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save every single time you purchase. Welcome

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to episode 379 of Behind the Shield podcast.

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As always, my name is James Gearing, and it is

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my absolute honor to welcome this week, Nims

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Dai. Now, we recorded this a few weeks ago, but

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Nims has a brand new book coming out, which will

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be released today when I put this out, which

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is called Beyond Possible. A background on Nims,

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he was a Nepalese Gurkha serving with the British

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Army, then transitioned to the SBS, Special Boat

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Service, one of the most elite fighting organizations

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on the planet. and then transitioned to becoming

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an incredibly elite mountain climber, not only

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climbing 14 of the highest peaks in record -breaking

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time, but also facilitating multiple rescues

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as well. So I can't stress how much depth there

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is to Nimza's story, how much you need to buy

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his book as well. But I'm so, so honored that

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I was one of the first people to get the interview

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prior to the book coming out. Now, before we

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get to that interview, as I say every week, please

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just take a moment, go to whichever app you listen

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to this on, subscribe to the show, leave feedback,

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and leave a rating. Each five -star rating truly

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elevates this podcast, making it easier for people

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to find. And this is a free library for you,

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planet Earth. So all I ask in return is that

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you help share these incredible stories men and

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women's stories so I can get them to everyone

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else who hasn't heard them yet. So with that

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being said, I introduce to you Nim's Die. Enjoy.

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All right, so Nims, I want to start by saying

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thank you so much for taking the time to come

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on the podcast. I have been following you now

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for a couple of years, I think, since Eric Donohoe

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introduced us. But I think now is the perfect

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time with the book being ready to be released.

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Hey, buddy. Yeah, so good to obviously, you know,

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you know, glad to be having this conversation

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and obviously glad to see you a bit earlier on

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this in Skype as well. James, yeah, it's been

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quite a while that, you know, obviously Eric

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has been obviously in Nepal with us and all that.

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But yeah, great to be connected, Paul. Absolutely.

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All right. Well, first question, where on planet

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Earth are we finding you today? Well, right now

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I'm at my home in Hamsar and I've just been back

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here basically for the book launch. So, yeah.

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And that's actually in Nepal? No, it's in Hamsar

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in England, buddy. I wish I was in Nepal, you

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know. Okay. But I got to be here for, obviously,

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various interviews and stuff for, obviously,

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the book, Beyond Possible. And to be fair, mate,

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I'm really excited and all that. So, yeah, it's

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all a good thing, I suppose. Beautiful. Well,

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yeah, the publisher was kind enough to send me

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a copy, and we're definitely going to talk about

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that. But it was a great read, just so that you

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know ahead of time. So I want to start chronologically.

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Where were you born? And then tell me about your

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family dynamic, what your parents did and how

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many siblings. Okay, so I was born in western

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part of Nepal in a very remote area. You know,

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we had a really humble upbringing in my family.

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Obviously, we got mom and dad. Mom sadly passed

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away a couple of months ago, but then we have

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five siblings. Our four sons and one daughter,

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who is my sister, Anita. And yeah, three of us

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are in the Gurkhas. One of my brothers, he just

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got retired as a teacher in Nepal. So yeah, that's

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us. Well, I'm sorry to hear about your mother

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for a start. Hey, thank you, it's okay. So and

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then from what I understand, so there's an age

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gap between you and your older brothers, is that

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right? Yeah, massively. So, you know, as I just

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said earlier, we're very poor at the start. You

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know, my mom and dad, you know, they eloped to

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get married, which was at that point in Nepal

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was quite a big crime. So they had nothing, you

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know, obviously they used to work in others'

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farm. and eventually obviously my brothers were

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born um and once they got into the gurkhas um

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so obviously they sent me and my sister anita

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to to battery school we moved to chitwan which

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is the most flat and warm part of the country

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but yeah there is gap between me and my you know

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elder brother is 18 and half year old so that's

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why you know They could, you know, send us to,

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you know, Goody School and all that once they

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join the Gurkhas, if that, you know, makes sense.

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No, absolutely. So for people listening, obviously

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being British, I'm a little bit more of the,

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you know, a little more aware of the Gurkhas.

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But tell me about the history of the Gurkhas,

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how they came about with their interaction with

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the British armies. I think it's a pretty fascinating

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story. Yeah, so somewhere around 205 years ago

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when the British Empire was in India trying to

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take over the world, of course Nepal being a

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neighboring country, they tried to take over

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Nepal. But what happened was neither the British

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could win or neither the Nepalese. would give

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up so you know the british were really really

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impressed by the bravery of the of the of the

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nepalese people and what they said at that point

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was okay we're not going to attack you anymore

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because one of the general was killed as well

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in this battle so we're not going to attack you

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more guys but can we have you know you know your

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guys you know fighting for us and the king of

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nepal at that point um was of course you know

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he had too much problem with you know fighting

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against obviously this massive power so he said

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of course we can you know we can partner but

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since and then um the Gurkhas um have been serving

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with the British for 205 years now uh we have

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been you know with them throughout this whole

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journey you know second world war and and all

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the Iraq Afghanistan um you know Libya and all

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that kind of stuff So, yeah, and just to give

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you an idea what the selection of a guy has is

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like in Nepal is, you know, in a year when I

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went for the selection, there were like 32 ,000

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young men, you know, trying for it and only 320

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makes it. So it's a very, very tough selection

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in Nepal. That's amazing. So one in a thousand

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chance of basically getting a spot. Yeah. Pretty

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much like that. So staying with the Gurkhas just

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for a second, because as a Brit, you know, one

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thing that we always hear is the courage, you

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know, and there are, you know, numerous stories

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of, you know, Gurkha heroism. So with that long

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history, what do you attribute that courage to

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as far as, you know, the culture and the beliefs

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of the Nepalese people? I think for me, you know,

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when people ask me, you know, who are you? I

00:09:56.899 --> 00:10:00.779
always say, you know, I'm Nimestai. I was born

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in Nepal, but I was raised in the Gurkhas and

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United Kingdom Special Forces. And of course,

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you know, I was made in the mountains. But coming

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that, you know, I spent 16 years in the British

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military. And what this Gurkha means to me is...

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It's in my bone, I think. What does GERC stand

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for across the world? As you said, James, it's

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for bravery and also loyalty. We live with the

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motto, it's better to die than to be a coward

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and all that. It's very proud to be part of that

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family, but that respect is earned. Absolutely.

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I always ask about athletics and being a sportswoman

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when you're younger. As you mentioned, the Chitwan

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area was flat. So am I right in understanding

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that you weren't really climbing when you were

00:10:52.519 --> 00:10:56.179
young? Mate, I only started climbing when I was

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29 years old, nearly 30. But yeah, so yeah, and

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it was only in December 2012. And as you said,

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Chris, you know, I had no idea to climbing. I

00:11:08.220 --> 00:11:12.679
hadn't even trekked at all before. So yeah, it

00:11:12.679 --> 00:11:15.690
was completely, you know. different kind of you

00:11:15.690 --> 00:11:18.370
know dynamics to who I am now to how my you know

00:11:18.370 --> 00:11:22.970
childhood was yeah beautiful so then tell me

00:11:22.970 --> 00:11:24.750
about your journey in martial arts because I

00:11:24.750 --> 00:11:28.440
know that was a pretty powerful element Yeah,

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of course, you know, when I was a kid, you know,

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I was put into this boring school and, you know,

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Nepal being a third world country, you know,

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there are like, of course, nasty things happen,

00:11:39.620 --> 00:11:41.840
you know, and there's loads of, you know, like

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school bullies and all that. And I was pretty

00:11:44.279 --> 00:11:49.799
young and all that. But I remember in year seven,

00:11:49.980 --> 00:11:54.799
I started learning, you know, kickboxing. And

00:11:54.799 --> 00:11:57.759
pretty soon, you know, I started, you know, fighting

00:11:57.759 --> 00:12:01.279
for the regional championship and all that. So

00:12:01.279 --> 00:12:02.659
obviously all those, you know, bullies and all

00:12:02.659 --> 00:12:05.360
that didn't happen after that. But yeah, all

00:12:05.360 --> 00:12:07.440
good. You know, I was, I have always been supportive,

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you know, when I was like not studying. In Nepal,

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you get only one day as a weekend. You get only

00:12:13.580 --> 00:12:16.179
Saturday off. So in Saturday, I used to, like,

00:12:16.240 --> 00:12:18.899
explore the jungle of Chitwan. It's a massive

00:12:18.899 --> 00:12:22.000
jungle. I used to go into the river, like, really

00:12:22.000 --> 00:12:23.899
small river. Obviously, it's not a massive river,

00:12:23.980 --> 00:12:26.139
you know, to those who are listening, because

00:12:26.139 --> 00:12:28.899
I was a little kid. But I used to go and look

00:12:28.899 --> 00:12:31.419
for the crabs. And, you know, I was that much

00:12:31.419 --> 00:12:34.879
motivated that I would turn every rock in that

00:12:34.879 --> 00:12:38.710
river. And, you know, source for, you know, the

00:12:38.710 --> 00:12:41.929
scraps and come back home. And I used to cook

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the scrap with mom. And, of course, you know,

00:12:45.409 --> 00:12:48.350
we used to obviously eat and all that. So it's

00:12:48.350 --> 00:12:51.750
a very humble upbringing, Barry, if I'm honest.

00:12:52.049 --> 00:12:53.649
Yeah, well, one thing that really struck me,

00:12:53.669 --> 00:12:55.769
and this struck me as well, the reason why you

00:12:55.769 --> 00:12:58.870
transition out of the SBS. But you mentioned

00:12:58.870 --> 00:13:02.309
early in the book about, you know, a lot of people

00:13:02.309 --> 00:13:04.429
would. give their money to the temples, but you

00:13:04.429 --> 00:13:07.330
actually would like to give it directly to the

00:13:07.330 --> 00:13:09.870
people that you saw that needed it. So where

00:13:09.870 --> 00:13:12.629
did that kindness and compassion come? Is that

00:13:12.629 --> 00:13:15.370
a national thing or was that more from your parents

00:13:15.370 --> 00:13:19.409
specifically? I think, I don't know, mate, to

00:13:19.409 --> 00:13:23.269
be honest. Somehow early, even early, early in

00:13:23.269 --> 00:13:26.029
my life, nobody taught me, nobody said anything,

00:13:26.169 --> 00:13:28.470
but I wasn't a religious person since I was a

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kid. you know because you know i kind of you

00:13:30.899 --> 00:13:33.080
know even in very young as i kind of you know

00:13:33.080 --> 00:13:38.039
started believing in what i i see um and and

00:13:38.039 --> 00:13:42.460
you know for me like a lot of you know you know

00:13:42.460 --> 00:13:45.360
nepalese people they go to the temple and they

00:13:45.360 --> 00:13:48.120
you know donate money to the mountain god which

00:13:48.120 --> 00:13:50.860
is the statue you know so not the mount the the

00:13:50.860 --> 00:13:54.559
hindu gods you know which is the statues But

00:13:54.559 --> 00:13:56.779
then I feel that's a bit pointless You know rather

00:13:56.779 --> 00:13:59.120
than giving that money to the statues and all

00:13:59.120 --> 00:14:01.419
that and somebody like taking that you don't

00:14:01.419 --> 00:14:04.039
know where that money goes And I think it would

00:14:04.039 --> 00:14:06.779
make an absolute sense if you donate that money

00:14:06.779 --> 00:14:08.860
to the needy people like in if there's an orphan,

00:14:09.159 --> 00:14:12.500
you know And if there's someone you know, you

00:14:12.500 --> 00:14:15.840
know Disabled people or did if there's someone

00:14:15.840 --> 00:14:20.269
who's really poor and I still remember I didn't

00:14:20.269 --> 00:14:21.809
have much in my wallet, to be honest, because

00:14:21.809 --> 00:14:24.289
we're still like that. But then I was I saw this

00:14:24.289 --> 00:14:27.129
guy who was really, really he was poorer than

00:14:27.129 --> 00:14:32.129
us. And I asked him, you know, does he has kids?

00:14:32.289 --> 00:14:35.889
And he said, yes. And I just emptied my wallet

00:14:35.889 --> 00:14:37.850
and I just say, yeah, go. And, you know, in Nepal,

00:14:38.049 --> 00:14:41.470
you know, you don't really have enough money

00:14:41.470 --> 00:14:43.409
to buy good food. So I said, you know, like here's

00:14:43.409 --> 00:14:45.389
your money. Don't spend that on alcohol. Make

00:14:45.389 --> 00:14:47.350
sure, you know, you know, that's. that's been

00:14:47.350 --> 00:14:50.350
you know this out to to the family so i haven't

00:14:50.350 --> 00:14:54.049
always been like that somehow um yeah beautiful

00:14:54.049 --> 00:14:56.210
i mean obviously that that that comes out again

00:14:56.210 --> 00:14:59.950
later in the story um so just to kind of recap

00:14:59.950 --> 00:15:01.850
so your older brothers went in the gurkhas that

00:15:01.850 --> 00:15:04.590
allowed you to have the education that you had

00:15:04.590 --> 00:15:07.210
so tell me about your journey then into the gurkhas

00:15:07.210 --> 00:15:13.389
yeah so I was in, obviously, in this, you know,

00:15:13.389 --> 00:15:15.990
boarding school, in a hostel, in a really strict

00:15:15.990 --> 00:15:19.230
regime. And, yeah, you are not allowed to get

00:15:19.230 --> 00:15:21.029
out of the compound and all that. But what I

00:15:21.029 --> 00:15:23.070
used to do is I used to wake up about, like,

00:15:23.070 --> 00:15:26.990
2 o 'clock in the morning. And I used to go for

00:15:26.990 --> 00:15:29.629
a run, you know, sometimes in a 20K, 30K. And

00:15:29.629 --> 00:15:31.850
I used to be back, you know, just before, like,

00:15:31.929 --> 00:15:35.009
you know, 6 a .m. in the morning when everybody's

00:15:35.009 --> 00:15:36.929
awake. I used to pretend I'm still sleeping.

