This episode is sponsored by 511, a company I've used personally for well over a decade
and continue to use to this day.
And they are offering you, the audience of the Behind the Show podcast, a discount.
Before I get to that, I want to highlight a couple of products.
So footwear has been a big issue and we all know that these heavy duty work boots cause
a lot of issues with joint health and fatigue.
Listening to the responders in the field, the military in the field, 511 have reverse
engineered and created some incredible footwear that is much more lightweight, just as durable
and minimizes both fatigue and damage to the joints.
One of those is the Norris Sneaker.
I have a pair of those myself, they are incredible.
And the other one is the AT Trainer that has the Atlas system which spreads the weight
of the load over the entire foot, thus reducing fatigue and long term damage.
Aside from footwear, they have the backpacks.
I have the AMP pack myself.
The civilian clothes, the jeans, the shorts, I absolutely live in these days.
The flashlights are some of the brightest I've seen and they last an incredibly long
time on one charge.
The list goes on and on.
Now because 511 cares about you, the tactical population, they are offering you a discount
of 15% on every purchase that you make.
So go to 511 Tactical, use the code SHIELD, S-H-I-E-L-D and save 15% every time you shop.
If you want to learn even more about the company, listen to episode 338 with co-founder and
CEO Francisco Morales.
This episode is brought to you by GovX and as you know, I only have companies on here
that I truly use and believe in myself.
And GovX is a complete no-brainer.
If you are a member of fire, police, EMS, corrections, military and even hospital setting
doctors and nurses, you qualify for the free membership to GovX which marries us with discounts
from so many companies that you probably already use.
And on top of that, it's not just for active duty but also retirees, veterans and volunteers.
So for our professions, having to purchase so much of our equipment, every single dollar
counts.
And understanding that, GovX has reached out to you, the Behind the Shield podcast audience
to offer you an additional saving.
On your first purchase of $50 or more, if you use the code SHIELD, S-H-I-E-L-D, they
will give you an additional $15 off your first purchase.
And another layer of GovX is GovX gives back.
Every month they're going to sell a different patch and the proceeds from that patch goes
to a charity that supports either first responders or military.
So as I mentioned before, go to GovX.com, G-O-V-X.com, register for your free membership and save
every single time you purchase.
Welcome to episode 379 of Behind the Shield podcast.
As always, my name is James Gearing and it is my absolute honor to welcome this week,
NIMS Die.
Now, we recorded this a few weeks ago, but NIMS has a brand new book coming out, which
will be released today when I put this out, which is called Beyond Possible.
A background on NIMS, he was a Nepalese Gurkha serving with the British army, then transitioned
to the SBS, Special Boat Service, one of the most elite fighting organizations on the planet,
and then transitioned to becoming an incredibly elite mountain climber, not only climbing
14 of the highest peaks in record breaking time, but also facilitating multiple rescues
as well.
So I can't stress how much depth there is to NIMS' story, how much you need to buy his
book as well, but I'm so, so honored that I was one of the first people to get the interview
prior to the book coming out.
Now before we get to that interview, as I say every week, please just take a moment,
go to whichever app you listen to this on, subscribe to the show, leave feedback and
leave a rating.
Each five star rating truly elevates this podcast, making it easier for people to find.
And this is a free library for you, Planet Earth.
So all I ask in return is that you help share these incredible men and women's stories so
I can get them to everyone else who hasn't heard them yet.
So with that being said, I introduce to you NIMS Die.
Enjoy.
All right.
So NIMS, I'm going to start by saying thank you so much for taking the time to come on
the podcast.
I have been following you now for a couple of years, I think, since Eric Donohoe introduced
us, but I think now is the perfect time with the book being ready to be released.
Hey, buddy.
Yeah, so good to obviously, you know, glad to be having this conversation and obviously
glad to see you a bit earlier on this in the Skype as well.
James, yeah, it's been quite a while that, you know, obviously Eric has been obviously
in Nepal with us and all that.
But yeah, great to be connected, Paul.
Absolutely.
Well, first question, where on planet Earth are we finding you today?
Well, right now I'm at my home in Hemsire and I've just been back here basically for
the book launch.
So, yeah.
And that's actually in Nepal?
No, it's in Hemsire in England, buddy.
It's near the doorstep.
I wish I was in Nepal, you know?
Okay.
But I got to be here for obviously, you know, various interviews and stuff for obviously
the book, Beyond Possible and To Be Fair, mate, and I'm really excited and all that.
So yeah, it's all good thing, I suppose.
Beautiful.
Well, yeah, the publisher was kind enough to send me a copy and we're definitely going
to talk about that.
But it was a great read just so that you know ahead of time.
So I want to start chronologically.
So where were you born?
And then tell me about your family dynamic, what your parents did and how many siblings.
Okay.
So I was born in western part of Nepal in a very remote area.
You know, we had a really humble upbringing in my family.
Obviously we got mom and dad.
Mom sadly passed away a couple of months ago, but then we have five siblings, four son and
one daughter, which is my sister, Anita.
And yeah, three of us are in the Gurkhas.
One of my brother is, you know, he just got retired as a teacher in Nepal.
So yeah, that's us.
Well, I'm sorry to hear about your mother for a start.
Hey, thank you.
It's okay.
So and then from what I understand, so there's an age gap between you and your older brothers,
is that right?
Yeah, massively.
So you know, as I just said earlier, we're very poor at the start.
You know, my mom and dad, you know, they eloped to get married, which was at that point in
Nepal was quite a big crime.
So they had nothing, you know, obviously they used to work in other's farm and eventually,
obviously my brothers were born.
And once they got into the Gurkhas, so obviously they sent me and my sister Anita to better
school.
We moved to Chitwan, which is the most flat and warm part of the country.
But yeah, there is gap between me and my, you know, elder brother is 18 and a half year
old.
So that's why, you know, they could, you know, send us to, you know, goodie school and all
that once they joined the Gurkhas, if that, you know, makes sense.
No, absolutely.
So for people listening, obviously being British, I'm a little bit more of you know, a little
more aware of the Gurkhas.
But tell me about the history of the Gurkhas, how they came about with their interaction
with the British armies.
I think it's a pretty fascinating story.
Yeah.
So somewhere around like, you know, 205 years ago when the British Empire was in India trying
to take over the world, they, you know, of course Nepal being a neighboring country,
they tried to take over Nepal.
But what happened was, you know, neither the British could, you know, win or neither the
Nepalese, you know, would give up.
So you know, the British were really, really impressed by the bravery of the Nepalese people.
And what they said at that point was, OK, we're not going to attack you anymore because
one of the generals was killed as well in this battle.
So we're not going to attack you more guys, but can we have, you know, you know, your
guys fighting for us?
And the king of Nepal at that point was, of course, he had too much problem with, you
know, fighting against obviously this massive power.
