\n<\/p>\n
The 43-year-old was born in a small village in Nepal’s mountainous Myagdi district, located around 1,600m above sea level. <\/p>\n
He came from a family of Gurkhas, a world-famous group of Nepalese soldiers who have served in different armed forces, including the British Army.<\/p>\n
Following in the footsteps of his father and elder brothers, he joined the Gurkhas in 2003 at age 18 and joined the UK Special Forces in 2009.<\/p>\n
During his 16 years in the British military, he developed an interest in mountaineering.<\/p>\n
In 2012, he walked to Everest base camp and, instead of returning to Kathmandu as planned, he decided to learn how to climb “for real”, according to his website.<\/p>\n
He soon conquered the 6,119m Lobuche East, which was his “first peak”, according to his website. <\/p>\n
This spontaneous spirit for adventure remained part of his personality, even on his most recent expedition to Broad Peak.<\/p>\n
In his last post on X, which was published on Monday, Purja said that he had not intended to climb Broad Peak. <\/p>\n
“Initially, the plan was to climb just G2,” he wrote, referring to Gasherbrum II, another peak located in the Karakoram mountain range.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n