00:15:37.110 --> 00:15:39.559
No one would know that I have been. up out you

00:15:39.559 --> 00:15:42.080
know running with um putting some you know like

00:15:42.080 --> 00:15:44.679
metal rods in my in my in my socks as well trying

00:15:44.679 --> 00:15:47.539
to make you know a bit in after training because

00:15:47.539 --> 00:15:49.200
you know we didn't have any weights or anything

00:15:49.200 --> 00:15:52.480
so i just you know shoe metal rock and metal

00:15:52.480 --> 00:15:56.259
rods bar in into my socks and i was doing that

00:15:56.259 --> 00:15:58.799
kind of in training but yeah you know i felt

00:15:58.799 --> 00:16:02.629
my first selection to the geikas um just because

00:16:02.629 --> 00:16:05.830
you know the galawala who you know what galawala

00:16:05.830 --> 00:16:10.429
is you know he is a very old retired um in old

00:16:10.429 --> 00:16:14.929
school you know expensive guy and you know if

00:16:14.929 --> 00:16:16.409
he doesn't like you he doesn't like you so i

00:16:16.409 --> 00:16:18.850
fell for the first time and i only made it on

00:16:18.850 --> 00:16:21.850
the second attempt um but for me since i was

00:16:21.850 --> 00:16:24.470
kid i didn't want it to be anything else i didn't

00:16:24.470 --> 00:16:27.009
want i was really good in school really good

00:16:27.009 --> 00:16:29.840
as in like you know i used to be in top three

00:16:29.840 --> 00:16:33.980
um in terms of whole you know uh mark marking

00:16:33.980 --> 00:16:37.820
system but you know my dream was only to be a

00:16:37.820 --> 00:16:41.259
guy so i was secretly training for that and eventually

00:16:41.259 --> 00:16:44.299
i made it buddy so what do you think it was though

00:16:44.299 --> 00:16:47.940
that that gave you that intrinsic determination

00:16:47.940 --> 00:16:51.620
to get to be the only child in that school that

00:16:51.620 --> 00:16:54.440
woke up at two in the morning sewed steel rods

00:16:54.440 --> 00:16:58.250
to their socks and went for a 20 or 30k run I

00:16:58.250 --> 00:17:01.990
think what I had in me is if I really want something

00:17:01.990 --> 00:17:04.470
and if I really, you know, like dream of being

00:17:04.470 --> 00:17:07.069
something, you know, I've always put my heart,

00:17:07.130 --> 00:17:10.309
soul and, you know, dedication to that. And I

00:17:10.309 --> 00:17:12.990
think that's who I am, you know. And then that's

00:17:12.990 --> 00:17:15.230
not only from, you know, joining the Gokhas,

00:17:15.289 --> 00:17:17.150
but that's also like, you know, there are a few

00:17:17.150 --> 00:17:19.230
stories which I have mentioned in the book Beyond

00:17:19.230 --> 00:17:23.150
Possible. So, yeah, I think. It's kind of, you

00:17:23.150 --> 00:17:25.849
know, it's in the blood as well. But why I wanted

00:17:25.849 --> 00:17:28.490
so much to be a Gayaka, it was purely because

00:17:28.490 --> 00:17:31.730
my dad was in the Gayakas and my, you know, two

00:17:31.730 --> 00:17:34.750
brothers were in the Gayakas. And whenever they

00:17:34.750 --> 00:17:38.970
come home, I kind of like their, like, military

00:17:38.970 --> 00:17:42.950
style, you know. Really smart and everybody was

00:17:42.950 --> 00:17:45.509
well, you know, like, respecting them. And, you

00:17:45.509 --> 00:17:48.650
know, Gayaka was quite a big thing in our village.

00:17:49.549 --> 00:17:52.470
So, yeah, I just wanted to be part of that. Yeah,

00:17:52.470 --> 00:17:54.089
well, that's understandable. Absolutely. You

00:17:54.089 --> 00:17:56.630
had some some role models coming home. So what

00:17:56.630 --> 00:17:58.470
was your journey like then? There you are in

00:17:58.470 --> 00:18:00.529
Nepal. You know, you finally get a place in the

00:18:00.529 --> 00:18:03.150
Gurkhas and now you fly off to the UK, a very

00:18:03.150 --> 00:18:06.089
different country than Nepal. Yeah. You know,

00:18:06.109 --> 00:18:08.069
like when you are in Nepal, when people talk

00:18:08.069 --> 00:18:11.329
about, you know, United Kingdom, England, you

00:18:11.329 --> 00:18:13.430
know, you think of in a Big Ben, in a London

00:18:13.430 --> 00:18:17.549
Eye, Buckingham Palace. So I was expecting that.

00:18:17.609 --> 00:18:21.180
But what happened was when we land. It was raining

00:18:21.180 --> 00:18:23.339
sideways in London Heathrow. Then we were like

00:18:23.339 --> 00:18:27.819
soaked into this bus. And after driving like

00:18:27.819 --> 00:18:30.519
almost 10 hours, we got into this place called

00:18:30.519 --> 00:18:33.059
Catrick, which is really up north of the England.

00:18:34.000 --> 00:18:38.640
And we came out and look around. The weather

00:18:38.640 --> 00:18:41.220
was absolutely miserable. Haven't seen anywhere

00:18:41.220 --> 00:18:43.759
where the rain come like, you know, from like

00:18:43.759 --> 00:18:48.740
sideways. And yeah, and I was like. There's only

00:18:48.740 --> 00:18:50.680
a couple of houses you can see and there were

00:18:50.680 --> 00:18:53.980
more sheep. So I was like, well, actually, this

00:18:53.980 --> 00:18:57.059
is, you know, almost as, you know, as worse as

00:18:57.059 --> 00:19:00.240
Nepal. You know, I was like, yeah. But, you know,

00:19:00.259 --> 00:19:02.839
of course, that was it. And eventually, you know,

00:19:02.859 --> 00:19:05.660
we were really, you know, went into a strict

00:19:05.660 --> 00:19:07.660
regime of the training with the geckos, nine

00:19:07.660 --> 00:19:13.279
months infantry training. Yeah. So it was a bit

00:19:13.279 --> 00:19:15.279
of cultural shock, to be honest. But, you know,

00:19:15.299 --> 00:19:19.009
you got to adapt. so it was hey yeah well that's

00:19:19.009 --> 00:19:20.990
the thing i mean if you're in a mountainous region

00:19:20.990 --> 00:19:24.329
of nepal like you know so far up the mountain

00:19:24.329 --> 00:19:26.190
i can see how it would be warm but if you're

00:19:26.190 --> 00:19:29.430
from a more tropical jungle -like part of nepal

00:19:29.430 --> 00:19:32.309
then it was probably pretty miserable oh it was

00:19:32.309 --> 00:19:36.450
like yeah All right. Well, the Gurkhas are known,

00:19:36.509 --> 00:19:38.750
obviously, for the kukuri knife, the kind of

00:19:38.750 --> 00:19:42.009
boomerang -shaped knife, almost. Is that something

00:19:42.009 --> 00:19:44.529
that you ceremoniously get when you graduate

00:19:44.529 --> 00:19:46.529
the Gurkhas? Or, you know, when do you get that?

00:19:46.529 --> 00:19:49.130
Or do you still even get that anymore? Yes, buddy.

00:19:49.190 --> 00:19:51.690
Whenever you pass the selection for the bigot

00:19:51.690 --> 00:19:54.529
of Gurkhas, you are given that on your graduate.

00:19:56.009 --> 00:19:58.450
All right. So then your first deployment was

00:19:58.450 --> 00:20:02.049
Afghanistan. Is that right? Correct. In 2007.

00:20:04.120 --> 00:20:06.019
Okay, so what was that like again? I mean, now

00:20:06.019 --> 00:20:07.920
you're going to a completely different landscape.

00:20:08.019 --> 00:20:10.119
You're going from, you know, a peaceful country

00:20:10.119 --> 00:20:12.299
where you grew up and then where you trained

00:20:12.299 --> 00:20:15.380
as well to now a war zone. So what was that like

00:20:15.380 --> 00:20:19.480
for a young Gurkha? For me, you know, like everything

00:20:19.480 --> 00:20:22.039
like for me was, you know, for the reputations

00:20:22.039 --> 00:20:25.960
and, you know. I will just tell you one story

00:20:25.960 --> 00:20:28.140
that I have briefly covered on the book. For

00:20:28.140 --> 00:20:31.500
example, you know, we were working with the Marines,

00:20:31.859 --> 00:20:35.559
Royal Marines, you know, 40 commandos in Herrick

00:20:35.559 --> 00:20:38.859
7. And one of my job as an engineer commander

00:20:38.859 --> 00:20:43.319
was to clear this compound so that, you know,

00:20:43.339 --> 00:20:45.740
when we say clear this compound, we mean, you

00:20:45.740 --> 00:20:48.940
know, the compound is free from IED bombs or

00:20:48.940 --> 00:20:53.799
any detonating device. So I was doing that and

00:20:53.799 --> 00:20:56.779
obviously my, one of my, you know, corporal was

00:20:56.779 --> 00:20:59.799
like, and sergeant went, Nims, hurry up. And

00:20:59.799 --> 00:21:02.519
I was like, look, I cannot hurry up, you know,

00:21:02.519 --> 00:21:05.420
and they were like, Nims, can you hurry up? And

00:21:05.420 --> 00:21:07.640
I was like, I just got so angry. I was like,

00:21:08.279 --> 00:21:10.900
you know, there is a Valen, Valen is a metal

00:21:10.900 --> 00:21:13.579
detector that detects, you know, IEDs or any

00:21:13.579 --> 00:21:16.460
bombs, any metal on the ground. So I just like

00:21:16.460 --> 00:21:19.420
threw that away and I was like, listen, if you

00:21:19.420 --> 00:21:21.279
think that I'm scared of like doing this and

00:21:21.279 --> 00:21:24.359
if you think I'm doing it so slowly and methodologically

00:21:24.359 --> 00:21:26.880
because you think I'm scared, then there you

00:21:26.880 --> 00:21:29.460
go. I can just walk around without this valent

00:21:29.460 --> 00:21:31.960
and all that. But the reason why I'm doing this

00:21:31.960 --> 00:21:36.640
job, you know, you know, 100 percent or methodologically

00:21:36.640 --> 00:21:40.599
is because if I miss something here and those

00:21:40.599 --> 00:21:43.509
like, you know. the Marine infantry unit comes

00:21:43.509 --> 00:21:47.529
in and if something detonates or if ID goes off,

00:21:47.609 --> 00:21:50.730
then, you know, we, you know, because of my carelessness

00:21:50.730 --> 00:21:54.690
or our team carelessness, the whole reputation

00:21:54.690 --> 00:21:57.289
of the guard is going to get jeopardized. So

00:21:57.289 --> 00:21:59.049
listen up. And of course, after that, they all

00:21:59.049 --> 00:22:01.730
listen. But yeah, it was really humbling experience.

00:22:01.910 --> 00:22:04.809
I worked with the commandos and before that,

00:22:04.849 --> 00:22:08.289
I wanted to join SAS after this tour. But after

00:22:08.289 --> 00:22:11.069
working with the Royal Marines, I kind of preferred

00:22:11.069 --> 00:22:16.690
their ethos and I decided to go to SBS. And for

00:22:16.690 --> 00:22:20.170
those who are listening, just to give an example

00:22:20.170 --> 00:22:24.069
between SAS and SBS in terms of militaries, in

00:22:24.069 --> 00:22:28.890
SAS, we got most of the guys who pass into SAS

00:22:28.890 --> 00:22:36.859
are from the army background. the sbs most of

00:22:36.859 --> 00:22:40.420
the guys who pass to the selection are from uh

00:22:40.420 --> 00:22:43.740
the marine background um so that's kind of you

00:22:43.740 --> 00:22:45.299
know a bit of short i think i'm we're gonna probably

00:22:45.299 --> 00:22:49.299
cover a bit more into that later on um but yeah

00:22:49.299 --> 00:22:53.140
they both are ta1 uksf yeah Absolutely. Yeah.