So he said, of course, we can, you know, we can partner.
But since then, the Gherkas have been serving with the British for 205 years now.
We have been, you know, with them throughout this whole journey, you know, Second World
War and all the Iraq, Afghanistan, you know, Libya and all that kind of stuff.
So yeah, and just to give you an idea what the selection of a Gherkas is like in Nepal
is, you know, in a year when I went for the selection, there were like 32,000 young men,
you know, trying for it and only 320 makes it.
So it's a very, very tough selection in Nepal.
That's amazing.
So one in one in a thousand chance of basically getting a spot.
Yeah, pretty much like that.
So staying with the Gherkas just for a second, because as a Brit, you know, one thing that
we always hear is the courage, you know, and there are, you know, numerous stories of,
you know, Gherka heroism.
So with that long history, what do you attribute that courage to as far as, you know, the culture
and the beliefs of the Nepalese people?
I think for me, you know, when people ask me, you know, what's, you know, who are you,
I always say, you know, I'm Nimistai.
I was born in Nepal, but I was raised in the Gherkas and United Kingdom Special Forces.
And of course, you know, I was made in the mountains.
But coming that, you know, I spent 16 years in the British military.
And what does Gherka means to me is it's in my bone, I think.
And what does Gherkas stand for across the world?
As you said, James, it's for bravery and also loyalty.
And you know, we live with the motto, you know, it's better to die than to be a coward
and all that.
So, yeah, it's very proud to be part of that family.
But you know, that respect is earned.
Absolutely.
Well, I always ask about, you know, athletics and being a sportswoman when you're younger.
As you mentioned, the Chitwan area was flat.
So am I right in understanding that you weren't really climbing when you were young?
I only started climbing when I was 29 years old, nearly 30.
But yeah, so yeah, and it was only in December 2012.
And as you said, Christian, I had no idea to climbing.
I didn't even trek at all before.
So yeah, it was completely, you know, different kind of dynamics to who I am now to how my
childhood was.
Yeah.
Beautiful.
So then tell me about your journey in martial arts because I know that was a pretty powerful
element.
Yeah, of course, you know, when I was in the kid, you know, I was put into this boring
school and, you know, Nepal being a third world country, you know, there are like, of
course, nasty things happens, you know, and there's loads of, you know, like school bullies
and all that.
And I was pretty young and all that.
But I remember in the in year seven, I started learning, you know, kickboxing and pretty
soon, you know, I started, you know, fighting for the regional championship and all that.
So obviously all those bullies and all that didn't happen after that.
But yeah, all good.
You know, I was I have always been a sportive, you know, when I was like not studying in
Nepal, you get only one day as a weekend, you get only Saturday off.
So in Saturday, I used to like explore the jungle of Chitwan.
It's a massive jungle.
I used to go into the to the river, like really small river.
Obviously, it's not massively well, you know, to those who are listening, because I was
a little kid.
But I used to go and look for the crabs and, you know, I was that much motivated that I
would turn every rocks in that river and, you know, in a search for, you know, those
crabs and come back home.
And I used to cook this crab with mom and of course, you know, we used to obviously
eat and all that.
So it's a very humble upbringing, if I'm honest.
Yeah, well, one thing that really struck me and this struck me as well, the reason why
you transition out of the SBS, but you mentioned early in the book about, you know, a lot of
people would give their money to the temples, but you actually would like to give it directly
to the people that you saw that needed it.
So where where did that kindness and compassion come?
Is that a national thing or is that more from your parents specifically?
I think I don't know, mate, to be honest, somehow early, even early, early in my life,
nobody taught me.
Nobody said anything, but I wasn't a religious person since I was kid, you know, because
I kind of, you know, even in very young age, I kind of, you know, started believing in
what I see.
And and, you know, for me, like a lot of, you know, you know, Nepalese people, they
go to the temple and they, you know, donate money to the mountain god, which is the statue,
you know, so not the mount, the Hindu gods, you know, which is the statues.
But then I feel that's a bit pointless, you know, rather than giving that money to the
statues and all that and somebody like taking that, you don't know where that money goes.
And I think it would make an absolute sense if you donate that money to the needy people,
like if there's an orphan, you know, and if there's someone, you know, disabled people,
if there is someone who is really poor and I still remember, I didn't have much in my
wallet, to be honest, because we're still like that.
But then I was I saw this guy who was really, really, he was poorer than us.
And I asked him, you know, does he has kids?
And he said, yes.
And I just emptied my wallet and I just said, yeah, go and, you know, in Nepal, you know,
you don't really, you know, have enough money to buy good food.
So I said, you know, like, here's your money, don't spend that on alcohol, make sure, you
know, you know, that's that's been, you know, this out to the family.
So I haven't always been like that somehow.
Yeah.
Beautiful.
I mean, obviously, that that comes out again later in the story.
So just to kind of recap, so your older brothers went in the Gurkhas that allowed you to have
the education that you had.
So tell me about your journey then into the Gurkhas.
Yeah, so I was in obviously in this, you know, boarding school in hostel, really strict regime
and yeah, you are not allowed to get out of the compound and all that.
But what I used to do is I used to wake up about like two o'clock in the in the morning
and I used to go for a run, you know, sometimes in a 20k, 30k.
And I used to be back, you know, just before like, you know, six in the morning when everybody's
awake, I used to pretend I'm still sleeping.
No one would know that I have been up out, you know, running with them, putting some,
you know, like metal rods in my in my in my socks as well, trying to make, you know, training
because, you know, we didn't have any weights or anything.
So I just, you know, shoe metal rock and metal rods bar into my socks.
And I was doing that kind of training.
But I felt my first selection to the Gurkhas just because, you know, the Gala Wala who,
you know, what Gala Wala is, you know, he is a very old retired in all school, you know,
expensing a Gurkha guy.
And, you know, if he doesn't like it, he doesn't like it.
So I felt for the first time and I only made it on the second attempt.
But for me, since I was kid, I didn't want it to be anything else.
I didn't want, I was really good in school, really good as in like, you know, I used to
be in top three in terms of whole, you know, marking system.
But, you know, my dream was only to be a Gurkha so I was secretly training for that and eventually
I made it buddy.
So, what do you think it was though that gave you that intrinsic determination to get, to
be the only child in that school that woke up at two in the morning, sewed steel rods
to their socks and went for a 20 or 30k run?
I think what I had in me is if I really want something and if I really, you know, like
dream of being something, you know, I've always put my heart, soul and, you know, dedication
to that.
And I think that's who I am, you know, and then that's not only from, you know, joining
the Gurkhas but that's also like, you know, there are a few stories which I have mentioned
on the book Beyond Possible.
So, yeah, I think it's kind of in the blood as well.
