The numerous appeals to the Chinese-Tibetan authorities may have borne fruit. After all, there are now signals from Lhasa that Nirmal “Nims” Purja will possibly receive a special permit for this fall to climb the 8,027-meter-high Shishapangma. “Chinese authorities have clearly conveyed me a message that Chinese Embassy in Kathmandu will do necessary arrangement to secure a Shishapangma climbing permit for Purja and his team of ‘Project Possible‘ at the earliest,” Dawa Sherpa, managing director of the Nepalese expedition operator “Climbalaya Treks”, told the newspaper “The Himalayan Times”.
At the earliest could mean: after the celebrations of the 70th anniversary of the founding of the communist state in China are over. However, there is still no official confirmation, neither from the China Tibet Mountaineering Association (CTMA), which is responsible for issuing the permit, nor from Nirmal Purja himself.
Negotiations at government level
Should the information be confirmed, Nims would get the chance to successfully complete his “Project Possible” – all 14 eight-thousanders in seven months. Last Friday, the 36-year-old Nepalese climber, a former soldier of the British Gurkha regiment, had scaled Manaslu, his 13th eight-thousander since the end of April.
Shishapangma, the lowest of the 14 eight-thousanders, was supposed to remain closed this fall for safety reasons. The Nepalese government had also asked China to make an exception for Purja.