00:22:53.200 --> 00:22:54.720
And I definitely want to explore that because

00:22:54.720 --> 00:22:56.660
obviously SBS is more of a marine background

00:22:56.660 --> 00:23:00.319
and Nepal is not known for its oceans. So we'll

00:23:00.319 --> 00:23:03.039
explore that in a moment. One thing I always

00:23:03.039 --> 00:23:05.480
ask every member of the military, I ask Jay and

00:23:05.480 --> 00:23:09.579
Stas and everyone else that's come on, with most

00:23:09.579 --> 00:23:11.460
of us being civilians, most of us, even if you're

00:23:11.460 --> 00:23:13.359
in the military, if you weren't deployed specifically

00:23:13.359 --> 00:23:16.599
into a combat zone, there's these polarizing...

00:23:17.819 --> 00:23:19.900
kind of views that we get fed through television

00:23:19.900 --> 00:23:22.339
whatever it is either the very pro -war or the

00:23:22.339 --> 00:23:25.160
very anti -war and to me as you know the more

00:23:25.160 --> 00:23:27.759
members of military that come on the more i realize

00:23:27.759 --> 00:23:30.180
that there are two things that you actually see

00:23:30.180 --> 00:23:32.420
as you know as a soldier as a sailor whatever

00:23:32.420 --> 00:23:35.980
you know whoever the person is um one is it seems

00:23:35.980 --> 00:23:38.940
to be this common denominator that wherever the

00:23:38.940 --> 00:23:42.359
war zone is amongst all that fighting are men

00:23:42.359 --> 00:23:44.500
you know fathers and mothers and children that

00:23:44.500 --> 00:23:46.720
are just trying to to get on with their life

00:23:46.720 --> 00:23:49.380
but the other thing is usually they witness some

00:23:49.380 --> 00:23:53.079
sort of you know atrocity that then reinforces

00:23:53.079 --> 00:23:55.160
the fact that they are doing some good when they're

00:23:55.160 --> 00:23:57.180
over there so did you have any kind of moments

00:23:57.180 --> 00:23:59.839
when you first deployed where you saw some of

00:23:59.839 --> 00:24:02.680
the horrific stuff that was going on by some

00:24:02.680 --> 00:24:06.140
of the extremists over there Oh, yeah, massively,

00:24:06.319 --> 00:24:09.960
James. And of course, you know, we went on this

00:24:09.960 --> 00:24:12.900
war for, you know, reasons. And yes, a lot of

00:24:12.900 --> 00:24:15.740
people could have a different opinion on that.

00:24:15.799 --> 00:24:18.220
But I have been on the ground and I have seen

00:24:18.220 --> 00:24:21.740
some horrible stuff that we try to obviously,

00:24:21.880 --> 00:24:25.880
you know, stop, prevent from, you know, you know,

00:24:25.880 --> 00:24:29.180
or stopping that act, which is against the humanity.

00:24:31.069 --> 00:24:33.529
you know and then and specifically once you get

00:24:33.529 --> 00:24:35.589
into the gurkhas and special forces we always

00:24:35.589 --> 00:24:37.970
you know make sure that you know who we go into

00:24:37.970 --> 00:24:41.470
our identity you know our target or everything

00:24:41.470 --> 00:24:44.609
is is identified and there is a solid legitimate

00:24:44.609 --> 00:24:48.009
in a bomb proof evidence and that's when we go

00:24:48.009 --> 00:24:51.029
so there's no doubt about you know what i have

00:24:51.029 --> 00:24:54.509
done and and all and yeah it's for the it's for

00:24:54.509 --> 00:24:57.670
the better world which i believe in um so but

00:24:57.670 --> 00:24:59.289
we are people and everybody has got different

00:24:59.289 --> 00:25:02.789
opinions and all that but Unless you are in that

00:25:02.789 --> 00:25:06.769
shoes and unless you have been there, I don't

00:25:06.769 --> 00:25:10.109
think you can really comment. But hey, hey. Yeah,

00:25:10.130 --> 00:25:12.130
no, exactly. I think that's an important point

00:25:12.130 --> 00:25:15.769
to underline is when I hear these stories, yes,

00:25:15.869 --> 00:25:19.009
you are representing the UK or the US or Australia

00:25:19.009 --> 00:25:21.730
or wherever the person's from. But ultimately,

00:25:21.730 --> 00:25:23.609
when you're on the ground, you're protecting

00:25:23.609 --> 00:25:26.329
the Afghani people or the Iraqi people. And I

00:25:26.329 --> 00:25:28.130
think that's a message a lot of people lose.

00:25:29.130 --> 00:25:31.630
yeah massively mate and then you know like there

00:25:31.630 --> 00:25:35.549
are situations where you know like um you know

00:25:35.549 --> 00:25:39.069
like young kids been brought into to to to be

00:25:39.069 --> 00:25:42.109
to be trained to be a terrorist and that's like

00:25:42.109 --> 00:25:44.890
completely wrong you know where you know like

00:25:44.890 --> 00:25:49.769
a certain you know uh terrorists are you know

00:25:49.769 --> 00:25:51.690
those people you know training you know like

00:25:51.690 --> 00:25:55.029
you know young kids you know putting bombs on

00:25:55.029 --> 00:25:57.710
them and all that, I think, yeah, I think, but

00:25:57.710 --> 00:25:59.849
I don't really want to go in details about that,

00:25:59.849 --> 00:26:02.410
you know, but if that's okay, and I really wanted

00:26:02.410 --> 00:26:04.750
to talk about, you know, you know, what, you

00:26:04.750 --> 00:26:06.589
know, what my past is, you know, what, you know,

00:26:06.589 --> 00:26:09.490
you know, what I have done last year, because

00:26:09.490 --> 00:26:12.400
I'm... I cannot talk so much about the special

00:26:12.400 --> 00:26:16.059
forces stuff because, you know, I haven't. Yeah,

00:26:16.079 --> 00:26:18.740
no, no, absolutely, absolutely. It's just an

00:26:18.740 --> 00:26:20.519
interesting perspective, I think, from the people

00:26:20.519 --> 00:26:21.740
that were on the ground, you know, but that's

00:26:21.740 --> 00:26:23.660
just one little thing I just want to touch on

00:26:23.660 --> 00:26:27.460
and move on now. So your journey into SBS then.

00:26:27.579 --> 00:26:30.279
So there you are again from Nepal, like I said,

00:26:30.279 --> 00:26:33.900
not really exposed to a lot of aquatic activities.

00:26:33.980 --> 00:26:35.940
So tell me about the journey in through there.

00:26:37.960 --> 00:26:40.920
And no other Gurkha had obviously made it through

00:26:40.920 --> 00:26:43.799
the ranks of SBS. So that was really a tough

00:26:43.799 --> 00:26:46.539
challenge to start with because I would go there

00:26:46.539 --> 00:26:50.960
as an alien. And everything what I have to do

00:26:50.960 --> 00:26:54.000
over there, I have to work twice harder to prove

00:26:54.000 --> 00:26:57.559
myself because you came from a completely different

00:26:57.559 --> 00:27:00.279
background. And for me as well, it's not only

00:27:00.279 --> 00:27:03.859
about me. It's about the reputations of those

00:27:03.859 --> 00:27:09.039
hundreds and thousands of Gurkhas who has built

00:27:09.039 --> 00:27:12.880
their name and repetitions of bravery and loyalty.

00:27:13.140 --> 00:27:16.660
So, of course, I had to operate in extreme under

00:27:16.660 --> 00:27:19.779
pressure throughout my whole career. But it's

00:27:19.779 --> 00:27:21.700
something, you know, that taught me massively

00:27:21.700 --> 00:27:24.539
also in terms of, you know, which we'll talk

00:27:24.539 --> 00:27:26.920
about, you know, Bremen Project Possible in a

00:27:26.920 --> 00:27:31.670
bit. Yeah, it wasn't easy, buddy. But I thoroughly

00:27:31.670 --> 00:27:34.609
enjoyed it because, you know, the work cycle,

00:27:34.769 --> 00:27:37.150
the job cycle is like a washing machine cycle.

00:27:37.269 --> 00:27:39.069
You know, you've been basically thrown around

00:27:39.069 --> 00:27:42.589
everywhere across the world. And one thing that

00:27:42.589 --> 00:27:46.069
you cannot do is you cannot fuck up. So, yeah,

00:27:46.170 --> 00:27:49.329
that's the level of, you know. Well, and then

00:27:49.329 --> 00:27:51.470
something you touched on before with, you know,

00:27:51.470 --> 00:27:53.990
with the sweeping for IED story and it's something

00:27:53.990 --> 00:27:57.079
that seems to pan over and over again is. the

00:27:57.079 --> 00:27:58.920
attention to detail and whether it's, you know,

00:27:58.960 --> 00:28:01.099
my profession, the fire service or law enforcement

00:28:01.099 --> 00:28:03.779
or whatever it is, that seems to be a very, very

00:28:03.779 --> 00:28:07.220
important part of, you know, of, of earning the

00:28:07.220 --> 00:28:09.900
title professional. So again, you know, how,

00:28:10.000 --> 00:28:11.839
how much was that reinforced when you, when you

00:28:11.839 --> 00:28:16.480
leveled up to the SBS? 100%. You know, you, you

00:28:16.480 --> 00:28:19.660
got to apply all that and maybe beyond that.

00:28:20.019 --> 00:28:22.900
So yeah, you know, that's why we are the best

00:28:22.900 --> 00:28:25.500
in elite, you know, service in England or maybe

00:28:25.500 --> 00:28:30.990
even in the world. Absolutely. So you have an

00:28:30.990 --> 00:28:34.230
interesting story from within the SBS to actually

00:28:34.230 --> 00:28:36.410
getting to Everest. So I'd love to hear about

00:28:36.410 --> 00:28:38.869
how climbing started factoring into your service

00:28:38.869 --> 00:28:42.829
in special operations. Yeah. So basically, I

00:28:42.829 --> 00:28:45.650
was 29 years old when I decided to go to Nepal

00:28:45.650 --> 00:28:48.630
to see the Everest. It's a trekking, by the way.

00:28:48.990 --> 00:28:52.049
But then once I started trekking, you come through

00:28:52.049 --> 00:28:54.390
this beautiful village called Namche Bazaar.

00:28:55.439 --> 00:28:58.460
And as you come through, then you see a massive

00:28:58.460 --> 00:29:00.799
mountain called Amadablam. It's so beautiful.

00:29:00.880 --> 00:29:03.319
It dominates the whole of the Khumbu Valley.

00:29:04.000 --> 00:29:06.640
Honestly, it's such eye -catching, such beautiful.

00:29:07.000 --> 00:29:09.400
It's amazing. And after that, I was like, wow.

00:29:09.920 --> 00:29:12.559
I just wanted to experience how it feels to be

00:29:12.559 --> 00:29:16.359
standing on the summit of that mountain and see

00:29:16.359 --> 00:29:19.480
the world. So I asked my, obviously, instructor

00:29:19.480 --> 00:29:21.299
at that point, who was my guide, to say, hey,

00:29:21.319 --> 00:29:24.140
can we climb? And he laughed. that mountain is

00:29:24.140 --> 00:29:26.960
super technical people who climb Everest can't

00:29:26.960 --> 00:29:30.319
even climb that so anyway long story short I

00:29:30.319 --> 00:29:33.259
managed to convince him to climb another mountain

00:29:33.259 --> 00:29:37.539
6200 meter peak the way we did was we had no

00:29:37.539 --> 00:29:40.640
kit and equipment so we hired the kit in this

00:29:40.640 --> 00:29:45.079
village and we thought how to wear crampons and

00:29:45.079 --> 00:29:48.160
use crampons in the grass at this village so

00:29:48.160 --> 00:29:50.940
we're putting crampons and walking obviously

00:29:51.919 --> 00:29:54.380
Yeah, and after that, you know, eventually summited

00:29:54.380 --> 00:29:57.779
lower to east. And at that point, when I was

00:29:57.779 --> 00:30:01.079
on this mountain, what I realized was, when you

00:30:01.079 --> 00:30:03.500
come from Gurkha background, when you become

00:30:03.500 --> 00:30:05.220
like, you know, come from the special forces,

00:30:05.319 --> 00:30:07.980
when you have done things and been there, all

00:30:07.980 --> 00:30:11.720
that stuff, you think you are invincible. And

00:30:11.720 --> 00:30:14.700
when I went into the mountain, at that point,

00:30:14.740 --> 00:30:18.599
I just realized we are no one. It made me feel

00:30:18.599 --> 00:30:21.769
how small, you know, I am. But also equally,

00:30:22.109 --> 00:30:25.930
you know, I just love that, you know, the whole

00:30:25.930 --> 00:30:30.910
atmospheric challenging, the environmental challenge,

00:30:30.950 --> 00:30:33.130
like where you are struggling to breathe, you

00:30:33.130 --> 00:30:37.170
know. Yeah, it was awesome. But also the view

00:30:37.170 --> 00:30:39.990
once you get to the summit and all that. So that's

00:30:39.990 --> 00:30:42.750
why it got me into an extreme high altitude mountain.

00:30:42.950 --> 00:30:45.890
And from that point, you know, whenever I had

00:30:45.890 --> 00:30:47.950
like a bit of leave, you know, coming from Special

00:30:47.950 --> 00:30:52.750
Forces background, it's always hard. So, yeah,

00:30:52.829 --> 00:30:54.789
I managed to do a bit of climbing here and there

00:30:54.789 --> 00:30:59.089
after that. Now, with the Nepalese background,

00:30:59.490 --> 00:31:03.529
did you notice that your physiology was different

00:31:03.529 --> 00:31:04.930
than some other people that you climbed with

00:31:04.930 --> 00:31:06.529
and that you were able to tolerate the altitude?