But why I wanted so much to be a Gurkha, it was purely because my dad was in the Gurkhas
and my two brothers were in the Gurkhas and whenever they come home, I kind of like their
like military style, you know, really smart and everybody was well, you know, like respecting
them and in a Gurkha was quite a big thing in our village.
So yeah, I just wanted to be part of that.
Yeah, well, that's understandable.
Absolutely.
You had some role models coming home.
So what was your journey like then?
There you are in Nepal, you know, you finally get a place in the Gurkhas and now you fly
off to the UK, a very different country than Nepal.
Yeah, you know, like when you are in Nepal, when people talk about, you know, United Kingdom,
England, you know, you think of in a big band in London Eye, Buckingham Palace.
So I was expecting that.
But what happened was when we land, it was raining sideways in London Heathrow, then
we're like soaked into this bus.
And after driving like almost 10 hours, we got into this place called Cattrick, which
is really up north of the England.
And we came out and look around.
The weather was absolutely miserable.
Haven't seen anywhere where the rain come like, you know, from from like sideways.
And yeah, and I was like, there's only a couple of houses you can see and there were more
sheep.
So I was like, well, actually, this is, you know, almost as you know, as worse as Nepal.
I was like, yeah, but you know, of course, that was it.
And eventually, you know, we were really, you know, went into a strict regime of the
training with the Gherkas, nine months in training.
Yeah, so it was a bit of cultural shock, to be honest, but you know, you got to adapt.
So it was hey hey.
Yeah, well, that's the thing.
I mean, if you're in a mountainous region of Nepal, like, you know, so far up the mountain,
I can see how it would be warm.
But if you're from a more tropical jungle like part of Nepal, then it was probably pretty
miserable.
Oh, it was like, yeah.
All right.
Well, the the the Gherkas are known obviously for the kukuri knife, the the kind of L or
the boomerang shaped knife almost.
Is that something that you ceremoniously get when you graduate the Gherkas?
Or you know, when when do you get that?
Or do you still even get that anymore?
Yes, buddy.
Whenever you pass the selection for the bigot of Gherkas, you are given that on your graduate.
All right.
So then your first deployment was Afghanistan.
Is that right?
Correct.
In 2007.
OK, so what was that like again?
I mean, you're now you go into a completely different landscape.
You're going from, you know, a peaceful country where you grew up and then where you trained
as well to to now a war zone.
So what was that like for a young Gherka?
For me, you know, like everything like for me was, you know, for the reputations.
And you know, and I will just tell you one story that I have briefly covered in the book,
for example.
You know, we were working with with the Marines, Royal Marines, you know, 40 commandos in Herik
7.
And one of my job as a as an engineer commander was to clear this compound so that, you know,
when we say clear this compound, we mean, you know, the compound is free from IED bombs
or any detonating device.
So I was doing that.
And obviously, my one of my, you know, corporal was like in southern with names hurry up.
And I was like, look, I cannot hurry up, you know.
And they were like, names, can you hurry up?
And I was like, I just got so angry.
I was like, you know, there is a valen valenism, you know, a metal detector that detects, you
know, IDs or any bombs, any metal on the ground.
So I just like threw that away.
And I was like, listen, if you think that I'm scared of like doing this and if you think
I'm doing it so slowly and methodologically because you think I'm scared, then there you
go.
I can just walk around without this valen and all that.
But the reason why I'm doing this job, you know, you know, 100 percent or methodologically
is because if I miss something here and those like, you know, the Marine Infantry Unit comes
in and if something detonates or if IED goes off, then, you know, we, you know, because
of my carelessness or our team carelessness, the whole reputation of the Guards is going
to get jeopardized.
So listen.
And of course, after that, they all listen.
But it was really humbling experience.
I worked with the commandos and before that, I wanted to join SAS after this tour.
But after working with the Royal Marines, I kind of preferred their ethos and I decided
to go to SBS.
And for those who are listening, just to give an example between SAS and SBS in terms of
military is in SAS, we got most of the guys who passed into SAS are from the Army background,
whereas the SBS, most of the guys who passed to the selection are from the Marine background.
So that's kind of a bit of sort.
I think we're going to probably cover a bit more into that later on.
But yeah, they both are tier one UKSF.
Yeah, absolutely.
Yeah.
And I definitely want to explore that because obviously SBS is more of a Marine background
and Nepal is not known for its oceans.
So we'll explore that in a moment.
One thing I always ask every member of the military, I ask, you know, Jay and SAS and
everyone else has come on with most of us being civilians, most of us, even if you're
in the military, if you weren't deployed specifically into a combat zone, there's these polarizing
kind of views that we get fed through television, whatever it is, either the very pro war or
the very anti war.
And to me, the more members of military that come on, the more I realize that there are
two things that you actually see as a soldier, as a sailor, whatever, you know, whoever the
person is.
One is that it seems to be this common denominator that wherever the war zone is amongst all
that fighting are men, you know, fathers and mothers and children that are just trying
to get on with their life.
But the other thing is usually they witness some sort of atrocity that then reinforces
the fact that they are doing some good when they're over there.
So did you have any kind of moments when you first deployed where you saw some of the horrific
stuff that was going on by some of the extremists over there?
Oh, yeah, massively, James.
And of course, you know, we went on this war for, you know, reasons.
And yes, a lot of people could have a different opinion on that.
But I have been on the ground and I have seen some horrible stuff that we try to obviously,
you know, stop prevent from, you know, you know, in or stopping that act, which is against
the humanity.
And so, you know, and specifically once you get into the garrick and his special forces,
we always make sure that who we go into our identity, our target, everything is identified
and there is a solid, legitimate, you know, bomb proof evidence.
And that's when we go.
So there's no doubt about what I have done and all.
And yeah, it's for the better world, which I believe in.
So but we are people and everybody has got different opinions and all that.
But, you know, unless you are in that in that shoes and unless you have been there, I don't
think, you know, you can really comment.
But hey, yeah, no, exactly.
I think that's an important point to underline is, you know, when I hear these stories, yes,
you are representing the UK or the US or Australia or wherever the person is from.
But ultimately, when you are on the ground, you're protecting the Afghani people or the
Iraqi people.
And I think that's that's a message that a lot of people lose.
Yeah, massively, mate.
And then, you know, like there are situations where, you know, like, you know, like young
kids being brought into to to to be to be trained to be a terrorist.
And that's like completely wrong, you know, where, you know, like a certain, you know,
terrorists, you know, those people in training, you know, like, you know, young kids, you
know, putting bombs on them and all that.
And I think, yeah, I think I don't really want to go in details about that, you know,
but if that's OK, I really wanted to talk about, you know, you know, what, you know,
what my past is, you know, what, you know, you know, what I have done last year, because
I'm I cannot talk so much about the Special Forces stuff because, you know, you know,
I have.
Yeah, no, no, absolutely.
