Missing climber Sohail Sakhi’s body recovered from broad peak
An avalanche swept down Broad Peak in Pakistan’s Karakoram range on July 30, striking a 10-member international expedition led by British-Nepali climber Nirmal Purja Rock and Ice Geo News Arab News Pakistan ExplorersWeb. Purja’s company later confirmed that none of the climbers survived, and over the following weeks rescuers recovered the remains of all but two members of the party, with the final identification, that of Pakistani guide Sohail Sakhi, confirmed on August 13.
What happened
The expedition was climbing between Camp 2 and Camp 3 on Broad Peak, which stands at 8,051 metres, listed variously as 25,414 feet and 26,414 feet across the reporting reviewed Rock and Ice Arab News Pakistan, when the avalanche struck ExplorersWeb. ExplorersWeb reported that trackers had placed the climbers at around 6,600 metres shortly before the slide, which carried the group hundreds of metres down a west-facing gully, in places falling more than 1,500 vertical metres. According to that outlet, four commercial teams had remained on the mountain for a shared summit push after other climbers had already left because of heavy snowfall and rising avalanche danger. Rescue efforts were slow to begin, and by the time teams reached the site the following day it was already clear there were no survivors. Over the days that followed, seven bodies were brought down from the mountain, among them Purja’s own, and on August 6 the remains of five mountaineers were shifted to Skardu Geo News.
The people involved
The climbers came from Nepal, Oman, Pakistan, China, Britain and the United States Arab News Pakistan. Nepal lost six climbers in the avalanche, according to Arab News Pakistan. Sohail Sakhi, 33, was the only Pakistani among the ten killed Rock and Ice ExplorersWeb; he was guiding an American client identified by Rock and Ice as Mallory Geis and by ExplorersWeb as Sarah Mallory Geis. Sakhi’s backpack and tracker had already been located before his body was found. ExplorersWeb reported that the body of Nepali guide Nawang Thindu Sherpa was spotted in terrain described as dangerous, while only a disembodied leg belonging to Geis had been found and identified; as of August 13, Geo News reported that the bodies of two mountaineers remained missing Geo News. Sakhi was born in Aliabad, in the Hunza Valley, which is encircled by the Karakoram range, and his father, Sakhi Karim, also worked as a mountaineering guide.
The response
Sakhi’s remains were recovered on August 13 near Camp 1, at an elevation of around 5,600 metres, by local volunteers from Shigar named as Muhammad Nadeem, Muhammad Bashir and Abu Zar, who acted on their own initiative Rock and Ice Geo News ExplorersWeb. The Alpine Club of Pakistan confirmed the identification of his remains and expressed condolences to his family and to the mountaineering community. His body was moved from Camp One to Base Camp and was expected to be flown to Skardu by an Army Aviation helicopter, weather permitting. Continued bad weather and the risk of further avalanches halted further recovery work on the two climbers still missing. Alpine Club of Pakistan president Irfan Arshad Khan told Arab News Pakistan that poor weather had repeatedly prevented helicopters from reaching the accident site, forcing rescuers to continue searching on foot, and that eight bodies were eventually brought to a point from which they could be airlifted, with seven, including all six Nepalese climbers, ultimately repatriated Arab News Pakistan. Sirbaz Khan, who led the recovery team and is noted as the first Pakistani to summit all 14 peaks above 8,000 metres, told the Associated Press, as quoted by Arab News Pakistan, that his team had hoped to find the missing climbers alive and that he had hoped to hug them, but instead found people buried beneath the avalanche and used shovels to dig out bodies one by one, then ropes and makeshift stretchers to bring them down the mountain. He said he remained saddened but took some solace that families had received their loved ones’ remains. A candlelight vigil for the ten climbers was held in Islamabad at the open lawns of a sports complex, attended by mountaineers, diplomats and members of civil society, during which rain fell; Rock and Ice dated the vigil to August 9, while Arab News Pakistan described it only as occurring on a Tuesday evening. Arab News Pakistan reported that the vigil came days after search teams had ended an operation that had recovered the remains of eight climbers, with two still unaccounted for. Nepal’s ambassador to Pakistan, Rita Dhital, attended and recalled meeting Purja at her Islamabad home before the expedition, recounting that he used to say giving up was not in his blood; she said the remains of all six Nepalese climbers had by then been returned to their families, and praised Sirbaz Khan, the Alpine Club of Pakistan, the military and government officials.
