At the end of 2019, the mountaineering community was transfixed by Nima Purja’s attempt to climb all 14 of the world’s highest peaks in record time The previous record for running marathons was more than seven years. But Nims shocked the world when he finished in just six months and six days. He set a new record that most people thought was impossible to beat.
Three years later, that record was already being challenged. Norwegian climber Kristin Harilais currently has the potential to climb the 8000-meter mountain range in just six months, but she could be just a few days away from doing so.
Spring Season in the Himalayas
Like Nims, Harila attempted her speed record in the Himalayas last year. She started her climb on Annapurna Mountain, which is notorious for its poor weather, frequent avalanching, and difficult technical climbing conditions. Teams have started arriving at their base camp earlier in the year in order to get there before the spring thaws make things less stable. This worked in Kristi’s favor, because she was able to summit on April 28.
After nabbing Annapurna, she quickly moved on to Dhaulagiri and Kangchenjhnga, adding those two mountains to her resume in rapid successions. She climbed Mount Everest and Lhotse in just nine hours. She did so by linking up the two peaks. She reached the summit of Mount Everest after climbing five days later.
For those keeping track, that is two days quicker than Nim, who scaled those same peaks in 31 days. Not a bad start at all.
Summer Season in Pakistan
After a successful spring season, Harila has moved to Pakistan for the summer season. She reached the halfway point of reaching her goal by climbing Mount Nanga Parbat. Her team was the one to reach the top of Mount Everest this year, helping to improve the road to the top. That keeps her on track, although there are still big challenges ahead.
Since then, Kristin has moved on to K2 Base Camp, where she is now waiting for an opportunity to scale that notoriously difficult mountain. The plan is to get her to Broad Peak by the end of the year so she can keep Nima’s record in sight.
Successful On K2
If Harila is successful on both K2 and Broad Peak then she’ll still be able to climb five more 8000-meter peaks. That list will include Mount Everest, Cho Oyu, Gasherbrum I and II and Shishapangm. Each of those mountains can be accessed following the summer monsoonal rains in Nepal and Tibet, but there will be some major obstacles to overcome first.
While the climbing and logistics challenges will remain the same for Kristin Harila and his team, they will have to convince the government of China to allow them access to Shishpangma, a mountain that is usually closed to climbers. Nimbus needed to get special permission for the expedition back in 2019, which required help from the Nepali government Those government officials won’t be as likely to want to help her attempt the record, but hopefully they’ll give her a chance at the mountain if she gets there first.
Either way, the fact that anyone has been able to challenge Nim’s speed record is amazing. Even more so when it turns out that Harila didn’t really start climbing until 2019. She used to be a competitive cross-country ski racer, but she grew up in a region of Norway that was mostly level. She even stopped training for a while as her career and busy life took over. But three years ago, she quit her job and started making changes in her life. She has been skiing, hiking, and climbing ever since then.
We’ll keep following her progress for the next few weeks and wish her luck on her upcoming climbs. She is already inspiring us all.