Absolutely.
No, I've just it's just an interesting perspective, I think, from the people that were on the
ground, you know, but that's that's just one little thing I just want to touch on and move
on now.
So so your journey into SBS, then.
So there you are again from Nepal, like I said, not really exposed to a lot of aquatic
activities.
So tell me about the journey in through there.
No other guy I had obviously made through the ranks of SBS.
So that was really, you know, tough challenge to start with, because I would go there as
an alien and everything what I have to do over there, I have to work twice harder to
to prove myself, because, you know, you came from completely different background.
And for me as well, you know, it's not only about me, you know, it's about the reputations
of, you know, those hundreds and thousands of guys, you know, who who who has, you know,
build their name and reputations of bravery and loyalty.
So of course, I had to operate in extreme under pressure throughout my whole career.
And it's something, you know, that taught me massively also in terms of, you know, which
we'll talk about, you know, Bremen Project possible in a bit.
But yeah, it was it wasn't easy, buddy.
But I thoroughly enjoyed it because, you know, the work cycle, the job cycle is like a washing
machine cycle.
You know, you've been basically thrown around everywhere across the world.
And one thing that you cannot do is you cannot fuck up.
So yeah, that's the level of you know.
Well, and then something you touched on before with, you know, with the sweeping for ID story
and is something that seems to pan over and over again is the attention to detail and
whether it's my profession, the fire service or law enforcement or whatever it is, that
seems to be a very, very important part of, you know, of of earning the title professional.
So again, you know, how much was that reinforced when you when you leveled up to the SPS?
100 percent.
You know, you've got to apply all that and maybe beyond that.
So yeah, you know, that's why we are the best in elite service in England or maybe even
in the world.
Absolutely.
Well, so you have an interesting story from within the SPS to actually getting to Everest.
So I'd love to hear about how climbing started factoring into your service in special operations.
Yeah, so basically, I was 29 year old when I decided to go to Nepal to see the Everest.
It's a trekking, by the way.
But then once I started trekking, you know, you come through this beautiful village called
Namche Bazar.
And as you come through, then you see a massive mountain called Amadablam.
It's so beautiful.
It dominates the whole of the Khumbu Valley.
Honestly, it's such eye catching, such a beautiful.
It's amazing.
And after that, I was like, wow, I just wanted to experience how it feels to be standing
on the summit of that mountain and see the world.
So I asked my obviously instructor at that point was my guide to hike and recline.
And he laughed.
He said that mountain is super technical.
People who climb Everest can't even climb that.
So anyway, long story short, I managed to convince him to climb another mountain, 6200
meter peak.
The way we did was we had no kit and equipment, so we hired a kit in this village and we were
taught how to wear crampons and use crampons in the grass at this village.
So we were putting crampons and walking, obviously.
Yeah.
And after that, I know eventually submitted to the lobbyist.
And at that point, when I was on this mountain, what I realized was when you come from a geocache
background, when you become like, you know, come from the special forces, when you have
done things and been there, all that stuff, you think you are invincible.
And when I went into the mountain, at that point, I just realized we are no one.
It made me feel how small I am, but also equally, I just love that, you know, the whole atmospheric
challenging, the environmental challenge, like where you are struggling to breathe,
you know.
Yeah, it was awesome.
But also the view once you get to the summit and all that.
So that's what it got me into in extreme high altitude mountain.
And from that point, you know, whenever I had like a bit of leave, you know, coming
from special forces background, it's always hard.
So yeah, I managed to do a bit of climbing here and there after that.
Now, you know, with the Nepalese background, did you notice that your physiology was different
than some other people that you climb with and that you were able to tolerate the altitude?
At that point, not really, because at that point, I just thought I'm UK special forces.
I must be faster and stronger than anybody else here.
That was kind of my attitude, which was massively wrong.
But I discovered like I had kind of a natural strength in terms of high altitude mountaineering
in 2014 when I climbed Dalagri, which is the world's seventh highest mountain.
And I submitted that mountain in just 14 days Kathmandu to Kathmandu without any prior acclimatization,
leading more than 70 percent of the route when I was obviously in a trailblazing and
all that.
So I kind of realized.
But just to give you an idea, at that point, I had no idea still.
I was just planning to climb Everest one day and other 8,000 meter peak eventually.
But I was kind of improving my skills towards climbing without oxygen.
But I was kind of collecting my experience at that stage.
Yeah.
So I know you ended up teaching climbing within special forces too.
So when did that come in?
So what happened was after Lobuche East, which I just mentioned you about, I got back into
SPS.
I was in MPVS troop.
That means you would take lead on parasitting and anything MPVS, watery stuff.
And I changed from that troop to mountain troop.
And eventually I started working my way and all that.
And yeah, when I left SPS, I was one of the lead badge role as in badge operator.
I was head of that, kind of like in teaching the special forces guys about extreme cold
weather warfare and all that.
So yeah.
And did you find that your climbing then made you even better when it came to your SPS activities?
Well, you know, like it's a completely different stuff.
You know, what we do in SPS is not extreme high altitude.
What we do there is in extreme cold weather warfare.
So it's a completely different skills.
But at some point that does, you know, collapse.
As in like there will be a few overlaps and all that.
But yeah, but obviously I was doing this in a high altitude mountain as my love and passion.
But I was trying to bring that into SPS.
Because with that incident in Nanga Perbath in 2011 when, you know, 11 climbers were killed
by the terrorists, you know, nobody could go and save their lives.
So I was kind of looking into this, you know, if something like this happened, I was kind
of working towards developing the capabilities and all that.
But eventually, obviously, I left.
But yeah.
That's very interesting, that was in the mountains of Afghanistan, is that right?
In Pakistan.
Oh, Pakistan.
Okay.
Yeah.
Incident in Nanga Perbath, it happened in 2011.
It was a huge terrorist incident.
So the other thing that kind of springs to mind to me is, again, you were born in the
tropical area, then you go to the UK, you have to see you're deploying to the Middle
East.
Where do you relate your ability to tolerate the cold?
Because up to that point, you hadn't really been exposed to a lot of very, very cold areas.
Well, when I went to the mountain trip, obviously, I went to Norway and did loads of an extreme
cold weather warfare training within the SBS.
But yeah, I think if you love doing something, things would come naturally, I guess.
And then so the speed element too.
So I know we're going to talk about obviously the project possible and the ridiculous speed
that you did the peaks.
When did you start noticing that you were just faster in general than a lot of climbers?
In 2017, I was one of the instructors for the gearkas to the Everest.
And the mission was to put a first serving gearka on the summit of Everest.
Okay.
Technically, I had done that in 2016, but in the wider military didn't know because
I was in the special forces.
Nobody knew about this anyway.
So yeah, 2017, here we are.
And I was one of the instructor going over there.