Background and context
Broad Peak is described as the world’s 12th-highest mountain, situated near K2, the world’s second-highest peak Arab News Pakistan. Mountaineering accidents are described as common in northern Pakistan, which is home to some of the world’s highest mountains. Sakhi had summited all four of Pakistan’s other peaks above 8,000 metres without supplemental oxygen or porter support, and in July 2025 had climbed Nanga Parbat (8,126m/26,660ft) under the same conditions, during which he let exhausted climbers showing possible acute mountain sickness use his tent and helped rescue a climber stuck at the Kinshofer Wall at night in freezing temperatures Rock and Ice. In May 2025 he had worked as a guide for Imagine Nepal on Kanchenjunga (8,586m/28,169ft), leading the rope-fixing team to the summit. Naila Kiani, described as Pakistan’s leading female mountaineer and a close friend of Sakhi’s, said he had earned a master’s degree in mathematics in Islamabad and turned down a corporate job abroad to remain in the mountains. She recalled first meeting him in 2021 on Gasherbrum II (8,035m/26,361ft) and climbing K2 (8,611m/28,251ft) and Gasherbrum I (8,080m/26,510ft) with him and Sirbaz Khan in 2022, including a passage through the Japanese Couloir in winds of 70–80 km/h (43–50 mph) during which Sakhi stayed behind her rather than climbing ahead. Samson Sharaf, described as a close friend and mentor to Sakhi, called him a “guardian angel” and “a climber of the future”. Chris Lininger, who led several expeditions with Sakhi, described him as proud of his home, fond of hosting foreign visitors, and wanting young people from his community to thrive in adventure tourism; back in Hunza, Sakhi taught youth rock climbing and started a small hostel to create a community space for local mountaineers. In an interview published by ExplorersWeb in August 2025, Sakhi had set out a vision for Pakistani mountaineering that included climbing schools, better wages for guides and improved gear, saying companies had long promised change without delivering higher pay or improved conditions for guides and porters. Lininger has since started a fundraising campaign to support Sakhi’s mother and brother.
What is not yet confirmed
It remains unclear whether the bodies of Sarah Mallory Geis and Nawang Thindu Sherpa have since been recovered, given that bad weather and avalanche risk had halted operations as of the most recent reporting Geo News ExplorersWeb. The exact elevation figures for Broad Peak differ between sources, and it is not confirmed which figure reflects the standard measurement Rock and Ice Arab News Pakistan. The precise date of the Islamabad vigil is reported inconsistently. It is also not confirmed which client name, Mallory Geis or Sarah Mallory Geis, is accurate, nor what caused the original decision by four commercial teams to remain on the mountain after others had withdrawn.
Sources referenced
- Pakistani Climber Sohail Sakhi, Who Lost His Life in the Broad Peak Avalanche, Had Big Dreams for His Community — Rock and Ice
- Body of missing Pakistani climber Sohail Sakhi recovered from Broad Peak — Geo News
- Candlelight vigil in Islamabad honors 10 climbers killed on Broad Peak — Arab News Pakistan
- Sohail Sakhi's Body Found on Broad Peak — ExplorersWeb
Written by Andoram by combining 4 independently published reports, each linked above. We synthesise facts and reproduce no source text.
Coverage timeline
- Sohail Sakhi Lost His Life in the Broad Peak Tragedy. Climbers Remember Him as a “Guardian Angel” in the Mountains. — Climbing Magazine, 14 Aug 2026, 21:23 UTC
- Pakistani Climber Sohail Sakhi, Who Lost His Life in the Broad Peak Avalanche, Had Big Dreams for His Community — Rock and Ice, 14 Aug 2026, 17:21 UTC
- Missing climber Sohail Sakhi’s body recovered from broad peak — The News Pakistan, 13 Aug 2026, 11:57 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 15 Aug 2026 21:15 UTC.
