two, the summit can’t been seen from the false summits, so they dont know it is there unless they know about it. And three, it is a very dangerous corniced ridge, not worth the risk for a few meters of elevation. The article claimed, from the videos and pictures of Purjal’s Manaslu summit, that he didn’t appear to be at true summit. Do you know anything of this, and could it be a problem? Thanks

    1. No, I don’t have any inside information and there is growing talk that he missed the true summit. I assume he went as high as he thought would be the summit and definitely not the saddle but up the narrow ridge to the “summit”. Most likely he reached a similar spot as other pro climbers who claimed the summit.

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