Nepal climber breaks speed record for 14 highest peaks

A Nepali mountaineer yesterday smashed the speed record for summiting the world’s 14 highest peaks, racing up all “8000ers” in just six months and six days, organisers said. The previous record for the 14 mountains above 8,000 metres -- completed by Nirmal Purja at 8.59 am (1259 GMT) yesterday-- was almost eight years. In the first part of his record attempt, Purja, a former 36-year-old British elite soldier, ticked off Annapurna, Dhaulagiri, Kanchenjunga, Everest, Lhotse and Makalu in just one month. A month later, Purja headed to Pakistan for the second part, where he first tackled the notorious Nanga Parbat at 8,125 metres. Purja then scaled five of Pakistan’s highest peaks including Gasherbrum I, Gasherbrum II and K2. Twenty-three days later he was standing atop Broad Peak, his fifth and final mountain of the second phase. Purja began his final push in September, reaching the tops of Cho Oyu and Manaslu within a week. Yesterday’s summit of Shishapangma was the final hurdle.