And what happened that season was, you know, in Everest, there is an officer team normally
who said the fixed lines to the summit and a lot of people, you know, use that trail
blades, use that logistic, that, you know, that fixed lines to summit to the Everest,
to the top.
So that season that didn't happen.
And what it meant for me as an instructor and as a gearka and as a UK Special Forces
operator was one, as a gearka, whenever, you know, like in another chance, this will be
our like, if we fail on that one, it will be another third attempt that we will get
another chance to go and climb Everest, you know.
So that was no.
And also, you know, like coming from the gearka background, everybody think, you know, Everest
is in your back garden.
You know, but it's not, but there was a huge reputation on the ricks as well.
The second one was, you know, again, you know, this was the second time that we used, you
know, British taxpayers money to go and do this.
And I don't think there will be ever third attempt.
So I stepped up and I formed my own team to go and set these fixed lines, a combination
of, you know, mostly serpas and a couple of gearka instructors.
Yeah, went and obviously set the fixed lines, not opening the route for only our team, but
the rest of the season's mountaineer.
And immediately after that, obviously, I came with the team to Kathmandu.
Then I went back again to climb Everest, Lhotse and Makalu, which I did in five days.
And that's including stopping for two nights, parting in between.
Otherwise, I could have done that in three days.
And at that point, I realized I had so much to give into this mountaineering world.
So that's where, you know, the bigger vision is to start coming into me.
That's when I realized, you know, I was something different.
I had something different.
All right.
And so the 2017 summit was basically two years later for the G200.
Is that right?
Yeah, 2017 summit was only two years later after I did my project possible.
Right.
Yeah.
Okay.
So was that 2015, was that when they had the earthquake on Everest?
2015 was.
So the first time we attempted was 2015.
The big earthquake came.
Nobody's, you know, obviously made it to the top as the expeditions were all canceled.
2017 was the second time that, you know, we were back again.
Right.
So going back to just the SBS, one thing I kind of missed, I think it's very important,
was, you know, you detailed this in the book, that you actually were shot in the face.
So how were you able to kind of overcome that injury and push forward?
I think we should leave that for the readers to find in the book beyond possible.
Shall we?
Beautiful.
Yes, let's do that.
I haven't got this chronologically down.
So when was the first time you made a rescue on the mountain?
It was in 2016 when I went to this, you know, super secret trip to, you know, Everest.
And this was the trip that I made a really last minute decision between the tour, operational
tour between, you know, the threat of the threat.
So no one knew, not even my family, other than, you know, my wife.
I went to Nepal, decided to climb Everest solo.
And on the way down, I rescued this female climber who was, you know, left behind to
die by, you know, of course, in her team and guide.
So I brought her down.
And at that point I was climbing.
I take oxygen from camphor, but I was I was developing my skills towards to climb without
it.
But what happened from that point was I managed to rescue her from balcony with a thousand
four hundred fifty meters.
I did five hundred meter worth of rescue at the desert in just 90 minutes.
That's super quick.
Just to give you an example, it took two days for a team of five rescue members to get her
down to come to.
So from that point, obviously, I decided to climb, you know, big mountains with oxygen
after camphor or high camp.
But yeah, it was only in 2016.
And I rescued her, got back into, you know, Kathmandu, then to England.
And within like literally a week of submitting Everest secretly, I was in Afghanistan kicking
door.
Nobody knew about it.
So, yeah.
Well, how does that look like?
What does that look like when when it's normally so slow and, you know, that her team had basically
left her?
You know, what were you doing differently that allowed you to make that rescue so rapidly?
I'm Nimzatai.
What I have is like being brutally honest, you know, I have this massive physical stamina.
My mindset is, you know, you know, different, you know, I operate differently at the death
zone.
That's like my playground.
And, you know, coming back from in a girl cousin, special forces background, I have
never left anyone behind in the operations or in the battle.
I'm not going to leave someone in over there when they see my, you know, in my joint.
So I had to rescue.
So yeah.
Beautiful.
All right.
Well, then I know that you decided to make a transition out of SBS for a very kind of
altruistic reason.
So tell me about your journey to making the decision to transition out of the military.
OK.
So 2018, I was appointed as, you know, head of an extreme cold weather warfare within
the SBS.
And one of my job is to obviously go out, do loads of, you know, find out about the
climbing, mountaineering, finding out what these professionals are doing, find out new
kit and equipment, all that and pass that knowledge to our fellow operators.
In process of that, what I approached to SBS at that point was, can I go and climb top
five highest mountain in just 80 days?
Because you know, I had loads of in the leave, old and all that.
And but then the decision was no purely because of the risk factors, you know, in K2, one
in four dies, Kansanjunga nearly that.
And you know, of course, I wasn't just climbing one mountain, but I was doing a pretty much
mountain marathon.
So it makes sense from, you know, of course, the defense.
So they said no.
And I was like, OK.
But at that point, when I say when I put my in a cheating, I got invitation from an SES
to like, you know, join their regimen.
And certainly they had a better job opportunity for me and all that.
But yeah, you know, for me, it wasn't, you know, you know, that, you know, my loyalty
lies in the blood.
Coming from the background, you know, whatever I do, you know, it will have an impact on
my future generations.
So I took my loyalty and over, you know, my job security, pensions and everything.
And yeah.
And after that, I resigned.
And I was like, since I'm resigning anyway, I got like time to myself.
I don't have to get permission to do things and all that.
I'm my own boss.
So why only climb five mountain?
I'm going to climb all the 14.
So I googled in the internet, I found out the fastest time was nearly eight years.
Then I planned all that out.
And I thought, you know, I could do under seven months.
So that's the journey.
Yeah.
Well, when you told that story, you gave up your pension.
And I can totally relate because I retired out the fire service and basically took the
money that I had and put it back into doing this for exactly the same reason.
I mean, don't get me wrong.
I wasn't climbing 14 mountains, but it was I realized I could do more good leaving the
environment that I was in and being a voice for the people rather than staying in that
profession.
Yeah, true, buddy.
And you know, like for me, I never joined, you know, in SBS to be a general or to make
millions.
You know, it was pure for love for the job and pure like passion for the job.
You know, because, you know, I wanted to be part of that group so much.
And at that point, I even said, you know, if I just pass the selection, if I'm good
enough, I'm happy to work for free.
So that much, you know, like I wanted to be part of that group.
So yeah.
And then for me, I have I felt like I have done enough for the for the crown in a country.
I have served 16 years all my time during the military where, you know, in that period
where the war was kicking up all across the globe.
So I had a really, really hardcore, you know, military, you know, duty as well.
So but after that, it was, you know, for different reason.
It was for something else that, you know, I can I can reach out to to the wider community
and all that.
So yeah.
Beautiful.
Well, the the project that you that you started planning was Project Possible.
