Former Gurkha and special forces soldier Nimsdai ‘Nims’ Purja has reached the summit of Carstensz Pyramid – the final peak to complete his Seven Summits Challenge, where climbers summit the highest peaks across all seven continents.
The feat makes him the only person to have conquered the Seven Summits plus the 14 highest peaks in the world, both with and without supplemental oxygen.
Carstensz Pyramid, which goes by the local name of Puncak Jaya, is located on the island of New Guinea.
It has an elevation of 4,884m (16,024ft), making it the highest mountain peak of any island on Earth, and the highest peak in Indonesia.
The other peaks in the even Summits Challenge are Everest in the Himalayas, Aconcagua in Argentina in South America, Denali in North America, Mt Elbrus in Russia, Kilimanjaro in Tanzania and Vinson Massif in Antarctica.
Summiting Carstensz Pyramid marks another record in a record-breaking month for the former soldier.
On 4 October, he became the fastest person to climb all 14 of the peaks without any supplementary oxygen. It took him two years, four months and 28 days.
On the same day he became the fastest – and only – person to achieve the 14 peaks feat both with and without oxygen, the feat having taken him five years, five months and 12 days.
And on 9 October he became the only person to have reached 50 8,000m summits.
Nims is a veteran of Everest, Aconcagua, Denali, Mt Elbrus, Kilimanjaro and Vinson Massif (Picture: Nimsdai Purja)
He said: “Every challenge I do is for a bigger purpose and mission.
“It is to raise the name of the Big Mountain communities around the world – to shine a light on the guides, porters and teams that make the impossible possible for mountaineers each season.
“We are one mountain community and I am proud to do my part to raise the name of Nepal and all other Big Mountain communities.
“The mountains are my home and I believe we need to all do our part to ensure a thriving and sustainable community.”