AN EX-GURKHA and extreme mountaineer has been reunited with a climber he rescued near the peak of Mount Everest.

On May 16, Nirmal Purja, known as Nimsdai, and his team had taken their clients to the peak of the 8,848 metre-tall mountain and were on their way back down the South Summit when they found Captain Dipendra Singh Khatri.

A climber from another guiding company, he had been there overnight and was just 99 metres from the peak - well within the 'death zone'.

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(Video credit: @nimsdai/Instagram)

This is classified as anywhere over 8,000m, the altitude above which the pressure of oxygen cannot sustain human life and climbers need supplementary oxygen to survive.

The Hampshire-based climber said: "Even though they have paid us to be their guide, our clients kindly released us to help in this rescue.

“Together we brought the climber all the way down to Camp 4 at 7,950m and there we handed the climber into the care of two Sherpas from the other guiding company.

“I am very proud of my Elite Exped team and clients – on the mountain we are all one community and we look out for each other.”

Captain Dipendra was medically evacuated from the mountain after reaching the lower camps and taken to hospital in Kathmandu, the Nepalese capital.

Once Nimsdai and the Elite Exped team were back, he was reunited with Captain Dipendra.

He said: "It was such a happy moment to see him recovering well in Kathmandu.

"This is a great result – when you put so much effort into a rescue and risk so much to try and save someone’s life – to see them recovering well in safety is the best feeling.

"It’s hard to describe that feeling that you have made a real difference and saved a life.

"Sadly, not all high-altitude rescues have this happy outcome – rescue missions like this are life and death in the Big Mountains.

“I wish you a great onward recovery journey Brother.”

Nimsdai's May 16 climb was just days before the 70th anniversary since the first Everest summit on May 29, 1953 by Sir Edmund Hillary and Sherpa Tenzing Norgay.

Nimsdai has his own place in the history books, having led the first winter ascent of K2, the second-highest mountain on Earth. He also climbed all 14 of the world's 'Death Zone' peaks in six months and six days, a feat documented in the Netflix film '14 Peaks: Nothing Is Impossible'.

He said: "Sadly, some of those we tried to rescue during 14 Peaks unfortunately died, even though we gave our everything, even putting aside our mission to try and save lives. That’s what makes this positive outcome so fantastic for my whole team."

Nepal-born Nimsdai spent 16 Years in the UK military – serving six years in the Brigade of Gurkhas and then becoming the first Gurkha to ever join the Special Boat Service. He was in the UK Special Forces for 10 years before leaving in 2019 to pursue his 14 Peaks mission.

He lives in Hampshire with his family and was awarded an MBE from Queen Elizabeth II for his exploits in 2018.