So tell me tell me about the recipients.
Who are you trying to raise money and or awareness for with that project?
So everything what I do in life, I need to find a purpose or a goal or something that
really means most to me.
So when I come with this idea, you know, of course, I need a purpose why I'm doing this.
And it was very simple for me.
I wanted to show the world that what is humanly possible, you know, because at that point,
no one could even imagine and I couldn't even imagine that before that until 2018.
It was it was beyond my imagination as well.
So I somehow it came into my imagination that I could do it.
So I wanted to obviously show the world that, you know, if you can imagine something and
if you really put your heart, mind and soul into that, you can do it.
Secondly, I wanted to raise the the name of the Nepalese climbers who have been frontier
of all the Himalayan peaks, you know, but they never got the right credit.
And thirdly, I wanted to raise the awareness about climate change and global warming, which
is very close to my heart.
And I really believe in those three purposes.
And that's what it gives me strength, fire and everything.
Yeah, well, I know that your mentor, your climbing mentor that you actually lost in
2015 was extremely passionate about climate change.
So while you have a captive audience here, tell me what you know, from the Nepalese perch,
what you guys are seeing regarding to climate change?
There has been a massive change.
For example, I was in Amadablam, which is the most beautiful iconic peak of Himalayas.
My first climb when I went there, it came on, we could just, you know, grab the snow,
melt it, drink water, cook food and all that.
When I went there again in 2018, there was no snow.
So we had to carry like gallons of water because the water is heavy, right?
You know, one liter is one kg.
So when we had to carry like gallons of water, you know, into this extreme like route altitude,
I was like, oh my God, that was so painful, but equally so sad.
And that's when I had the true realization of, wow, this is real.
Again, you know, like I was in Dalagri, my first 8000 meter peak in 2014.
I went back there in 2019 for, you know, for this project and the whole of the glacier
was melting.
And I didn't believe that in just in a matter of few years, you could see such a huge change.
And you know, if you look, if you now forget those what I have seen and just like if you
look into the scientific figures and all that, if you look, you know, the Khumbu Valley,
if we lose the glacier of, you know, like Khumbu Icefall and all that, it's going to
have an effect on millions of lives.
And this is something that's really worrying.
So I really wanted to obviously raise, you know, the awareness about it through my channels.
So yeah, and that's what I've been doing.
That's beautiful.
That's something that I've talked about a few times on here.
I lived in Los Angeles for a little while and I always found it insanity that you would
have all these kind of anti-climate change views.
And my thing was, well, we're in a city where you can't even see 200 meters ahead of you.
So rather than even worry about, you know, the climate change element, why don't we just
work on what we can see, which is the product of emissions.
You see the smokestacks all over the country that are spewing out toxic gases.
Let's work on what we can see and I guarantee you will probably have a knock on effect on
climate change as well.
Yeah, that's so true, buddy.
And I just was that, you know, a documentary by Sir David Ettenborough.
And you know, and the message he sends was so powerful, like, you know, whatever we do
all as a human, if we put, you know, nature to our heart and make decisions around that,
we can make changes.
We don't, you know, and then it's only like when there is a bigger goal and when there's
a bigger project, it's not the big thing that makes a difference.
It's the smaller things.
And if everyone is doing those little smaller things, that's what it makes the huge change.
So yeah.
Absolutely.
All right.
Well, then you mentioned 14 peaks, but you didn't mention how, you know, what the record
was up to that point and then the time period that you were hoping to scale all 14.
So what was the current record and then what was your hope?
So the record was, you know, I think it's seven years, 11 months and 14 days.
And that record was hold by, you know, Jersey Cuscooza and a Korean climber, Kim Jang-ho,
tried to break his record and he break that record by only, you know, less than 10 days
or something like that.
Yeah.
So when I plan into like seven months, it was crazy because, you know, if you look into
this idea for those who doesn't know this big mountains and all, you know, people take
two months to climb one big mountains, one 8,000 meter peak and all that.
So no one could really imagine.
But being able to change that perspective into this, you know, new era of, you know,
extreme high altitude mountaineering, I think it's quite humbling, buddy.
And that's kind of what I wanted to do.
Yeah.
Well, you had self-belief and obviously, you know, you'd seen what you were capable of
at that point, but I know that proposing it to sponsors was a challenge for you.
So what was the fundraising element like for you?
The fundraising was one of the toughest thing I have ever done after writing this book.
So yeah, at that point, I still had one year planning to do before I get into this project.
The whole project had two planning.
One was operational, which was my bag, my perk, my expertise.
And there was another one which was fundraising.
The fundraising part was led by one of my friend.
And just like three months prior to the project, you know, I was told that there is zero pound
on the project fund.
So after that, I decided to take the lead by myself.
And yeah, nobody would believe it.
They were like, OK, Nims, if you think like, you know, you are that bad ass climber, mountainer,
why haven't we heard about you before?
I was like, I just told you I was in special forces, you know, I didn't even have a Facebook.
I didn't have any Instagram.
So how are you going to hear about me?
And then some would say, oh, the previous two records are nearly 80 years and you were
just trying to say you're going to do that in seven months.
So people were making the joke out of it and all that.
Yeah, mate.
And just to give you an idea, before I set off from London Heathrow to Kathmandu, Nepal
for this project, I only had five percent of the total fund.
It was that hard.
And I still remember when people were so negative and all that.
I was driving in this motorway in M3.
And given the fact I have operated in a very, very hostile, you know, stressful, multilayered
very stressful environment.
And that doesn't like overwhelm me.
But on this one fundraising, I was driving on this motorway and I just had tears coming
from my eyes.
I had to pull off and obviously had had to have a word for myself, get a grip, you know.
And then I drove off.
And then and the reason why it gives me strength was the purpose why I was doing this mission.
But yeah, it was it was tough, buddy, and the funding started coming later on from the
from the project through sponsorship.
A lot of people supported through GoFundMe page as well.
Once I started climbing in the way that I said I would climb and the rescues, you know,
all that.
Beautiful.
Well, this is a tangent with that.
So many members of the military had on, you know, myself, my profession, you know, all
the tactical professions.
There's a toll.
There's a mental toll to what we see is a mental toll to what some of us have to do.
And then, you know, a lot of times that manifests when you transition out of the profession
because that group that you were in, that tight knit tribe that you belong to, now you're
on the outside.
Well, with your journey, not only on the outside, but now you have the added frustration of
having served your country and yet not now, you know, having so many problems trying to
have raised money for this this climb that you know is going to do so much good.
So did you have either then or later on in your, you know, the last few years, have any
elements where, you know, you saw the ripple effect mentally of, you know, the service
that you've given?
Nobody.
Because for me, you know, I think it was different.
And of course, you know, I see a lot of friends, you know, having a ripple effect.
But at the moment, no, because in everything what I did was was by the book.