00:31:08.209 --> 00:31:10.769
At that point, not really. Because at that point,

00:31:10.809 --> 00:31:13.089
I just thought I'm UK Special Forces. I must

00:31:13.089 --> 00:31:16.789
be faster and stronger than anybody else here.

00:31:16.829 --> 00:31:19.170
That was kind of my attitude, which was massively

00:31:19.170 --> 00:31:24.210
wrong. But I discovered I had kind of a natural

00:31:24.210 --> 00:31:29.009
strength in terms of high altitude mountaineering

00:31:29.009 --> 00:31:33.470
in 2014 when I climbed Daulagri, which is the

00:31:33.470 --> 00:31:37.210
world's seventh highest mountain. And I summited

00:31:37.210 --> 00:31:40.349
that mountain in just 14 days, Kathmandu to Kathmandu,

00:31:40.349 --> 00:31:43.470
without any prior acclimatization, leading more

00:31:43.470 --> 00:31:47.150
than 70 % of the route when I was obviously in

00:31:47.150 --> 00:31:49.049
a trailblazing and all that. That's when I kind

00:31:49.049 --> 00:31:51.950
of realized. But just to give you an idea, at

00:31:51.950 --> 00:31:55.230
that point, I had no idea still. I was just planning

00:31:55.230 --> 00:31:58.769
towards climbing Everest one day and other 8

00:31:58.769 --> 00:32:01.710
,000 -meter peak eventually. But I was kind of,

00:32:01.710 --> 00:32:04.250
you know, improving my skills towards, you know,

00:32:04.250 --> 00:32:06.750
climbing without oxygen. But I was kind of, you

00:32:06.750 --> 00:32:09.390
know, collecting my experience. And that stays.

00:32:10.390 --> 00:32:13.670
Yeah. So I know you ended up teaching climbing

00:32:13.670 --> 00:32:15.710
within Special Forces, too. So when did that

00:32:15.710 --> 00:32:18.809
come in? So what happened was after Lobece East,

00:32:19.109 --> 00:32:21.890
which, you know, which I just mentioned about,

00:32:22.130 --> 00:32:26.400
I got back into SPS. I was in MPVS troop. That

00:32:26.400 --> 00:32:28.500
means, you know, you would take lead on, you

00:32:28.500 --> 00:32:31.400
know, parachuting and anything MPVS, watery stuff.

00:32:31.880 --> 00:32:34.420
Then I changed from that troop to mountain troop.

00:32:34.960 --> 00:32:37.519
And eventually, you know, I started working,

00:32:37.599 --> 00:32:40.940
you know, my way and all that. And, yeah, I was,

00:32:40.940 --> 00:32:45.759
when I left SPS, I was one of the lead BAS role,

00:32:46.019 --> 00:32:49.339
as in BAS operator. I was head of that, you know,

00:32:49.380 --> 00:32:52.299
kind of, you know, like. Teaching the special

00:32:52.299 --> 00:32:56.220
forces guys about extreme cold weather warfare

00:32:56.220 --> 00:33:00.440
and all that. Did you find that your climbing

00:33:00.440 --> 00:33:04.140
then made you even better when it came to your

00:33:04.140 --> 00:33:10.200
SBS activities? Well, it's completely different

00:33:10.200 --> 00:33:13.279
stuff. What we do in SBS is not extreme high

00:33:13.279 --> 00:33:16.160
altitude. What we do there is extreme cold weather

00:33:16.160 --> 00:33:20.039
warfare. So it's a completely different skills,

00:33:20.339 --> 00:33:23.059
but at some point that does, you know collapse

00:33:23.059 --> 00:33:27.380
as in like there will be few overlaps and all

00:33:27.380 --> 00:33:30.720
that but Yeah, but obviously I was doing this

00:33:30.720 --> 00:33:32.799
in a high altitude mountaineering as my love

00:33:32.799 --> 00:33:34.720
and passion so but I was trying to bring that

00:33:34.720 --> 00:33:38.559
into into SBS and because with that incident

00:33:38.559 --> 00:33:43.339
in Nanga Parbat in in 2011 when you know 11 climbers

00:33:43.339 --> 00:33:45.440
were killed by the terrorists, you know, we were

00:33:45.440 --> 00:33:49.359
you know Nobody could go and save their lives.

00:33:49.460 --> 00:33:51.660
So I was kind of looking into this, you know,

00:33:51.680 --> 00:33:54.259
if something like this happened, I was kind of

00:33:54.259 --> 00:33:57.000
working towards developing the capabilities and

00:33:57.000 --> 00:33:59.880
all that. But eventually, obviously, I left.

00:34:00.099 --> 00:34:03.539
But yeah. Sorry, that was in the mountains of

00:34:03.539 --> 00:34:06.160
Afghanistan. Is that right? In Pakistan. Oh,

00:34:06.160 --> 00:34:10.659
Pakistan. Okay. Yeah. It happened in 2011. It

00:34:10.659 --> 00:34:13.829
was a huge terrorist incident. So the other thing

00:34:13.829 --> 00:34:15.849
that kind of springs to mind to me is, again,

00:34:15.889 --> 00:34:18.369
you were born in the tropical area, then you

00:34:18.369 --> 00:34:21.550
go to the UK, obviously you're deploying to the

00:34:21.550 --> 00:34:25.429
Middle East. Where do you relate your ability

00:34:25.429 --> 00:34:27.510
to tolerate the cold? Because up to that point,

00:34:27.530 --> 00:34:29.489
you hadn't really been exposed to a lot of very,

00:34:29.590 --> 00:34:34.349
very cold areas. Well, when I went to the mountain

00:34:34.349 --> 00:34:37.570
trip, obviously I went to Norway and did loads

00:34:37.570 --> 00:34:40.369
of an extreme cold weather warfare training within

00:34:40.369 --> 00:34:45.800
the SBS. um but yeah i think if you love doing

00:34:45.800 --> 00:34:47.960
something and the things would come naturally

00:34:47.960 --> 00:34:53.280
i guess and then so the speed element too so

00:34:53.280 --> 00:34:54.820
i know and we're going to talk about obviously

00:34:54.820 --> 00:34:58.559
the um project uh project possible and the the

00:34:58.559 --> 00:35:00.900
ridiculous speed that you did the uh the peaks

00:35:00.900 --> 00:35:03.960
when did you start noticing that you were just

00:35:03.960 --> 00:35:09.380
faster in general than a lot of climbers In 2017,

00:35:09.679 --> 00:35:11.820
I was one of the instructors for the Gurkhas

00:35:11.820 --> 00:35:16.619
to the Everest. And the mission was to put a

00:35:16.619 --> 00:35:19.639
first -serving Gurkha on the summit of Everest.

00:35:20.420 --> 00:35:23.400
Technically, I had done that in 2016, but the

00:35:23.400 --> 00:35:25.219
wider military didn't know because I was in the

00:35:25.219 --> 00:35:27.320
Special Forces. Nobody knew about this anyway.

00:35:27.760 --> 00:35:31.460
So, yeah, 2017, here we are. And I was one of

00:35:31.460 --> 00:35:34.539
the instructors going over there. And what happened

00:35:34.539 --> 00:35:38.900
that season was... You know, in Everest, there

00:35:38.900 --> 00:35:41.340
is an official team normally who set the fixed

00:35:41.340 --> 00:35:44.139
lines to the summit. And a lot of people, you

00:35:44.139 --> 00:35:46.059
know, use that trailblaze, use that logistic,

00:35:46.099 --> 00:35:49.559
that, you know, that fixed lines to summit to

00:35:49.559 --> 00:35:52.159
the Everest, to the top. So that season, that

00:35:52.159 --> 00:35:57.139
didn't happen. And what it meant for me as an

00:35:57.139 --> 00:35:59.360
instructor and as a Gurkha and as a UK Special

00:35:59.360 --> 00:36:03.420
Forces operator was, one, as a Gurkha, whenever...

00:36:04.409 --> 00:36:06.789
you know like in another chance this will be

00:36:06.789 --> 00:36:09.170
our like if we fail on that one it will be another

00:36:09.170 --> 00:36:11.690
third attempt that we will get another chance

00:36:11.690 --> 00:36:15.070
to go and climb everest you know so that was

00:36:15.070 --> 00:36:17.750
no and also you know like coming from the gurkha

00:36:17.750 --> 00:36:19.550
background everybody think you know everest is

00:36:19.550 --> 00:36:22.170
in your back garden you know but it's not but

00:36:22.170 --> 00:36:25.210
there was a huge reputation as well the second

00:36:25.210 --> 00:36:28.210
one was you know again you know this was the

00:36:28.210 --> 00:36:30.170
second time that we used you know british taxpayers

00:36:30.170 --> 00:36:32.980
money to go and do this And I don't think there

00:36:32.980 --> 00:36:35.360
will be ever a third attempt. So I stepped up

00:36:35.360 --> 00:36:39.199
and I formed my own team to go and set these

00:36:39.199 --> 00:36:42.059
fixed lines. A combination of, you know, mostly

00:36:42.059 --> 00:36:44.260
Serpas and a couple of Inagaika instructors.

00:36:45.679 --> 00:36:47.780
Yeah, went and obviously set the fixed lines,

00:36:47.820 --> 00:36:50.739
not opening the route for only our team, but

00:36:50.739 --> 00:36:53.500
the rest of the season's mountaineer. And immediately

00:36:53.500 --> 00:36:57.039
after that, obviously, I came with the team to

00:36:57.039 --> 00:36:59.500
Kathmandu. Then I went back again to climb Everest.

00:37:00.079 --> 00:37:02.639
Lhotse and Makalu, which I did in five days.

00:37:03.960 --> 00:37:06.559
And that's including stopping for two nights,

00:37:06.619 --> 00:37:09.039
partying in between. Otherwise, I could have

00:37:09.039 --> 00:37:12.199
done that in three days. And at that point, I

00:37:12.199 --> 00:37:14.480
realized I had so much to give into this mountaineering

00:37:14.480 --> 00:37:17.679
world. So that's where the bigger vision started

00:37:17.679 --> 00:37:20.019
coming into me. That's when I realized I was

00:37:20.019 --> 00:37:22.500
something different. I had something different.

00:37:22.960 --> 00:37:26.980
All right. So the 2017 summit was basically two

00:37:26.980 --> 00:37:30.579
years later for the G200. Is that right? Yeah,

00:37:30.579 --> 00:37:35.400
2017 Summit was only two years later after I

00:37:35.400 --> 00:37:39.039
did my Project Possible. Right, yeah. Okay. Because

00:37:39.039 --> 00:37:41.639
the 2015, was that when they had the earthquake

00:37:41.639 --> 00:37:45.599
on Everest? So the first time we attempted was

00:37:45.599 --> 00:37:48.719
2015. The big earthquake came. Nobody, you know,

00:37:48.739 --> 00:37:51.820
obviously made it to the top as the expeditions

00:37:51.820 --> 00:37:55.519
were all cancelled. 2017 was the second time

00:37:55.519 --> 00:37:59.750
that, you know, we were back again. Right. Going

00:37:59.750 --> 00:38:01.789
back to just the SBS, the only one thing I kind

00:38:01.789 --> 00:38:03.449
of missed that I think is very important was,

00:38:03.650 --> 00:38:06.050
you know, you detailed this in the book, that

00:38:06.050 --> 00:38:09.750
you actually were shot in the face. So, you know,

00:38:09.750 --> 00:38:13.949
how were you able to kind of overcome that injury

00:38:13.949 --> 00:38:18.389
and push forward? I think we should leave that

00:38:18.389 --> 00:38:22.530
for the readers to find in the book beyond possible.

00:38:22.730 --> 00:38:26.150
Shall we? Beautiful. Yes, let's do that. I haven't

00:38:26.150 --> 00:38:28.389
got this chronologically down. So when was the

00:38:28.389 --> 00:38:29.929
first time you made a rescue on the mountain?

00:38:31.650 --> 00:38:35.949
It was in 2016 when I went to this, you know,

00:38:35.949 --> 00:38:41.650
super secret trip to, you know, Everest. And

00:38:41.650 --> 00:38:44.710
this was the trip that I made a really last minute

00:38:44.710 --> 00:38:50.010
decision between the tour, operational tour between,

00:38:50.050 --> 00:38:53.699
you know, Theta to Theta. So no one knew, not

00:38:53.699 --> 00:38:55.619
even my family, other than, you know, my wife.

00:38:56.440 --> 00:38:59.340
I went to Nepal, decided to climb Everest solo.

00:39:00.420 --> 00:39:03.940
And on the way down, I rescued this female climber

00:39:03.940 --> 00:39:06.920
who was, you know, left behind to die by, you

00:39:06.920 --> 00:39:08.280
know, of course, you know, her team and guides.

00:39:08.360 --> 00:39:12.980
So I brought her down. And at that point, I was

00:39:12.980 --> 00:39:15.940
climbing. I take oxygen from camphor, but I was

00:39:15.940 --> 00:39:19.820
developing my skills towards to climb without

00:39:19.820 --> 00:39:24.349
it. But what happened from that point was I managed

00:39:24.349 --> 00:39:28.869
to rescue her from balcony, which is 1 ,450 meters.

