A Tribute to Nims x
Where to start. The reason we are writing this today is because Nims was a huge part of mine and Gelje’s life. I want to take you back to the beginning so I can explain the influence he had on our journey as mountaineers and people and remember him as he shaped our AGA journey.
For me (Adri) it started back in 2019. I had a dream of climbing Everest in my gap year with my dad. But unfortunately, covid started and Everest of course was shut down. In that moment I felt like my dreams had been shattered- I couldn’t see the light at the end of the tunnel and I didn’t know what the next step would be.
I had the idea to message a famous mountaineer on social media. He had just completed his 14 peaks challenge in the fastest time ever and I knew, if someone was going to do something during covid, it was him. Nimsdai. He replied, almost instantly, asking for my experience and going straight onto a whatsapp call with me.
A few months after this call – we met in person in Reading. I had already started university at this point and so I remember him texting me out of the blue – he said come down and meet me in Reading and lets chat expeditions – I got on the train and there he was, waiting to pick me up in his car. He was truly my idol at the time, I remember shaking with nerves at the idea of sitting with him over late lunch. We had so much fun. we had a couple of glasses of wine and a lovely steak and he spoke about his challenges and 14 peaks and future ambitions.
He paused and said “Adri, I have a huge challenge coming up in a couple of months” I was so excited to hear what he had up his sleeve.
“I am going to Pakistan this winter, to summit K2. We are going to be the first team ever to summit K2 in Winter”.
Wow – that was all I could think, wow.
It sounded insane, terrifying and crazy, but at the same time I felt so honoured that he felt like he could share that top secret news with me! We spoke for some time about the challenge and he looked at me and paused and said “Adri, you’re coming with me”.
Yes I am.
2 months later, I was in Pakistan in December with 9 Nepali sherpa, Nims and a cameraman from Bristol called Sandro.
It was the adventure of a lifetime, unforgettable. We started with the K2 basecamp trek which should usually take 7-8 days. We did it in 4. It was pure Sherpa speed. I remember the last day – we reached the spot that we were supposed to spend the night at, but Nims wanted to continue all the way to basecamp. He turned to me and asked me if I was okay to continue. It would be another few hours into the cold hours of the night. I felt good at this point so I said yes.
About 3 hours in, I had crashed, I ran out of energy and I couldn’t move my legs any further. Nims stopped me and shouted – “why didn’t you tell me you couldn’t do it!” I was so scared, I felt I had let him and the whole team down. But Nims took my backpack and Zaheer our local staff helped me to walk the last part to basecamp. It was Christmas day, 25th December and we were all knackered.
The next morning I got up and went over to the other camp to introduce myself. I found myself sitting next to a young guy, in his 20s, very round chubby face and looking slightly nervous. I asked him – who are you? He turned to me and said hi, Im Ashok, and im the manager of the Nims camp – you must be Adri! We laughed because we knew of each other but for at least an hour we sat there talking like strangers.
Ashok would go on to be my best friend in the world. He was Gelje’s best friend from many years back. Every night he would sit with me and Gelje and tell us how amazing it would be if we got together as boyfriend and girlfriend – I would scold ashok telling him Gelje has a wife! But we had so much fun.
During the K2 winter expedition – there were a lot of parties – my favourite of course, my birthday! They made a beautiful cake, nims sang happy birthday next to me in the dining and the whole team celebrated. I felt so loved.
After the team summited K2 Winter and made history, Nims came up to me and said Adri, why just Everest? Why don’t you try all the 14 peaks. As soon as he said those words, I knew what my life mission was.
I climbed 3 8000ers with nims – Everest, manaslu and Dhaualgiri – I also climbed Ama Dablam with him and my dad.
He was an exceptional leader. Of course very military led – but it worked. People listenend to him, people feared him. He had a power that I’ve never ever seen in anyone else and a charisma that pulled everyone towards him like a magnet. He was one of a kind.
I will never forget the parties we had in Kathmandu and how much he enjoyed life back then. His cheeky smile and crazy laugh.
For a year. Me and Gelje fell out with Nims, badly. I had made the decision to move on from Elite Exped and become more independent in my climbing and I took Gelje with me. Gelje was Nim’s right hand man, his golden boy, and he was not happy I had taken him with me to another company. Everytime we saw Nims he would pretend he didn’t know us, he would look badly at Gelje and it broke my heart every time – I knew deep down Nims had so much love for Gelje and I had caused this whole problem.
4 years ago – in September 2022, Ashok, our best friend passed away. He passed away in a fire in the Elite Exped office. It broke me and Gelje.
During the funeral Nim’s was there and for the first time in almost a year, we hugged. I cried in his shoulder for what felt like forever. Because of Ashok passing away, we put our differences aside and we sat in the lobby of Marriott in Kathmandu and we cheersed with whiskey, Ashoks favourite drink, to never look badly at each other again.