You know, it was something that I really loved doing it.
And there was a there was a purpose and all that.
So yeah, I'm okay, thankfully.
Well, good.
And I think that I expected that answer.
And the reason being is because, as you said, you had a purpose.
And that seems to be the key for people transitioning out, you know, healthily is that they go
from one purpose to the next.
And obviously, you know, the client seemed to be that good transition.
100%.
Beautiful.
All right.
Well, then, so you know, you were still working on the fundraising.
So lead me through to Braemont because I want to give them some some airtime too, because
they seem to be, you know, well-engrossed in, you know, your climb, obviously, with
Through Dark.
So let's talk about how they came in and, you know, got behind your project.
So you know, when I finished the first project and all that, you know, a lot of people started
believing that I could really do it, you know, because, you know, at first people didn't
believe in all that.
But on the second phase, when I was like, struggling for the for the fund, Braemont
advanced me, you know, roughly in a 200k.
And that allowed me to do the second phase in a peaceful manner.
Yeah, and then through that, guys, and of course, they have been, you know, like, you
know, friends, they have been supporting me with the clothing and all that.
And I'm quite proud to represent them and all that.
But yeah, they were like great sponsors, like in and Middleton, you know, who supported
this project, you know, give me, you know, sponsorship.
And yeah, he didn't even ask for anything, not even like one social media post and all
that.
But there were some really great supporters out there like Select So, Osprey Europe, I
had like tons of, you know, like the sponsors because nobody could, you know, fund the whole
project.
So and I must not forget my, you know, half of the project fund came from the crowdfunding.
Actually people giving, you know, five pounds, ten pounds, and a lot of people were giving
that as well.
So that's why I keep saying it was a people's project.
Beautiful.
Well, then back to the climbs then.
So kind of walk me through that and then where you not only did it in a certain time, but
also that was including other rescues that you made.
Yeah, you know, for me, of course, that was the mission.
The mission was there.
But you know, before mission, you know, of course, there is a humanity and there is a
culture and there is a true spirit of who really I am.
And for me, I couldn't really walk away with not risking people or walking past the needy
people.
So I did, you know, first rescue was on Annapurna, you know, where I was about to go to climb
Daulagri, my second mountain to tick off.
But then I abandoned that Daulagri to go and rescue Dr. Chin.
The side effect was massive because, you know, my team in Daulagri, because they have been
waiting for a while, they said I was never going to come.
So they almost like, you know, close the camp and left.
But yeah, and the story goes on.
Like in, for example, Kanchenjunga, I hadn't slept for like six days.
Normally people, you know, go to the summit from, you know, sleeping at camp one, camp
two, camp three and all that.
I didn't have that luxury.
So I was just racing from base camp to the summit of this massive mountain, world third
highest mountain, Kanchenjunga.
And that as well, I had to give, you know, me and my team, Miqmaq, David, myself and
Guest Man, we rescued four climbers and we had to give oxygen at 1450 meters.
And a lot of people say, oh yeah, you climb with oxygen and all that.
But this is the main reason why I do it.
You know, I get my oxygen to save the life of these people.
And if you look into the science, physics beyond that, coming off oxygen at 1450 meters
and doing a rescue, which is like equally dragging a car at the sea level is is hardcore
than any mountains you climb without oxygen and all that.
So yeah, but the whole thing about this rescue is about, you know, not letting your core
value and principle go in a very tough, challenging conditions.
But also you've got to know your abilities as well.
You know, you don't want to be, you know, one of the stupid in a person who doesn't
know your ability, try to rescue somebody else and then you become other casualty.
And then you kind of, you know, like met that problem even more.
So it's all about a dynamic, calculated risk assessment given the whole circumstances and
environment.
Yeah, and obviously you detail the climbs and the rescues in the book.
And again, I can't mention that enough.
But it also highlights again, that altruistic element that you have where you're not carrying
oxygen so that you can be the best, you can be the fastest, but you're lugging that tank
up on the off chance that you have to make a rescue.
So you either have the strength or you're able to give oxygen to the victim.
So I think that speaks volumes.
Yeah, maybe, you know, because at the end of the day, you you got to learn from your
experience.
OK, whenever we go in the target, whenever we go in the mission, there's always debrief.
We don't only talk about what went well and high five.
We just talk.
We also talk about what went wrong as well and what are the lesson learned.
And for me, the lesson learned from my first Everest expedition in 2016 was climbing a
thousand meter peak is not about ego.
You know, if you can climb all this mountain with the value and principle, then that's
the one for me anyway.
So I learned something from that expedition and I carried that with me to this point and
all that.
It's all about learning from the experience and making what it fits with you as a human,
as an individual as well.
And I'm not there to please the world and all that.
Nobody can do that, you know, because we all are human.
We all are different.
But, you know, as long as you have purpose, you learn from your mistakes, you learn from
your experience, you always will be successful in what you do because you are always learning
and adapting.
Beautiful.
Just to point out, one of my favorite parts of the book was the very end, the lessons
learned at the back.
And it ties in all the stories.
But you know, you've got these key points that really make you think about, you know,
leadership and ownership and all these other areas.
Yeah, 100%.
You know, like the whole thing with the book, as I said, is like, even covering the leadership
in my team members, I normally when people go to the big mountains and all, they will
have somebody else who has submitted that mountain because, you know, he can show you
the route.
There's like, you know, there's danger, you know, because once you submitted, you kind
of know the route.
But I didn't do that.
Because I put my guys because they were rotating, you know, between summit to the summit.
So I put these guys into the mountain that they haven't climbed before.
So they also have the objective as well.
So when you put, you know, the interests of your team members, you know, into your heart
as well, and that gives such a powerful gesture.
Yeah, the whole leadership style is completely different and all that.
And I think that's also one of the reasons why, you know, the whole, you know, project
was successful.
Yeah.
Well, speaking of the Nepalese people, so here we are now recording this in, you know,
2020.
What has been the impact of COVID on the climbing environment and therefore the economic side
for the Nepalese?
You know, good question.
You know, a lot of people in Nepal, the climbing community, they massively rely, you know,
rely on Everest Expedition.
That's the biggest expedition.
That's where they make money, you know, all the guides.
And of course, you know, the whole family depend on that, you know, expeditions and
all that.
But with COVID, all the Himalayan expeditions were cancelled this year.
So it was really tough time, you know, and I did what I could do to help them.
You know, I kind of had that GoFundMe page and we're like just buying food for the people.
A lot of people have donated on that one.
And thank you so much to those who have donated and all that.
Yeah, it's a really tough time, you know.
It's a tough time for everybody else.
I know we all have our own problems and all that.
But just in relation to the climbing community, thank you so much to everyone who had supported.
Yeah.
Brilliant.
All right.
Well, then lead me through then what made you decide to write a book and then what that
process was like.