00:39:29.670 --> 00:39:34.650
I did 500 meter worth of rescue in just 90 minutes.

00:39:35.329 --> 00:39:37.469
That's super quick. Just to give you an example,

00:39:37.750 --> 00:39:41.750
it took two days for a team of five rescue members

00:39:41.750 --> 00:39:44.929
to get her down to Camp 2. So from that point,

00:39:45.010 --> 00:39:47.710
obviously, I decided to climb, you know. big

00:39:47.710 --> 00:39:50.090
mountains with oxygen after camp or a high camp

00:39:50.090 --> 00:39:54.889
but yeah it was only in 2016 and I rescued her

00:39:54.889 --> 00:39:59.210
got back into you know Kathmandu then to England

00:39:59.210 --> 00:40:02.150
and within like literally a week of submitting

00:40:02.150 --> 00:40:06.030
Everest secretly I was in Afghanistan kicking

00:40:06.030 --> 00:40:10.219
door nobody knew about it so yeah Well, how does

00:40:10.219 --> 00:40:11.559
that look like? You know, what does that look

00:40:11.559 --> 00:40:15.019
like when it's normally so slow and, you know,

00:40:15.019 --> 00:40:17.579
that her team had basically left her? You know,

00:40:17.579 --> 00:40:18.960
what were you doing differently that allowed

00:40:18.960 --> 00:40:23.219
you to make that rescue so rapidly? I'm Nimstai

00:40:23.219 --> 00:40:29.139
and I... What I have is like, being brutally

00:40:29.139 --> 00:40:31.320
honest, you know, I have this, you know, massive

00:40:31.320 --> 00:40:36.000
physical stamina. My mindset is, you know, different,

00:40:36.360 --> 00:40:40.320
you know. I operate differently at the death

00:40:40.320 --> 00:40:43.480
zone. That's like my playground. And, you know,

00:40:43.500 --> 00:40:45.519
coming back, you know, from, you know, GERKAS

00:40:45.519 --> 00:40:47.780
and Special Forces background, I have never left

00:40:47.780 --> 00:40:50.679
anyone behind in the operations or in the battle.

00:40:51.079 --> 00:40:52.719
I'm not going to leave someone, you know, over

00:40:52.719 --> 00:40:54.699
there when, you know, it's in my, you know, in

00:40:54.699 --> 00:40:59.019
my zone. So I had to rescue. So, yeah. Beautiful.

00:40:59.219 --> 00:41:03.610
All right. Well, then I know that. You decided

00:41:03.610 --> 00:41:07.070
to make a transition out of SBS for a very altruistic

00:41:07.070 --> 00:41:11.010
reason. So tell me about your journey to making

00:41:11.010 --> 00:41:13.110
the decision to transition out of the military.

00:41:13.650 --> 00:41:20.449
Okay. So 2018, I was appointed as head of an

00:41:20.449 --> 00:41:24.949
extreme cold weather warfare within SBS. And

00:41:24.949 --> 00:41:29.179
one of my job is to... obviously go out do loads

00:41:29.179 --> 00:41:31.860
of you know find out about the climbing mountaineering

00:41:31.860 --> 00:41:35.500
find you know what these professionals are doing

00:41:35.500 --> 00:41:38.519
find out new kit and equipment all that and pass

00:41:38.519 --> 00:41:41.480
that knowledge to our fellow operators in process

00:41:41.480 --> 00:41:44.559
of that what i approached to sbs at that point

00:41:44.559 --> 00:41:47.340
was can i go and climb top five highest mountain

00:41:47.340 --> 00:41:53.079
in just 80 days Because, you know, I had loads

00:41:53.079 --> 00:41:56.539
of, you know, leave, ode and all that. But then

00:41:56.539 --> 00:42:00.659
the decision was no, purely because of the risk

00:42:00.659 --> 00:42:03.519
factors. You know, in K2, one in four dies. And,

00:42:03.599 --> 00:42:07.340
you know, of course, I wasn't just climbing one

00:42:07.340 --> 00:42:09.519
mountain, but I was doing a pretty much mountain

00:42:09.519 --> 00:42:12.400
marathon. So it makes sense from, you know, of

00:42:12.400 --> 00:42:14.820
course, the difference. So they said no. And

00:42:14.820 --> 00:42:17.960
I was like, OK. But at that point, when I say.

00:42:18.559 --> 00:42:21.460
When I put my, you know, cheat in, I got invitation

00:42:21.460 --> 00:42:24.199
from, you know, SAS to, like, you know, join

00:42:24.199 --> 00:42:27.840
their regiment. And certainly they had, you know,

00:42:27.840 --> 00:42:32.079
better job opportunity for me and all that. But,

00:42:32.139 --> 00:42:34.039
yeah, you know, for me, it wasn't, you know,

00:42:34.039 --> 00:42:37.079
you know, that, you know, my loyalty lies, you

00:42:37.079 --> 00:42:40.639
know, in the blood. Coming from the Gurkha background,

00:42:41.059 --> 00:42:43.699
you know, whatever I do, you know, it will have

00:42:43.699 --> 00:42:48.670
an impact on my future generations. I took my

00:42:48.670 --> 00:42:53.010
loyalty and over, you know, my job security,

00:42:53.329 --> 00:42:56.630
pensions and everything. And yeah. And after

00:42:56.630 --> 00:42:59.710
that, I resigned. And I was like, since I'm resigning

00:42:59.710 --> 00:43:02.449
anyway, I got like time to myself. I don't have

00:43:02.449 --> 00:43:04.449
to get permission to do things and all that.

00:43:04.809 --> 00:43:08.809
I'm my own boss. So why only climb five mountains?

00:43:08.969 --> 00:43:12.070
I'm going to climb all the 14. So I Googled in

00:43:12.070 --> 00:43:15.130
the internet. I found out the fastest time was,

00:43:15.230 --> 00:43:18.300
you know, nearly eight years. Then I planned

00:43:18.300 --> 00:43:21.820
all that out and I thought I could do under seven

00:43:21.820 --> 00:43:25.940
months. So that's the journey. When you told

00:43:25.940 --> 00:43:27.940
that story, you gave up your pension and I can

00:43:27.940 --> 00:43:31.039
totally relate because I retired out the fire

00:43:31.039 --> 00:43:33.639
service and basically took the money that I had

00:43:33.639 --> 00:43:36.400
and put it back into doing this for exactly the

00:43:36.400 --> 00:43:38.539
same reason. Don't get me wrong, I wasn't climbing

00:43:38.539 --> 00:43:41.860
14 mountains, but it was I realized I could do

00:43:41.860 --> 00:43:44.960
more good. leaving the environment that i was

00:43:44.960 --> 00:43:47.699
in and being a voice for the people rather than

00:43:47.699 --> 00:43:51.320
staying in that in that profession yeah true

00:43:51.320 --> 00:43:53.440
buddy and you know like for me i never joined

00:43:53.440 --> 00:43:57.000
you know in sbs to be a general or to make millions

00:43:57.000 --> 00:44:01.280
you know it was pure for love for the job and

00:44:01.280 --> 00:44:04.739
and you know pure like passion for the job uh

00:44:04.739 --> 00:44:07.860
you know because you know I wanted to be part

00:44:07.860 --> 00:44:10.559
of that group so much. And at that point, I even

00:44:10.559 --> 00:44:12.719
said, you know, if I just pass this selection,

00:44:12.719 --> 00:44:15.440
if I'm good enough, I'm happy to work for free.

00:44:15.519 --> 00:44:18.400
So that much, you know, like I wanted to be part

00:44:18.400 --> 00:44:22.420
of that group. So, yeah, and then for me, I felt

00:44:22.420 --> 00:44:25.719
like I have done enough for the crown in a country.

00:44:25.820 --> 00:44:29.880
I have served 16 years. All my time doing the

00:44:29.880 --> 00:44:32.760
military were, you know, in that period where

00:44:32.760 --> 00:44:35.619
the war was kicking off. all across the globe

00:44:35.619 --> 00:44:39.619
so i had a really really hardcore you know military

00:44:39.619 --> 00:44:44.019
you know duty as well so but after that it was

00:44:44.019 --> 00:44:47.039
you know for different reason it was for something

00:44:47.039 --> 00:44:50.639
else that you know i can i can reach out to to

00:44:50.639 --> 00:44:56.000
the wider community um and all that so yeah beautiful

00:44:56.000 --> 00:44:59.300
well The project that you started planning was

00:44:59.300 --> 00:45:02.820
Project Possible. So tell me about the recipients.

00:45:02.960 --> 00:45:05.519
Who are you trying to raise money and or awareness

00:45:05.519 --> 00:45:09.820
for with that project? So everything what I do

00:45:09.820 --> 00:45:14.500
in life, I need to find a purpose or a goal or

00:45:14.500 --> 00:45:19.059
something that really means most to me. So when

00:45:19.059 --> 00:45:22.400
I come with this idea, of course I need a purpose.

00:45:22.519 --> 00:45:25.260
Why I'm doing this? And it was very simple for

00:45:25.260 --> 00:45:29.250
me. I wanted to show the world that what is humanly

00:45:29.250 --> 00:45:32.909
possible, you know, because at that point, no

00:45:32.909 --> 00:45:35.170
one could even imagine. And I couldn't even imagine

00:45:35.170 --> 00:45:39.570
that before that until 2018. It was it was beyond

00:45:39.570 --> 00:45:44.090
my imagination as well. So I somehow it came

00:45:44.090 --> 00:45:46.550
into my imagination that I could do it. So I

00:45:46.550 --> 00:45:49.010
wanted to obviously show the world that, you

00:45:49.010 --> 00:45:51.679
know. If you can imagine something and if you

00:45:51.679 --> 00:45:53.820
really put your heart, mind and soul into that,

00:45:53.880 --> 00:45:57.099
you can do it. Secondly, I wanted to raise the

00:45:57.099 --> 00:46:00.719
name of the Nepalese climbers who have been frontier

00:46:00.719 --> 00:46:03.980
of all the Himalayan peaks, you know, but they

00:46:03.980 --> 00:46:08.840
never got the right credit. And thirdly, I wanted

00:46:08.840 --> 00:46:11.300
to raise the awareness about climate change and

00:46:11.300 --> 00:46:14.159
global warming, which is very close to my heart.

00:46:14.219 --> 00:46:17.099
And I really believe in those three purposes.

00:46:17.219 --> 00:46:21.099
And that's what gives me strength, fire and everything,

00:46:21.199 --> 00:46:24.130
buddy. Yeah, well, I know that your mentor, your

00:46:24.130 --> 00:46:26.510
climbing mentor that you actually lost in 2015

00:46:26.510 --> 00:46:28.869
was extremely passionate about climate change.

00:46:29.070 --> 00:46:31.469
So while you have a captive audience here, tell

00:46:31.469 --> 00:46:35.510
me what, you know, from the Nepalese perch, what

00:46:35.510 --> 00:46:37.510
you guys are seeing regarding to climate change.

00:46:38.809 --> 00:46:42.409
There has been a massive change. Like, for example,

00:46:42.769 --> 00:46:46.050
I was in Amadablam, which is the most beautiful,

00:46:46.170 --> 00:46:50.780
iconic peak of Himalayas. My first climb when

00:46:50.780 --> 00:46:53.659
I went there at Cam 1, we could just, you know,

00:46:53.699 --> 00:46:57.519
grab the snow, melt it, drink water, cook food

00:46:57.519 --> 00:47:00.719
and all that. When I went there again in 2018,

00:47:01.320 --> 00:47:05.199
there was no snow. So we had to carry like gallons

00:47:05.199 --> 00:47:09.159
of water because. the water is heavy right you

00:47:09.159 --> 00:47:12.260
know one liter is one kg so when we had to carry

00:47:12.260 --> 00:47:14.980
like gallons of water you know into this extreme

00:47:14.980 --> 00:47:18.519
like route altitude I was like oh my god that

00:47:18.519 --> 00:47:21.840
was so painful but equally so sad and that's

00:47:21.840 --> 00:47:25.619
when I had the true realization of wow this is

00:47:25.619 --> 00:47:29.079
this is real again you know like I was in Daulagri

00:47:29.079 --> 00:47:32.920
my first 8 ,000 meter peak in 2014 I went back

00:47:32.920 --> 00:47:36.500
there in 2019 for you know for this project and

00:47:37.289 --> 00:47:39.530
the whole of the glacier was melting you know

00:47:39.530 --> 00:47:42.909
i didn't believe that in just in a matter of

00:47:42.909 --> 00:47:47.489
few years you could see such a huge change um

00:47:47.489 --> 00:47:50.849
and you know if you look if you now forget those

00:47:50.849 --> 00:47:52.929
what i have seen and just like if you look into

00:47:52.929 --> 00:47:55.130
the scientific you know figures and all that

00:47:55.130 --> 00:47:59.070
if you look you know the kumbu valley if we lose

00:47:59.070 --> 00:48:01.650
the glacier of you know like kumbu icefall and

00:48:01.650 --> 00:48:04.050
all that it's gonna have an effect on millions

00:48:04.050 --> 00:48:10.650
of life And this is something that's really worrying.