After that Nims became my biggest cheerleader, he helped me and Gelje create AGA Adventures. I could always trust him and he could always trust me. I knew almost every high and low he had been through since 2019 and vice versa.
On the Friday July 24th 2026 – Nims messaged me. He said “Miss you” It felt so out of the blue, so random. I even laughed to myself thinking why has he messaged me without asking anything. But now I know why, and I am glad we spoke just a few days before he passed away.
I will never ever forget what an impact Nims made on my life. He was like a father to me on the mountains. But I know that now I have two guardian angels looking down on me and Gelje – Ashok and Nims.
For Gelje it started in 2019. Gelje was guiding a Japanese client on Annapurna – Between camp 2 and camp 3 the avalanche risk was too high so Gelje opened a new route which required a high level of technical skill. Nims spotted him opening this route and knew straight away Gelje would be a really huge asset to his 14 peaks project. Gelje was selected as one of the Sherpas for the project alongside – Gesman, Mingma David, Lakpa Dendi, and Phurba Sonam. Gelje always joked that Nims wanted big a strong Sherpas, not small and short like him but it paid off. Gelje very quickly become Nim’s favourite. He would trust Gelje with his life.
The expedition to Dhaulagiri during the 14 peaks is one of his favourite stories, not just because of the climb itself, but because everything surrounding it was so unbelievable.
At the time, Gelje was determined to climb all fourteen of the world’s 8,000-metre peaks. When Nims launched his Project Possible mission, Gelje saw an opportunity to learn from one of the world’s strongest mountaineers while also contributing to something that would inspire the entire Nepali climbing community. Money wasn’t the motivation. In fact, he joined the expedition without being paid simply because he believed in the project and wanted to be part of it.
The team reached Dhaulagiri Base Camp and spent only a day there before the weather forecast turned against them. A full week of storms was expected. They tried to arrange a helicopter evacuation, but none could reach them, leaving only one option, to trek out over the infamous French Pass.
After crossing the pass, they descended into Mustang. By then, most of the team relaxed and celebrated. Alcohol was flowing, but Gelje wasn’t drinking. As everyone else drifted off to sleep in the vehicle, only Gelje and Nims stayed awake. They quickly realised the driver was becoming dangerously tired after smoking hashish.
“We might survive the mountain,” Gelje thought, “but we’re not going to die in a car.”
For the entire journey to Pokhara, he refused to sleep, constantly talking to the driver and keeping him alert. By the time they arrived, Gelje had gone the whole night without any rest.
Over the following four or five days, the team waited for another weather window. There was plenty of celebrating, but eventually the forecast finally improved. Ironically, after another sleepless night in the club, they flew straight back into Dhaulagiri Base Camp by helicopter.
There was no time to waste. After a quick breakfast and packing some food, they set off immediately on their summit push.
During the climb, Gelje fixed more than 1,800 metres of rope in a single day—an enormous effort at extreme altitude. The team was fortunate to repeatedly find usable lengths of old fixed rope left by previous expeditions, allowing them to progress far more quickly than expected.
They finally stood on the summit at around 4 p.m., remarkably late in the day for an 8,000-metre peak. Most climbers would have stopped at Camp 3 during the descent, but not Gelje and Nims. They continued throughout the night, descending all the way back to Base Camp in one continuous effort.
At around 8 a.m. the following morning, after nearly twenty-four hours of relentless climbing and descending, they finally walked into Base Camp. Shortly afterwards, they boarded a helicopter back to Kathmandu, ending one of the most exhausting, chaotic, and memorable adventures of the 14 peaks.
After Nims completed the 14 peaks challenge – there was a lot of celebrating of course and they shared so many insane memories. But the next challenge was very quickly set – K2 Winter.
Gelje wasn’t originally meant to go with Nims to K2 winter – his orginal plan was to climb with sst and guide a client. He then went back and forth as Nims also requested Gelje to guide a client. In the end – Gelje went as a lead fixer for Nims and the team. It was the hardest expedition of Geljes life. Brutal and cold. Nims original plan was to paraglide from the summit, but a huge storm swept all the kit from camp 2 and the team had to start the expedition from scratch.
For Gelje, Nim’s was one of the few people that really knew how to lead a group safely and successfully and one of the few people that the Sherpas would listen to and respect his decisions on the mountain, we all trusted him. We felt safe with him. Gelje went on to climb as a guide with Nims for a year or so and then onto SST with Adri to complete the 14 peaks together.
Together Gelje and I had so many everlasting memories with Nims. He taught us so much about the industry and the power of a strong mindset. We will remember him forever and we hope to do him proud by continuing to raise the Sherpa community and lift Nepal’s flag proudly.
