New Delhi, Jan. 25 -- Nirmal Purja made a promise earlier this month: It will be the Nepalese climbing community that completes what is deemed one of the most daring mountaineering feats - reaching the summit of Mount K2 in winter.

On January 16, he was part of one of the two Nepali teams that converged a mere 10 metres ahead of the 28,251-foot mountain's peak. From there on, there was no individual - only the Nepali, the Nepali national anthem, and the Nepali national flag - as the team achieved the unthinkable.

"No individual agendas, no individual greed but only solidarity and joint force of Team Nepal Flag of Nepal with a shared vision," Mr Purja, a former elite British Army soldier of Nepalese origin, posted on Twitter and Instagra...