00:48:10.969 --> 00:48:14.329
So I really wanted to obviously raise the awareness

00:48:14.329 --> 00:48:18.010
about it through my channels. So, yeah, and that's

00:48:18.010 --> 00:48:19.530
what I've been doing. Well, that's beautiful.

00:48:19.690 --> 00:48:21.010
That's something that I've talked about a few

00:48:21.010 --> 00:48:24.650
times on here. I lived in Los Angeles for a little

00:48:24.650 --> 00:48:27.590
while, and I always found it insanity that you

00:48:27.590 --> 00:48:30.710
would have all these kind of anti -climate change.

00:48:32.639 --> 00:48:34.760
views. And my thing was, well, we're in a city

00:48:34.760 --> 00:48:37.019
where you can't even see 200 meters ahead of

00:48:37.019 --> 00:48:40.280
you. So rather than even worry about the climate

00:48:40.280 --> 00:48:41.880
change element, why don't we just work on what

00:48:41.880 --> 00:48:44.239
we can see, which is the product of emissions.

00:48:44.460 --> 00:48:46.340
You see the smokestacks all over the country

00:48:46.340 --> 00:48:50.360
that are spewing out toxic gases. Let's work

00:48:50.360 --> 00:48:52.340
on what we can see, and I guarantee you we'll

00:48:52.340 --> 00:48:54.119
probably have a knock -on effect on climate change

00:48:54.119 --> 00:48:57.940
as well. Yeah, that's so true, buddy. And I just

00:48:57.940 --> 00:49:01.570
was that, you know, a documentary by Sir David

00:49:01.570 --> 00:49:05.469
Attenborough. And the message he sends was so

00:49:05.469 --> 00:49:09.769
powerful. Whatever we do all as a human, if we

00:49:09.769 --> 00:49:14.070
put nature to our heart and make decisions around

00:49:14.070 --> 00:49:18.110
that, we can make changes. And then it's only

00:49:18.110 --> 00:49:22.940
like when there is a bigger goal. And when there's

00:49:22.940 --> 00:49:24.760
a bigger project, it's not the big things that

00:49:24.760 --> 00:49:27.159
make difference. It's the smaller things. And

00:49:27.159 --> 00:49:29.360
if everyone is doing those little smaller things,

00:49:29.639 --> 00:49:32.960
that's what makes the huge change. So, yeah.

00:49:33.860 --> 00:49:36.199
Absolutely. All right. Well, then you mentioned

00:49:36.199 --> 00:49:40.480
14 peaks, but you didn't mention what the record

00:49:40.480 --> 00:49:43.639
was up to that point and then the time period

00:49:43.639 --> 00:49:46.539
that you were hoping to scale all 14. So what

00:49:46.539 --> 00:49:48.239
was the current record and then what was your

00:49:48.239 --> 00:49:54.780
hope? The record was, you know, I think it's

00:49:54.780 --> 00:49:58.280
seven years, 11 months and 14 days. And that

00:49:58.280 --> 00:50:01.119
record was hauled by, you know, Jersey Couscous.

00:50:01.699 --> 00:50:05.099
And a Korean climber, Kim Jang -ho, tried to

00:50:05.099 --> 00:50:07.739
break his record. And he broke that record by

00:50:07.739 --> 00:50:10.599
only, you know, less than 10 days or something

00:50:10.599 --> 00:50:15.789
like that. Yeah. So when I plan into like seven

00:50:15.789 --> 00:50:18.869
months, it was crazy because, you know, if you

00:50:18.869 --> 00:50:21.130
look into this idea for those who doesn't know

00:50:21.130 --> 00:50:22.789
these big mountains and all, you know, people

00:50:22.789 --> 00:50:26.150
take two months to climb one big mountains, one

00:50:26.150 --> 00:50:28.989
8 ,000 meter peak and all that. So no one could

00:50:28.989 --> 00:50:31.670
really imagine. But being able to change that

00:50:31.670 --> 00:50:36.289
perspective into this in a new era of extreme

00:50:36.289 --> 00:50:39.409
high altitude mountaineering. I think it's quite

00:50:39.409 --> 00:50:42.389
humbling, buddy. And that's kind of what I wanted

00:50:42.389 --> 00:50:45.250
to do. Well, you had self -belief and obviously

00:50:45.250 --> 00:50:49.030
you'd seen what you were capable of at that point.

00:50:49.170 --> 00:50:52.530
But I know that proposing it to sponsors was

00:50:52.530 --> 00:50:54.769
a challenge for you. So what was the fundraising

00:50:54.769 --> 00:50:59.949
element like for you? The fundraising was one

00:50:59.949 --> 00:51:02.710
of the toughest things I have ever done after

00:51:02.710 --> 00:51:08.659
writing this book. So, yeah, at that point, I

00:51:08.659 --> 00:51:13.760
still had one year planning to do before I get

00:51:13.760 --> 00:51:18.059
into this project. The whole project had two

00:51:18.059 --> 00:51:21.199
planning. One was operational, which was my bag,

00:51:21.480 --> 00:51:24.019
my perk, my expertise. And there was another

00:51:24.019 --> 00:51:26.900
one which was fundraising. The fundraising part

00:51:26.900 --> 00:51:30.719
was led by one of my friends. And just like three

00:51:30.719 --> 00:51:34.360
months prior to the project, you know. I was

00:51:34.360 --> 00:51:37.659
told that there is zero pound on the project

00:51:37.659 --> 00:51:40.159
fund. So after that, I decided to take the lead

00:51:40.159 --> 00:51:45.000
by myself. And yeah, nobody would believe it.

00:51:45.059 --> 00:51:48.780
They were like, OK, Nims, if you think like,

00:51:48.800 --> 00:51:51.159
you know, you are that badass climber, mountaineer,

00:51:51.219 --> 00:51:53.039
why haven't we heard about you before? I was

00:51:53.039 --> 00:51:55.420
like, I just told you I was in special forces.

00:51:55.559 --> 00:51:57.840
You know, I didn't even have a Facebook. I didn't

00:51:57.840 --> 00:52:01.260
have any Instagram. So how are you going to hear

00:52:01.260 --> 00:52:06.869
about me? then some would say, oh, the previous

00:52:06.869 --> 00:52:08.989
two records are nearly eight years and you were

00:52:08.989 --> 00:52:10.349
just trying to say you're going to do that in

00:52:10.349 --> 00:52:12.130
seven months. So people were making the joke

00:52:12.130 --> 00:52:15.769
out of it and all that. Yeah, mate. And just

00:52:15.769 --> 00:52:18.710
to give you an idea, before I set off from London

00:52:18.710 --> 00:52:21.449
Heathrow to Kathmandu, Nepal for this project,

00:52:21.610 --> 00:52:26.130
I only had 5 % of the total fund. It was that

00:52:26.130 --> 00:52:28.369
hard. And I still remember when people were so

00:52:28.369 --> 00:52:31.170
negative and all that. I was driving in this

00:52:31.170 --> 00:52:37.929
motorway in M3 and given the fact I have operated

00:52:37.929 --> 00:52:40.570
in a very, very hostile, you know, stressful,

00:52:41.050 --> 00:52:44.989
multilayer stressful environment and that doesn't

00:52:44.989 --> 00:52:49.849
like overwhelm me. But on this one fundraising,

00:52:50.170 --> 00:52:52.349
I was driving on this motorway and I just had

00:52:52.349 --> 00:52:55.090
tears coming from my eyes. I had to pull up and

00:52:55.090 --> 00:52:58.750
obviously had to have a word for myself. get

00:52:58.750 --> 00:53:01.650
a grip, you know, and then I drove off. And the

00:53:01.650 --> 00:53:04.889
reason why it gives me strength was the purpose,

00:53:05.010 --> 00:53:08.449
why I was doing this mission. But, yeah, it was

00:53:08.449 --> 00:53:11.590
tough, buddy. And the funding started coming

00:53:11.590 --> 00:53:14.690
later on from the, you know, from the project

00:53:14.690 --> 00:53:17.289
through sponsorship. A lot of people, you know,

00:53:17.289 --> 00:53:20.650
supported through, you know, GoFundMe page. As

00:53:20.650 --> 00:53:22.469
well, once I started, you know, climbing in the

00:53:22.469 --> 00:53:25.010
way that I said I would climb, and once I started

00:53:25.010 --> 00:53:28.329
the rescues, you know, all that. Beautiful. Well,

00:53:28.369 --> 00:53:30.690
just as a tangent with that, so many members

00:53:30.690 --> 00:53:33.010
of the military I've had on, myself, my profession,

00:53:33.269 --> 00:53:38.050
all the tactical professions, there's a toll.

00:53:38.150 --> 00:53:40.309
There's a mental toll to what we see as a mental

00:53:40.309 --> 00:53:43.550
toll to what some of us have to do. And then

00:53:43.550 --> 00:53:46.570
a lot of times that manifests when you transition

00:53:46.570 --> 00:53:48.710
out of the profession because that group that

00:53:48.710 --> 00:53:51.460
you were in, that tight -knit... tribe that you

00:53:51.460 --> 00:53:54.260
belong to now you're on the outside well with

00:53:54.260 --> 00:53:56.340
your journey not only on the outside but now

00:53:56.340 --> 00:53:58.940
you have the the added frustration of having

00:53:58.940 --> 00:54:01.380
served your country and yet not now you know

00:54:01.380 --> 00:54:04.420
having so many problems trying to raise money

00:54:04.420 --> 00:54:06.940
for this this climb that you know is going to

00:54:06.940 --> 00:54:09.519
do so much good so did did you have either then

00:54:09.519 --> 00:54:11.760
or later on in your uh you know the last few

00:54:11.760 --> 00:54:15.079
years have any elements where you know you you

00:54:15.079 --> 00:54:18.579
saw the ripple effect mentally of you know the

00:54:19.199 --> 00:54:23.519
The service that you've given? Nobody, because

00:54:23.519 --> 00:54:28.239
for me, you know, I think it was different. And

00:54:28.239 --> 00:54:31.559
of course, you know, I see a lot of friends,

00:54:31.659 --> 00:54:33.880
you know, having a ripple effect. But at the

00:54:33.880 --> 00:54:35.639
moment, no, because, you know, everything what

00:54:35.639 --> 00:54:39.760
I did was by the book. You know, it was something

00:54:39.760 --> 00:54:43.659
that I really loved doing it. And there was a

00:54:43.659 --> 00:54:48.179
purpose and all that. So, yeah, I'm okay, thankfully.

00:54:48.699 --> 00:54:50.320
Well, good. And I think that I've expected that

00:54:50.320 --> 00:54:51.880
answer. And the reason being is because, as you

00:54:51.880 --> 00:54:53.539
said, you had a purpose. And that seems to be

00:54:53.539 --> 00:54:57.079
the key for people transitioning out healthily

00:54:57.079 --> 00:54:59.840
is that they go from one purpose to the next.

00:54:59.980 --> 00:55:02.260
And obviously, the climb seemed to be that good

00:55:02.260 --> 00:55:06.699
transition. 100%. Beautiful. All right. Well,

00:55:06.739 --> 00:55:09.159
then, so you were still working on the fundraising.

00:55:09.320 --> 00:55:11.880
So lead me through to Braymont because I want

00:55:11.880 --> 00:55:14.380
to give them some airtime too because they seem

00:55:14.380 --> 00:55:19.840
to be well -engrossed in your climb, obviously,

00:55:20.000 --> 00:55:22.119
with Through Dark. So let's talk about how they

00:55:22.119 --> 00:55:27.400
came in and got behind your project. So when

00:55:27.400 --> 00:55:32.199
I finished the first project and all that, a

00:55:32.199 --> 00:55:34.320
lot of people started believing that I could

00:55:34.320 --> 00:55:36.750
really do it. You know, because, you know, at

00:55:36.750 --> 00:55:39.190
first people didn't believe in all that. But

00:55:39.190 --> 00:55:41.829
on the second phase, when I was like struggling

00:55:41.829 --> 00:55:45.610
for the for the fund, Bremen advanced me, you

00:55:45.610 --> 00:55:49.550
know, roughly in a 200K. And that allowed me

00:55:49.550 --> 00:55:52.530
to do the second phase in a peaceful manner.

00:55:53.730 --> 00:55:55.530
Yeah. And then through that, guys, you know,

00:55:55.570 --> 00:55:56.809
of course, they have been, you know, like, you

00:55:56.809 --> 00:55:59.150
know, friends. They have been supporting me with

00:55:59.150 --> 00:56:02.929
the clothing and all that. And I'm quite proud

00:56:02.929 --> 00:56:06.170
to represent them and all that. uh but yeah there

00:56:06.170 --> 00:56:08.710
were like great sponsors like in ann middleton

00:56:08.710 --> 00:56:11.590
you know who who supported this project you know

00:56:11.590 --> 00:56:16.829
give me you know sponsorship um and yeah he didn't

00:56:16.829 --> 00:56:19.210
even ask for anything not even like one social

00:56:19.210 --> 00:56:21.389
media post and all that some so there were some

00:56:21.389 --> 00:56:24.769
really great supporters out there like select

00:56:24.769 --> 00:56:28.550
so osprey europe i had like tons of you know

00:56:28.550 --> 00:56:33.179
like um the sponsors because um Nobody could

00:56:33.179 --> 00:56:37.320
fund the whole project. And I must not forget,

00:56:37.400 --> 00:56:41.719
half of the project fund came from the crowdfunding.

