A Chinese podcast · Same story, 4 levels
3:10
Nims 爬遍世界最高的 14 座山，最后倒在一场雪崩里
Nims Purja Climbed the World's 14 Highest Peaks. An Avalanche Just Killed Him.
This is an HSK 5-6 Chinese listening episode that runs about 3 minutes. The full Mandarin script is shown with tap-for-pinyin and a line-by-line English translation, so you can listen and read at once — comprehensible input in the sense of Stephen Krashen's i+1 theory. It teaches 10 key vocabulary words such as 危险、计划、普通 and walks through 3 grammar patterns, each explained in English with examples. The same news story is retold at 4 difficulty levels — use the level selector above to find the version that is challenging but still understandable for you.
Read the complete story in Chinese. Reveal pinyin and English only when you need them.
Let me start with a rather cruel image.
A man who spent his whole life dealing with the world's highest snow mountains was, in the end, left forever in the mountains by an avalanche.
This man was named Nims Purja, a Nepali.
If you've seen the Netflix documentary called “14 Peaks,” you'll surely recognize him.
He was probably the most famous — and most controversial — climber in the world over the past decade.
Nims's life was itself like a movie.
He was born into an ordinary family in Nepal, later joined the British military, and even served in the special forces.
What truly made his name was a crazy plan in 2019.
There are fourteen peaks in the world above 8,000 meters, and every one is deadly enough to take a life.
Before him, even the most elite climbers needed seven or eight years — even a lifetime — to finish all fourteen.
But the goal Nims set for himself was: summit all of them within seven months.
In the end, he took just six months and six days to climb them all.
That record pushed what people believed was the human limit a big step forward.
He had a catchphrase that later spread across the whole world: nothing is impossible.
Of course, he was always controversial.
Some said he'd turned climbing into a business, leading big groups of clients up the mountains, making a once-pure challenge too commercial.
But whether you like him or not, no one can deny his ability.
This year Nims came back, and this time the goal was even wilder: to climb the fourteen peaks a second time, and to do it all without oxygen.
Above 8,000 meters, just how thin is the air?
Without breathing oxygen, an ordinary person gets dizzy just standing — even facing mortal danger — never mind climbing up.
On July 30th, with a few Nepali teammates, he was climbing Broad Peak in Pakistan — the world's twelfth-highest peak, over 8,000 meters high.
Halfway up the mountain, the slope suddenly gave way in an avalanche.
A so-called avalanche is when a huge mass of snow on the slope rushes down in an instant — terrifyingly fast, powerful enough to bury an entire team.
In that moment, about ten climbers including Nims were buried at once.
What makes it sadder: because the spot was so high and so remote, more than ten hours passed before the people below got word.
By the time a real rescue got going, the best window had long passed.
In the end, this legend who said “nothing is impossible” could not walk back down the mountain.
You'll notice that fate sometimes loves this cruel kind of joke: the very thing that makes you famous is what takes you away.
Nims proved with his life how brave and how strong a person can be;
and this avalanche also reminds us that before real nature, even the most formidable person is still tiny.
One last question: for that “impossible” dream in your heart, to risk your life — is it worth it?
This question may truly have no standard answer.
Try it without the transcript and notice what sounds clearer.
甚至有生命危险 — even facing mortal danger.
2019 年的一个疯狂计划 — a crazy plan in 2019.
HSK4. 出生在尼泊尔一个很普通的家庭 — born into an ordinary family.
HSK1. 你一定认识他 — you'll surely recognize him.
世界上一共有十四座八千米以上的高峰 — there are fourteen 8000m+ peaks in the world.
Glossed: 山坡上大量的积雪，在一瞬间往下冲 — a mass of snow rushing down the slope.
最有名、也最有争议的登山家 — the most famous and most controversial climber.
正在攀登巴基斯坦的 Broad Peak — climbing Broad Peak in Pakistan.
海拔八千多米 — an altitude of over 8,000 meters.
在大自然面前，再厉害的人也依然很渺小 — before nature, even the mightiest is tiny.
* beyond level超纲词
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