Norwegian Harila reaches Annapurna hoping to beat Purja’s 14-peak record

Thakur Prasad Acharya / Myagdi, June 3: Norwegian mountaineer Kristin Harila has reached the base camp of Annapurna I and is expected to try and scale the mountain within a week.

A few days ago, Harila successfully summitted Mount Dhaulagiri, which, at 8,167 metres, is the seventh highest mountain in the world. From there, she hurried to Narchyang, Annapurna Rural Municipality–4 and is now at the base camp of the 8,091-metre Annapurna, the 10th highest mountain on Earth, with her support staff, informed Indra Singh Sherchan, a tourism entrepreneur in Dana, Annapurna–3. Her expedition is being managed by the company Seven Summit Treks.

Harila is on a quest to break the record set by Nepali Nirmal Purja for the fastest ascent of all of the world’s mountains that are over 8,000 metres in height. Purja set the record in 2019 by climbing all 14 eight-thousanders, as they are called, in six months and six days.

Harila came to Nepal a year ago, hoping to beat Purja’s record by climbing all 8,000-metre mountains within six months. But she only managed to climb 12 peaks as the Chinese authorities did not grant her permission to make attempts on Mt. Cho Oyu and Mt. Shishapangma.