Elite veteran mountaineer Nirmal ‘Nims’ Purja killed in avalanche on Broad Peak in PoK
An avalanche struck a team of climbers on Broad Peak (8,047m, locally also given as 8,051m/26,414ft) in Pakistan’s Karakoram range on Thursday, July 30, catching ten people on the mountain’s standard route. By the following days, several bodies had been recovered and brought down the mountain, while the fate of others remained unconfirmed. ExplorersWeb Alpinist Magazine Climbing Desnivel
What happened
The avalanche hit the group as they climbed the West Ridge, the mountain’s normal route, between Camp 2 and Camp 3. Outlets gave slightly different figures for the site’s elevation: ExplorersWeb cited roughly 6,660m, Climbing put it at 6,579m (21,580ft), and Desnivel at approximately 6,600m. ExplorersWeb Climbing Desnivel There was also disagreement over timing. The Alpine Club of Pakistan’s official press release stated the avalanche occurred around midday, but GPS trackers carried by the climbers indicated it actually happened far earlier, with ExplorersWeb and Desnivel both citing roughly 9:20–9:30am Pakistan local time and Climbing reporting a window of 8:57am to 9:30am based on tracker data. Those trackers showed the climbers’ ascent halting at around 9:30am before several fell hundreds of metres; Mallory Geis’s device recorded a drop of 543 metres (1,784 feet) and Nadhira Al Harthy’s a drop of 1,651 metres (5,417 feet), according to Climbing. Alpinist separately reported that trackers belonging to several missing climbers went stationary above 7,800m and stayed there after the avalanche. Alpinist Magazine
The people involved
Ten climbers were caught, drawn from four separate expeditions: Sohail Sakhi guiding client Mallory Geis, Nirmal “Nims” Purja leading an Elite Exped team, an Imagine Nepal group, and a party from Seven Summit Treks. ExplorersWeb Imagine Nepal’s team leader, Mingma G, was on K2 at the time rather than with his Broad Peak climbers. The Alpine Club of Pakistan’s release described the group as five Nepalese climbers led by Purja, one Pakistani, one Omani, one American, one Chinese, and one further foreign climber, while other reporting named all ten as Nirmal Purja, Sohail Sakhi, Mallory Geis, Nadhira Al Harthy, Wang Zhong, Pur Bahadur “Yukta” Gurung, Nima Sherpa, Gyalu Sherpa, Nawang Thendu Sherpa and Kili Pemba “Kilu” Sherpa. Climbing Desnivel Purja had added Broad Peak to his itinerary shortly before travelling to Pakistan; he had originally planned only to climb Gasherbrum II, and according to his own social media posts, summiting Broad Peak would leave only Cho Oyu remaining in his attempt to climb all fourteen 8,000m peaks a second time without supplemental oxygen. Sakhi, from Hunza, held a master’s degree in mathematics and worked as a drone pilot and photographer, while his client Geis, 39, of San Antonio, Texas, was on her first 8,000m attempt after summiting Lobuche East and Mera Peak. Al Harthy, who had posted three weeks earlier about preparing to climb Broad Peak and Gasherbrum I, was a geology teacher. Wang Zhong, Yukta Gurung, Kili Pemba Sherpa and Nawang Thendu Sherpa each had extensive high-altitude careers, detailed further below.
The response
Naila Kiani of the Alpine Club of Pakistan told ExplorersWeb that the club only learned of the avalanche at 10pm, roughly 13 hours after it occurred, saying the club was “all shocked” by the delay. ExplorersWeb ACP President Major General Irfan Arshad said he remained in constant contact with government authorities to mobilise search and rescue, and the club’s release stated that helicopter support would be deployed as conditions allowed; two helicopters carrying rescuers and oxygen were scheduled to fly to Broad Peak on Friday, July 31. Climbing Karakorum Expeditions reported recovering four bodies at the base of the avalanche that morning, two of them identified as Al Harthy and Gurung, according to Desnivel, while Climbing reported that a Commissioner of Baltistan release that day confirmed three bodies—Gurung, Al Harthy and Geis. Desnivel Desnivel reported that strong winds had been blowing since the avalanche, complicating the search, and Climbing reported that rescuers spotted several other climbers by drone but had not identified them or confirmed their condition. Operations resumed on August 1 after poor weather subsided, and a further ACP update reported four additional bodies—Purja, Wang Zhong, Nima Sherpa and Kili Pemba Sherpa—brought down to Camp 1 at 5,600m. One body was spotted at a markedly higher point on the mountain, with recovery not attempted owing to risk, and an amputated leg, presumed to belong to one of the remaining climbers, was also recovered. Elite Exped confirmed via Instagram on August 1 that Purja and Nima Sherpa had died, adding that it had received confirmation other expedition members had also not survived; ACP President Irfan Arshad Khan publicly asked Elite Exped to stop releasing such information until rescuers had physically reached the climbers. The Juniper Fund opened a fundraiser for the families of six Nepali and Pakistani guides who died, and separate appeals were launched for Sakhi’s mother and brother and for Gurung’s wife and son.