00:56:41.980 --> 00:56:46.500
Actually, people giving £5, £10, and a lot of

00:56:46.500 --> 00:56:49.159
people were giving that as well. So that's why

00:56:49.159 --> 00:56:52.699
I keep saying it was a people's project. Beautiful.

00:56:52.820 --> 00:56:54.739
Well, then back to the Climbs then. So kind of

00:56:54.739 --> 00:56:57.559
walk me through that and then where you not only

00:56:57.559 --> 00:57:00.380
did it in a certain time, but also that was including...

00:57:00.760 --> 00:57:03.920
other rescues that you made? Yeah, you know,

00:57:03.940 --> 00:57:06.440
for me, of course, that was the mission. The

00:57:06.440 --> 00:57:10.059
mission was there. But, you know, before mission,

00:57:10.239 --> 00:57:12.079
you know, of course, there is a humanity and

00:57:12.079 --> 00:57:16.639
there is a culture and there is a true spirit

00:57:16.639 --> 00:57:22.619
of who really I am. And for me, I couldn't really

00:57:22.619 --> 00:57:26.139
walk away with not risking people or walking

00:57:26.139 --> 00:57:30.389
past the needy people. So, I did, you know, first

00:57:30.389 --> 00:57:33.789
rescue was on Annapurna, you know, where I was

00:57:33.789 --> 00:57:36.269
about to go to climb Dhaulagri, my second mountain

00:57:36.269 --> 00:57:39.230
to tick off. But then I abandoned that, you know,

00:57:39.230 --> 00:57:42.750
Dhaulagri to go and, you know, rescue Dr Chin.

00:57:43.929 --> 00:57:45.889
The side effect was massive because, you know,

00:57:45.929 --> 00:57:47.710
my team in Dhaulagri, because they have been

00:57:47.710 --> 00:57:49.949
waiting, you know, for a while, they said I was

00:57:49.949 --> 00:57:51.750
never going to come. So, they almost like, you

00:57:51.750 --> 00:57:54.710
know, closed the camp and left. But, yeah, and

00:57:54.710 --> 00:57:58.440
the story goes on. Like in, for example, Kanchenjunga,

00:57:58.440 --> 00:58:01.780
I hadn't slept for like six days. Normally people,

00:58:01.960 --> 00:58:04.699
you know, go to the summit from, you know, sleeping

00:58:04.699 --> 00:58:07.320
at camp one, camp two, camp three and all that.

00:58:07.380 --> 00:58:09.340
But I didn't have that luxury. So I was just

00:58:09.340 --> 00:58:11.079
racing from base camp to the summit of this,

00:58:11.139 --> 00:58:13.280
you know, massive mountain, world third highest

00:58:13.280 --> 00:58:16.059
mountain, Kanchenjunga. And in that as well,

00:58:16.280 --> 00:58:19.659
I had to give, you know, me and my team, Mikma,

00:58:19.760 --> 00:58:22.949
David, myself and Gesman. We rescued four climbers

00:58:22.949 --> 00:58:27.909
and we had to give oxygen at 8 ,450 meters. And

00:58:27.909 --> 00:58:29.630
a lot of people say, oh, yeah, you climb with

00:58:29.630 --> 00:58:32.090
oxygen and all that. But this is the main reason

00:58:32.090 --> 00:58:34.650
why I do it. You know, I get my oxygen to save

00:58:34.650 --> 00:58:38.250
the life of these people. And if you look into

00:58:38.250 --> 00:58:41.929
the science, physics beyond that, coming off

00:58:41.929 --> 00:58:45.590
oxygen at 8 ,450 meters and doing a rescue, which

00:58:45.590 --> 00:58:48.329
is like equally dragging a car at the sea level,

00:58:48.429 --> 00:58:52.329
is... is hardcore than any mountains you climb

00:58:52.329 --> 00:58:56.730
without oxygen and all that. So, yeah, but the

00:58:56.730 --> 00:58:59.050
whole thing about this rescue is about, you know,

00:58:59.050 --> 00:59:03.070
not letting your core value and principle go

00:59:03.070 --> 00:59:07.949
in a very tough, challenging conditions, but

00:59:07.949 --> 00:59:09.829
also you've got to know your abilities as well.

00:59:09.949 --> 00:59:11.389
You know, you don't want to be, you know, one

00:59:11.389 --> 00:59:13.510
of those stupid in a person who doesn't know

00:59:13.510 --> 00:59:16.170
your ability to try to rescue somebody else and

00:59:16.170 --> 00:59:19.000
then you become another casualty. then you you

00:59:19.000 --> 00:59:20.840
kind of you know like make that problem even

00:59:20.840 --> 00:59:24.380
more so it's all about a dynamic calculated risk

00:59:24.380 --> 00:59:28.139
assessment given the whole circumstances and

00:59:28.139 --> 00:59:30.900
environment Yeah, and obviously you detail the

00:59:30.900 --> 00:59:32.920
climbs and the rescues in the book. And again,

00:59:33.000 --> 00:59:36.320
I can't mention that enough. But it also highlights,

00:59:36.360 --> 00:59:39.679
again, that altruistic element that you have

00:59:39.679 --> 00:59:43.239
where you're not carrying oxygen so that you

00:59:43.239 --> 00:59:45.519
can be the best, you can be the fastest, but

00:59:45.519 --> 00:59:48.699
you're lugging that tank up on the off chance

00:59:48.699 --> 00:59:50.260
that you have to make a rescue. So you either

00:59:50.260 --> 00:59:52.219
have the strength or you're able to give oxygen

00:59:52.219 --> 00:59:55.260
to the victim. So I think that speaks volumes.

00:59:56.269 --> 00:59:58.630
Yeah, mate, because at the end of the day, you

00:59:58.630 --> 01:00:04.190
got to learn from your experience. Whenever we

01:00:04.190 --> 01:00:06.090
go in the target, whenever we go in the mission,

01:00:06.190 --> 01:00:08.769
there's always debrief. We don't only talk about

01:00:08.769 --> 01:00:11.769
what went well and high five. We also talk about

01:00:11.769 --> 01:00:14.409
what went wrong as well and what are the lessons

01:00:14.409 --> 01:00:16.769
learned. And for me, the lesson learned from

01:00:16.769 --> 01:00:21.030
my first Everest expedition in 2016 was climbing

01:00:21.030 --> 01:00:24.260
8 ,000 -meter peak is not about ego. You know,

01:00:24.300 --> 01:00:26.179
if you can climb all this mountain with the value

01:00:26.179 --> 01:00:29.940
and principle, then, you know, that's that's

01:00:29.940 --> 01:00:34.519
the one for me anyway. So I learned something

01:00:34.519 --> 01:00:36.760
from that expedition and I carried that with

01:00:36.760 --> 01:00:40.659
me to this point and all that. It's all about

01:00:40.659 --> 01:00:43.760
learning from the experience and making what

01:00:43.760 --> 01:00:47.840
it fits with you as a human. as an individual

01:00:47.840 --> 01:00:50.800
as well. And I'm not there to please, you know,

01:00:50.820 --> 01:00:52.739
the world and all that. Nobody can do that, you

01:00:52.739 --> 01:00:54.900
know, because we all are human. We all are different.

01:00:55.420 --> 01:00:58.019
But, you know, as long as you have purpose, you

01:00:58.019 --> 01:01:00.440
learn from your mistakes, you learn from your

01:01:00.440 --> 01:01:02.719
experience, you always will be successful in

01:01:02.719 --> 01:01:05.460
what you do because you are always learning and

01:01:05.460 --> 01:01:08.619
adapting. Beautiful. Just to point out, one of

01:01:08.619 --> 01:01:11.659
my favorite parts of the book was... the the

01:01:11.659 --> 01:01:13.760
very end the lessons learned at the back and

01:01:13.760 --> 01:01:16.420
it ties in all the stories but you know you've

01:01:16.420 --> 01:01:19.440
got these key points that really make you think

01:01:19.440 --> 01:01:22.420
about you know leadership and ownership and all

01:01:22.420 --> 01:01:26.199
these other areas yeah 100 you know like the

01:01:26.199 --> 01:01:28.900
whole thing with the book as i said is like even

01:01:28.900 --> 01:01:32.619
covering the the leadership in my team members

01:01:32.619 --> 01:01:35.900
i normally when people go to the big mountains

01:01:35.900 --> 01:01:37.639
and all they will have somebody else who has

01:01:37.639 --> 01:01:39.710
summited that mountain Because, you know, he

01:01:39.710 --> 01:01:41.449
can show you the route. There's like, you know,

01:01:41.449 --> 01:01:44.010
there's danger, you know, because once you summit

01:01:44.010 --> 01:01:46.110
it, you kind of know the route. But I didn't

01:01:46.110 --> 01:01:49.449
take that approach. I put my guys, because they

01:01:49.449 --> 01:01:51.889
were rotating, you know, between summit to the

01:01:51.889 --> 01:01:54.650
summit. So I put these guys into the mountain

01:01:54.650 --> 01:01:57.090
that they haven't climbed before. So they also

01:01:57.090 --> 01:01:59.530
have the objective as well. So when you put,

01:01:59.570 --> 01:02:01.210
you know, the interest of your team members,

01:02:01.369 --> 01:02:03.690
you know, into your hat as well, and that gives

01:02:03.690 --> 01:02:08.159
such a powerful gesture. The whole leadership

01:02:08.159 --> 01:02:12.500
style is completely different. I think that's

01:02:12.500 --> 01:02:15.139
also one of the reasons why the whole project

01:02:15.139 --> 01:02:18.719
was successful. Speaking of the Nepalese people,

01:02:18.880 --> 01:02:23.719
here we are now recording this in 2020. What

01:02:23.719 --> 01:02:26.719
has been the impact of COVID on the climbing

01:02:26.719 --> 01:02:31.719
environment and therefore the economic side for

01:02:31.719 --> 01:02:36.599
the Nepalese? Well, you know, good question.

01:02:36.719 --> 01:02:39.320
You know, a lot of people in Nepal, the climbing

01:02:39.320 --> 01:02:42.840
community, they massively rely, you know, rely

01:02:42.840 --> 01:02:46.400
on Everest expedition. That's the biggest expedition.

01:02:46.519 --> 01:02:49.420
That's where they make money. You know, all the

01:02:49.420 --> 01:02:52.119
guides and of course, you know, the whole family

01:02:52.119 --> 01:02:55.099
depend on that, you know, expeditions and all

01:02:55.099 --> 01:02:58.380
that. But with COVID, all the Himalayan expeditions

01:02:58.380 --> 01:03:01.900
were cancelled this year. So it was a really

01:03:01.900 --> 01:03:04.360
tough time, and I did what I could do to help

01:03:04.360 --> 01:03:07.079
them. I kind of had that GoFundMe page, and we

01:03:07.079 --> 01:03:10.760
were just buying food for the people. A lot of

01:03:10.760 --> 01:03:12.920
people have donated on that one. Thank you so

01:03:12.920 --> 01:03:14.760
much to those who have donated and all that.

01:03:16.039 --> 01:03:18.820
Yeah, it's a really tough time. It's a tough

01:03:18.820 --> 01:03:21.440
time for everybody else. I know we all have our

01:03:21.440 --> 01:03:24.340
own problems and all that, but just in relation

01:03:24.340 --> 01:03:28.530
to the climbing community, uh thank you so much

01:03:28.530 --> 01:03:33.170
to everyone who had supported um yeah brilliant

01:03:33.170 --> 01:03:36.130
all right well then um lead me through then what

01:03:36.130 --> 01:03:38.329
made you decide to write a book and then what

01:03:38.329 --> 01:03:40.110
that process was like i just finished a book

01:03:40.110 --> 01:03:43.429
myself so i can relate but what was your experience

01:03:43.429 --> 01:03:48.980
why i wanted to write the book This was one of

01:03:48.980 --> 01:03:52.940
the strengths that I had when I was almost dying

01:03:52.940 --> 01:03:55.800
on the 8 ,000 -meter peak, when I was running

01:03:55.800 --> 01:03:58.239
out of my energy and all. I wanted to tell the

01:03:58.239 --> 01:04:01.920
story by myself. I wanted to do the justice to

01:04:01.920 --> 01:04:05.780
the story. I didn't want somebody else writing

01:04:05.780 --> 01:04:09.239
my story on the guess, on like assumption or

01:04:09.239 --> 01:04:12.900
in the imagination. Because what I have written

01:04:12.900 --> 01:04:15.940
in this... book is a statement no one can argue

01:04:15.940 --> 01:04:17.820
with this everything what I have written is backed

01:04:17.820 --> 01:04:20.380
up by either video evidence or anything and then

01:04:20.380 --> 01:04:24.579
and everything hasn't been even like you know

01:04:24.579 --> 01:04:26.619
when people do something people make it bigger

01:04:26.619 --> 01:04:30.000
and I honestly believe me I've tried to play

01:04:30.000 --> 01:04:32.559
down as much as I can and everything is like

01:04:32.559 --> 01:04:35.119
like there but to be able to tell this story

01:04:35.119 --> 01:04:41.909
from my own perspective you know it was really

01:04:41.909 --> 01:04:44.590
really humbling experience but to be honest buddy

01:04:44.590 --> 01:04:51.769
the writing book is hardcore it is so hard i

01:04:51.769 --> 01:04:55.849
have read this book now nine times um and um

01:04:55.849 --> 01:04:58.409
i must say i'm very excited now because i have

01:04:58.409 --> 01:05:02.369
put so much work and as you know i give 100 in

01:05:02.369 --> 01:05:04.650
everything that i do in my life and i and that's

01:05:04.650 --> 01:05:06.989
what i have done with the book and this book

01:05:06.989 --> 01:05:10.500
is not about you know mountain it's about about

01:05:10.500 --> 01:05:14.440
relating yourself, about climbing your own mountains