I just finished a book myself so I can relate.
But what was your experience?
Why I wanted to write the book.
This was one of the strengths that I had when I was almost dying on the 1000m peak, when
I was running out of my energy and all.
I wanted to tell the story by myself.
I wanted to do the justice to the story.
I didn't want, you know, somebody else writing my story on the guest, you know, on like Azimson
or in the imagination.
Because what I have written in this book is a statement.
No one can argue with this.
Everything what I have written is backed up by either video evidence or anything.
And everything hasn't been even like, you know, when people do something, people make
it bigger.
And honestly, believe me, I've tried to play down as much as I can.
And everything is like, like there.
But to be able to tell this story from my own perspective, you know, it was really,
really humbling experience.
But to be honest, buddy, the writing book is hardcore.
It is so hard.
I have read this book now nine times.
And I must say, I'm very excited now because I have put so much work.
And as you know, I give 100% in everything that I do in my life.
And that's what I have done with the book.
And this book is not about, you know, mountain.
It's about letting, you know, yourself about climbing your own mountains and how you could
achieve, you know, your own new possible in relation to how I cope with the problem, how
I mitigate with them, what my thought process are and all that.
So I hope it will be, you know, people's book as well.
No, well, like I said, I thought it was fantastic.
And there's many times now in conversations on here, I've spoken to people who have redefined
something in life, you know.
And then once they do, then behind them is a bunch of people that then start to kind
of match the same thing.
But it's that first pioneer, that first person that shows other people that something is
possible.
And I think that's what I got from this is, you know, again, like you said, definitely
the kindness, compassion element, which I think is beautiful, but also that belief,
that self belief.
Like, I don't care what anyone says, I fucking know that I can do this.
So I'm just going to show you.
Yeah.
Thank you, buddy.
And that's what exactly it is.
And that's what exactly, you know, the being possible is about, you know, finding your
own mission.
If you believe in that, give your heart, mind and soul into it and just go for it and you'll
be successful.
You will make the impossible possible.
Now what was it like for you once you'd written it?
Were you able to kind of breathe a sigh of relief now you were able to kind of offload
that story?
I have, but obviously, you know, I'm not that kind of a person who can just go on a busy
holiday and relax.
You know, I can't do that.
So I have been on a mission and I have been learning how to speed fly.
I have been like, you know, full on buddy.
I'm planning on, you know, like the next future project and all that.
So it's full on mission because, you know, I'm quite new to this mountaineering world,
to be honest.
I just became a professional climber only a year ago.
Before that, you know, my profession was in a tier one UK in a special forces.
So I got a lot to do, I think.
Yeah, absolutely.
Well, so are there any big plans?
Is there a next adventure that you're hoping to share?
I cannot really say that now, but it is something massive, you know, equally big.
And yeah, stay tuned.
I don't doubt it for a moment.
All right.
Well, again, like I said, the book is incredible.
And I think what's so good is you are the quiet professionals, you know, and again,
I'm not trying to draw anything out from any of your service that shouldn't be out there.
But when, you know, when men and women who have these powerful stories are able to put
it in writing, whatever they're allowed to tell about, it really, really resonates with
people because there's so much shallow fiction out there.
And yet these real life stories that many of whom have had on the show are so much more
powerful than most storytellers can make up anyway.
So I can't advocate highly enough for your book.
Thank you, buddy.
That's really kind of you.
And thank you for your honest feedback as well.
No problem.
Let me transition some closing questions so I can let you go.
We'll talk about where people can find the book in just a moment.
But is there a book that someone else has written that you love to talk about or recommend?
It can be related to what we've discussed today or something completely different?
Nothing really, buddy, because I'm going to be brutally honest, I haven't read any book.
Sorry.
No, no problem at all.
What about it?
My writing book was really crazy and all that because the whole life in Escriptural Forces,
you're busy running around and all that.
And straight after that, I was into this project and obviously, full on.
But I can definitely tell you who have been my inspiration from what I have been seeing
and all that is definitely Muhammad Ali and Usain Bolt.
These two guys have been a massive inspiration for me.
Beautiful.
Yeah, I think that's the problem with your profession, even my profession, is there's
so many facts and skills to master that I found in most of my Fire Service career.
I was reading textbooks and reading medical books and all those things.
So there wasn't a lot of time for other books, really.
Yeah.
Brilliant.
All right.
So then what about a film?
Any films or documentaries that you've loved?
I cannot talk about.
Oh, you mean like that I love?
Yeah, that you love.
Nothing secret.
I watched the last dance by obviously Michael Jordan.
It was awesome.
Yeah.
And then you mentioned David Attenborough's documentary as well?
Yeah, it was that as well in a couple of days ago.
That's amazing.
Yeah.
Beautiful.
My sister works for the BBC and she edits.
So I'm hoping this is the absolute pipe dream.
I'd love to get him on one day.
That would be incredible.
Wow.
We should see.
That would be awesome.
All right.
So the next question, is there a person that you recommend to come on this podcast as a
guest to speak to the first responders, military and associated professions of the world?
Is it like, you know, who I recommend to come on the next podcast?
Is that your question?
Yeah, just as an answer.
Then it can be again, anyone.
Doesn't have to be specifically what we've discussed today.
Anyone on planet Earth that you think would be a good person for us to listen to.
Did you speak with Jay?
Jay Moulton?
Yes.
So Staz and Jay were both on a little while ago.
You took their clothing through dark up the mountain, didn't you?
Okay.
Yeah.
And basically, you know, like if you can, you know, bring Anne Middleton.
You know, he has such a positive mindset and all that.
So yeah, get him.
Brilliant.
I shall.
Thank you so much.
All right.
So then the last question before we make sure everyone knows where to find the book and where
to find you.
What do you do to decompress?
I go and do an extreme sports where I'm literally living my life in the moment.
You know, if I mess up, if I fuck up, I die.
And that's what I do to decompress.
Which sport specifically?
Anything mate.
There's so many things, you know, climbing peak mountains or climbing an extreme in a
great mountains, isn't like grading or even speed flying.
Yeah.
All that kind of stuff.
Beautiful.
Yeah.
It's hard not to be in the moment when you almost die.
All right.
So then the very last question then.
So where can people find the book first?
So basically, if you are following on my Instagram at Nimsta, there's a link.
You can just find it from there or, you know, you can find that from in a water with stones
in a imagine.
Yeah.
But the easiest thing for now, you know, if you're listening is, you know, just, you know,
type Nimsta on Instagram or Facebook.
There's a link on the bio and yeah, I hope you will enjoy reading it.
Absolutely.
Well, Nims, I want to say thank you so much.
It's been a great conversation.
I really enjoyed it.
And I really appreciate you taking the time to come on the podcast today.
May thank you so much to you as well for having me.