Background and context
Broad Peak, known locally as Falchan Kangri in the Balti language, ranks as the world’s 12th-highest mountain and is regarded as one of the less technical among the fourteen 8,000m peaks. ExplorersWeb Climbing Desnivel Purja had summited 8,000m peaks 57 times, including 29 without supplemental oxygen, and had previously completed the 14 Peaks Challenge without supplemental oxygen in 2 years and 150 days, after an earlier climb of all fourteen using some oxygen in six months, documented in the Netflix film “14 Peaks: Nothing Is Impossible.” He had also taken part in the first winter ascent of K2 in January 2021 and co-founded Elite Exped and the Nimsdai Foundation. Following the documentary’s release, two women accused him of sexual assault in a 2024 New York Times feature, and a 2025 podcast series by Poppy Damon later questioned some of those allegations. Sakhi had advocated publicly for pay equity for Pakistani guides, telling ExplorersWeb that local climbers had been “left behind” by Western and Nepali counterparts in the Karakoram. Al Harthy was reported to be the first Omani woman to summit Everest, in 2019, and Desnivel additionally reported she was the first Omani to summit K2 and Nanga Parbat. Gurung and Kili Pemba Sherpa both carried extensive high-altitude records, including guiding work on Everest and other 8,000m peaks, while Nawang Thendu Sherpa had taken part in earlier rescue operations, including after an avalanche on Annapurna in 2025.
What is not yet confirmed
The precise cause of the avalanche has not been officially established; Samson Sharaf, a mountaineer and mentor to Sakhi, suggested the snow-laden overhang above the traverse likely swept the route, but this has not been confirmed by investigators. Climbing The exact time of the avalanche remains unresolved given the discrepancy between the ACP’s midday account and GPS data pointing to the morning. ExplorersWeb Desnivel The identity of the tenth climber described only as “one other foreign climber” in the ACP’s original release has not been clarified against the fuller named lists reported elsewhere. The condition and identity of the climber or climbers spotted higher on the mountain by drone had not been confirmed as of the latest reporting, nor had a final, consolidated death toll been issued.
Sources referenced
- Updated: Ten Missing, Including Nirmal Purja, After Avalanche on Broad Peak — ExplorersWeb
- AVALANCHE: TEN CLIMBERS, INCLUDING NIRMAL PURJA, MISSING ON BROAD PEAK — Alpinist Magazine
- Who Were the 10 Climbers Caught in the Broad Peak Avalanche? — Climbing
- Avalancha en el Broad Peak: cuatro personas fallecidas y seis desaparecidas, entre ellas Nirmal Purja — Desnivel
Written by Andoram by combining 4 independently published reports, each linked above. We synthesise facts and reproduce no source text.
Coverage timeline
- Broad Peak: Elite Exped confirms Nirmal Purja is dead — srpske.rs, 2 Aug 2026, 07:00 UTC
- Elite veteran mountaineer Nirmal ‘Nims’ Purja killed in avalanche on Broad Peak in PoK — The Tribune, 1 Aug 2026, 12:19 UTC
- Elite Exped confirms Nimsdai’s death, no survivors in Broad Peak avalanche — The Tourism Times, 1 Aug 2026, 07:00 UTC
This page is an automatically compiled index of third-party reporting. Headlines and links belong to their publishers; Andoram reproduces no article text. Last compiled 2 Sep 2026 10:15 UTC.