01:05:14.440 --> 01:05:17.599
and how you could achieve your own new possible

01:05:17.599 --> 01:05:22.039
in relation to how I cope with the problem, how

01:05:22.039 --> 01:05:23.920
I mitigate with them, what my thought process

01:05:23.920 --> 01:05:28.500
are and all that. So I hope it will be in a people's

01:05:28.500 --> 01:05:30.900
book as well. No, like I said, I thought it was

01:05:30.900 --> 01:05:33.860
fantastic. And there's many times now in conversations

01:05:33.860 --> 01:05:37.900
on here. I've spoken to people who have redefined

01:05:37.900 --> 01:05:41.000
something in life. And then once they do, then

01:05:41.000 --> 01:05:43.199
behind them is a bunch of people that then start

01:05:43.199 --> 01:05:46.070
to... to kind of match the same thing but it's

01:05:46.070 --> 01:05:48.289
that first pioneer that first person that shows

01:05:48.289 --> 01:05:50.949
other people that something is possible and i

01:05:50.949 --> 01:05:52.530
think that's what i got from this is you know

01:05:52.530 --> 01:05:54.929
again like you said the definitely the kindness

01:05:54.929 --> 01:05:57.150
compassion element which i think is is beautiful

01:05:57.150 --> 01:06:01.170
but also that that belief that self -belief like

01:06:01.170 --> 01:06:03.929
i don't care what anyone says i fucking know

01:06:03.929 --> 01:06:05.829
that i can do this so i'm just gonna show you

01:06:05.829 --> 01:06:10.079
yeah Thank you, Barry. And that's what exactly

01:06:10.079 --> 01:06:12.760
it is. And that's what exactly Be Impossible

01:06:12.760 --> 01:06:16.940
is about. Find your own mission. If you believe

01:06:16.940 --> 01:06:20.340
in that, give your heart, mind, and soul into

01:06:20.340 --> 01:06:24.239
it. And just go for it. And you'll be successful.

01:06:24.539 --> 01:06:27.800
You will make the impossible possible. Now, what

01:06:27.800 --> 01:06:30.300
was it like for you once you'd written it? Were

01:06:30.300 --> 01:06:32.079
you able to kind of breathe a sigh of relief

01:06:32.079 --> 01:06:33.960
now you were able to kind of offload that story?

01:06:36.899 --> 01:06:39.820
I have, but obviously, you know, I'm not that

01:06:39.820 --> 01:06:42.460
kind of a person who can just go on a busy holiday

01:06:42.460 --> 01:06:44.920
and then relax. You know, I can't do that. So

01:06:44.920 --> 01:06:47.380
I have been on a mission and I have been learning

01:06:47.380 --> 01:06:49.880
how to speed fly. I have been like, you know,

01:06:49.940 --> 01:06:52.599
full on, buddy. I'm planning on, you know, like

01:06:52.599 --> 01:06:56.400
the next future project and all that. So it's

01:06:56.400 --> 01:06:59.320
full on mission. because you know i'm quite new

01:06:59.320 --> 01:07:02.139
to this mountaineering world to be honest and

01:07:02.139 --> 01:07:04.239
i've just i just became a professional climber

01:07:04.239 --> 01:07:06.940
only a year ago before that you know my profession

01:07:06.940 --> 01:07:10.679
was in a tier one uk in a special forces so i

01:07:10.679 --> 01:07:13.340
got a lot to do i think yeah absolutely well

01:07:13.340 --> 01:07:15.440
so are there any big plans is there is there

01:07:15.440 --> 01:07:19.260
a next um adventure that you're hoping the to

01:07:19.260 --> 01:07:23.769
share I cannot really say that now, but it is

01:07:23.769 --> 01:07:27.809
something massive, equally big. And yeah, stay

01:07:27.809 --> 01:07:31.389
tuned. I don't doubt it for a moment. All right.

01:07:31.389 --> 01:07:33.250
Well, again, like I said, the book is incredible.

01:07:33.309 --> 01:07:35.710
And I think what's so good is you are the quiet

01:07:35.710 --> 01:07:37.909
professionals. And again, I'm not trying to draw

01:07:37.909 --> 01:07:41.250
anything out from any of your service that shouldn't

01:07:41.250 --> 01:07:45.900
be out there. Men and women who have these powerful

01:07:45.900 --> 01:07:48.440
stories are able to put it, you know, in writing,

01:07:48.559 --> 01:07:51.539
whatever they're allowed to tell about. It really,

01:07:51.559 --> 01:07:53.099
really resonates with people because there's

01:07:53.099 --> 01:07:55.400
so much, you know, shallow fiction out there.

01:07:55.519 --> 01:07:58.320
And yet these real life stories that many of

01:07:58.320 --> 01:08:00.739
whom have had on the show are so much more powerful

01:08:00.739 --> 01:08:03.400
than most storytellers can make up anyway. So

01:08:03.400 --> 01:08:06.139
I can't advocate, you know, highly enough for

01:08:06.139 --> 01:08:09.719
your book. Thank you, buddy. You know, that's

01:08:09.719 --> 01:08:12.420
really kind of you. And thank you for your honest

01:08:12.420 --> 01:08:14.820
feedback as well. No problem. Well, I want to

01:08:14.820 --> 01:08:16.659
transition some closing questions so I can let

01:08:16.659 --> 01:08:19.380
you go. We'll talk about where people can find

01:08:19.380 --> 01:08:21.140
the book in just a moment. But is there a book

01:08:21.140 --> 01:08:23.000
that someone else has written that you love to

01:08:23.000 --> 01:08:25.119
talk about or recommend? It can be related to

01:08:25.119 --> 01:08:26.920
what we've discussed today or something completely

01:08:26.920 --> 01:08:31.039
different. Nothing really, buddy, because I'm

01:08:31.039 --> 01:08:34.979
going to be brutally honest. I haven't read any

01:08:34.979 --> 01:08:39.079
book. Sorry. No, no problem at all. What about

01:08:39.079 --> 01:08:41.960
it? My writing book was really crazy and all

01:08:41.960 --> 01:08:44.920
that, you know, because, yeah, the whole life

01:08:44.920 --> 01:08:47.279
in, you know, Scriptural Forces, you're busy

01:08:47.279 --> 01:08:50.159
running around and all that. And straight after

01:08:50.159 --> 01:08:52.380
that, I was into this project and obviously,

01:08:52.560 --> 01:08:56.520
yeah, full on. But I can definitely tell you,

01:08:56.539 --> 01:08:59.619
you know, who have been my inspiration, you know,

01:08:59.619 --> 01:09:02.720
from what I have been seeing and all that is.

01:09:03.350 --> 01:09:07.430
Definitely Muhammad Ali and Usain Bolt. These

01:09:07.430 --> 01:09:09.909
two guys have been a massive inspiration for

01:09:09.909 --> 01:09:12.529
me. Beautiful. Yeah, I think that's the problem

01:09:12.529 --> 01:09:15.310
with your profession, even my profession, is

01:09:15.310 --> 01:09:19.329
there's so many facts and skills to master that

01:09:19.329 --> 01:09:21.770
I found in most of my fire service career, I

01:09:21.770 --> 01:09:24.329
was reading textbooks and reading medical books

01:09:24.329 --> 01:09:26.329
and all those things. So there wasn't a lot of

01:09:26.329 --> 01:09:30.800
time for other books, really. Yeah. Brilliant.

01:09:30.819 --> 01:09:32.739
All right. So then what about a film? Any films

01:09:32.739 --> 01:09:37.199
or documentaries that you've loved? I cannot

01:09:37.199 --> 01:09:38.880
talk about. Oh, you mean like, you know, that

01:09:38.880 --> 01:09:40.779
I love? Yeah, that you love. Nothing secret.

01:09:41.760 --> 01:09:45.119
I watched, you know, like The Last Dance by obviously

01:09:45.119 --> 01:09:49.909
Michael Jordan. It was awesome. Yeah. And then

01:09:49.909 --> 01:09:51.649
you mentioned David Attenborough's documentary

01:09:51.649 --> 01:09:53.909
as well. Yeah, I did watch that as well in a

01:09:53.909 --> 01:09:56.250
couple of days ago. That's like amazing. Yeah.

01:09:56.430 --> 01:09:59.250
Beautiful. My sister votes for the BBC and she

01:09:59.250 --> 01:10:01.770
edits. So I'm hoping this is the absolute pipe

01:10:01.770 --> 01:10:03.409
dream. I'd love to get him on one day. That would

01:10:03.409 --> 01:10:06.850
be incredible. Wow. We should see. That would

01:10:06.850 --> 01:10:09.449
be awesome. All right. So the next question,

01:10:09.529 --> 01:10:11.210
is there a person that you recommend to come

01:10:11.210 --> 01:10:14.409
on this podcast as a guest to speak to the first

01:10:14.409 --> 01:10:16.430
responders, military and associated professions

01:10:16.430 --> 01:10:21.390
of the world? As in like, you know, who I recommend

01:10:21.390 --> 01:10:23.649
to come on the next podcast? Is that your question?

01:10:23.770 --> 01:10:25.529
Yeah, just as an interview. Then it can be, again,

01:10:25.609 --> 01:10:27.550
anyone. It doesn't have to be specifically what

01:10:27.550 --> 01:10:29.289
we've discussed today. Anyone on planet Earth

01:10:29.289 --> 01:10:31.729
that you think would be a good person for us

01:10:31.729 --> 01:10:34.989
to listen to. Did you speak with Jay? Jay Morton?

01:10:35.710 --> 01:10:38.449
Yes. So Staz and Jay were both on a little while

01:10:38.449 --> 01:10:41.369
ago. You took their clothing through dark up

01:10:41.369 --> 01:10:44.600
the mountain, didn't you? okay yeah and basically

01:10:44.600 --> 01:10:46.600
you know like if you can you know bring ann middleton

01:10:46.600 --> 01:10:49.039
you know he is he has such a positive mindset

01:10:49.039 --> 01:10:52.760
and all that so yeah get him brilliant i shall

01:10:52.760 --> 01:10:55.159
thank you so much all right so in the last question

01:10:55.159 --> 01:10:57.079
before we make sure everyone knows where to find

01:10:57.079 --> 01:10:59.500
the book and where to find you um what do you

01:10:59.500 --> 01:11:06.279
do to decompress i go and do in extreme sports

01:11:06.279 --> 01:11:10.199
where i'm literally living my life in in the

01:11:10.199 --> 01:11:13.630
moment you know If I mess up, if I fuck up, I

01:11:13.630 --> 01:11:18.050
die. And that's what I do to decompress. Beautiful.

01:11:18.050 --> 01:11:21.670
Which sport specifically? Anything, mate. There's

01:11:21.670 --> 01:11:24.109
so many things, you know, climbing peak mountains

01:11:24.109 --> 01:11:27.029
or climbing an extreme in a great mountains,

01:11:27.210 --> 01:11:30.470
isn't like grading or even speed flying. Yeah,

01:11:30.569 --> 01:11:33.329
all that kind of stuff. Beautiful. Love it. Yeah,

01:11:33.369 --> 01:11:34.850
it's hard not to be in the moment when you almost

01:11:34.850 --> 01:11:39.050
die. All right. So then the very last question

01:11:39.050 --> 01:11:40.750
then. So where can people find the book first?

01:11:42.270 --> 01:11:44.489
So basically, if you are following on my Instagram

01:11:44.489 --> 01:11:47.489
at Nimstai, there's a link. You can just find

01:11:47.489 --> 01:11:49.390
it from there or, you know, you can find that

01:11:49.390 --> 01:11:53.489
from, you know, Waterstones, Imagine. Yeah. But

01:11:53.489 --> 01:11:55.890
the easiest thing for now, you know, if you're

01:11:55.890 --> 01:11:57.689
listening is, you know, just, you know, type

01:11:57.689 --> 01:12:00.869
Nimstai on Instagram or Facebook. There's a link

01:12:00.869 --> 01:12:05.529
on the bio. And yeah, I hope you will enjoy reading

01:12:05.529 --> 01:12:08.020
it. Absolutely. Well, Nims, I want to say thank

01:12:08.020 --> 01:12:09.920
you so much. It's been a great conversation.

01:12:10.119 --> 01:12:11.579
I've really enjoyed it. And I really appreciate

01:12:11.579 --> 01:12:13.520
you taking the time to come on the podcast today.

01:12:14.239 --> 01:12:16.899
Mate, thank you so much to you as well for having

01:12:16.899 --> 01:12:17.140
me.