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Karakoram Dispatch

Body of mountaineer Nirmal Purja recovered from Pakistan’s Broad Peak after deadly avalanche wipes out team

Andoram Desk3 September 2026 · 04:00 UTC · 3 sources
Body of mountaineer Nirmal Purja recovered from Pakistan’s Broad Peak after deadly avalanche wipes out team
Photograph: Sonic Velvet via Wikimedia Commons, Public domain

An avalanche struck a team of ten climbers on Broad Peak in Pakistan’s Karakoram range on Thursday, July 30, according to ExplorersWeb, Alpinist Magazine, Gripped, Climbing and Desnivel ExplorersWeb Alpinist Magazine Gripped Climbing Desnivel. The group included Nepali mountaineer Nirmal “Nims” Purja, and by August 1 seven bodies had been recovered from the mountain, with three climbers still unaccounted for.

What happened

The avalanche hit climbers on Broad Peak’s standard West Ridge route, between Camp 2 and Camp 3, as the group pushed toward the higher camps ExplorersWeb Alpinist Magazine Desnivel. Accounts of the exact timing diverge: ExplorersWeb reported the slide occurred at approximately 9:20 a.m. Pakistan time, Climbing cited roughly 9 a.m. with GPS tracks placing it between 8:57 and 9:30 a.m., and Desnivel put the trigger at 9:30 local time, while ExplorersWeb and Alpinist also described the event as occurring around midday Climbing. Estimates of the elevation similarly differ, with ExplorersWeb citing about 6,660 metres, Climbing about 6,579 metres (21,580 feet), and Desnivel about 6,600 metres. Imagine Nepal said the climbers had reached Camp 2 on Wednesday, July 29, intending to reach Camp 3 on Thursday and summit on Friday. GPS trackers showed climbers’ ascents halting around 9:30 a.m. before several hundred metres of falling. Climbing reported that Mallory Geis’s tracker recorded a drop of 543 metres (1,784 feet) and Nadhira Al Harthy’s a drop of 1,651 metres (5,417 feet). Alpinist reported that several trackers went stationary above 7,800 metres (25,591 feet), while Desnivel reported that Elite Exped said Purja’s track appeared to keep moving for a time afterward. News of the avalanche first surfaced through Everest Chronicle before being confirmed by the Alpine Club of Pakistan and Elite Exped co-founder Mingma David Sherpa.

The people involved

The ten climbers struck comprised four roped parties: Pakistani guide Sohail Sakhi with his American client Mallory Geis, Purja’s EliteExped team, an Imagine Nepal team, and a group from Seven Summit Treks ExplorersWeb. The Alpine Club of Pakistan said the expedition included five Nepalese mountaineers led by Purja. Alongside Purja, Sakhi and Geis, the group included Omani climber Nadhira Al Harthy and Chinese climber Wang Zhong, plus Nepali climbers Nima Sherpa, Gyalu Sherpa, Nawang Thendu Sherpa, Kili Pemba “Kilu” Sherpa and Pur Bahadur “Yukta” Gurung Gripped Climbing Desnivel. Imagine Nepal’s expedition leader, Mingma G, was not on Broad Peak at the time, having been on K2. Several of those involved carried extensive high-altitude records: Purja had summited 8,000-metre peaks 57 times, Gurung 28 times, and Kilu Sherpa had completed all fourteen 8,000-metre peaks, finishing with Nanga Parbat on July 3, weeks before the avalanche. Wang Zhong had summited Gasherbrum II alongside Purja on July 4 as his eleventh 8,000-metre peak, with Broad Peak set to be his thirteenth. Geis, 39, of San Antonio, Texas, was attempting her first 8,000-metre peak after earlier summits of Lobuche East (6,119 metres/20,075 feet) and Mera Peak (6,476 metres/21,247 feet). Al Harthy had become the first Omani woman to summit Everest in May 2019, and Desnivel reported she had also summited K2 and Nanga Parbat.

The response

ACP President Major General Irfan Arshad coordinated with government authorities on search and rescue ExplorersWeb Gripped Climbing. ACP official Naila Kiani told ExplorersWeb the Club learned of the avalanche only at 10 p.m., nearly 13 hours after it struck. Two helicopters carrying rescuers and oxygen were scheduled to fly to Broad Peak on Friday, July 31, though Desnivel reported that strong winds beginning the day of the avalanche hampered search efforts at altitude Desnivel. By July 31, Karakoram Expeditions and a Baltistan Commissioner’s press release reported recovery of bodies at the base of the avalanche, identified as Nadhira Al Harthy, Pur Bahadur Gurung and Mallory Geis, with drones spotting other climbers whose identities and condition had not been confirmed. Operations resumed on August 1, when four further bodies—Purja, Wang Zhong, Nima Sherpa and Kili Pemba Sherpa—were recovered and brought to Camp 1 at 5,600 metres (18,368 feet); one body was located higher on the mountain but not retrieved owing to risk, and an amputated leg was also recovered. Elite Exped confirmed Purja’s and Nima Sherpa’s deaths via Instagram, and ACP’s Irfan Arshad Khan publicly asked the company to withhold further claims about other deaths until physically verified. Gripped reported that seven bodies were ultimately recovered and brought to base camp, with three climbers still missing and further recovery efforts to continue as conditions allowed; the mission, led by Mingma Gyalje Sherpa, was called “exceptionally challenging and technically demanding” by the ACP, which also credited Pakistani and Nepali climbers Sirbaz Khan, Abid Baig, Sherbaz, Dipen Gurung and Pemba Chhewang Sherpa, and thanked the Pakistan Army, government bodies, the British High Commission and the Embassy of Nepal. Fundraisers followed for the families of those lost, including a Juniper Fund campaign for Nepali and Pakistani guides, efforts by Sakhi’s friend Chris Lininger, a campaign by Little Monsters Films for Gurung’s family, and one for Kilu Sherpa’s wife, Tashi Lhamu Sherpa.

Background and context

Broad Peak’s elevation is listed differently across sources: Climbing cited 8,051 metres (26,414 feet), while ACP and Desnivel listed 8,047 metres; Climbing also described it as the world’s 12th-highest mountain, and it is known locally as Falchan Kangri in the Balti language ExplorersWeb Climbing Desnivel. Purja had added Broad Peak to his itinerary at the last minute as part of his “Hat-Trick Project,” having originally planned only Gasherbrum II, with Cho Oyu (8,188 metres/26,864 feet) in Tibet remaining as his final peak toward becoming the first to climb all fourteen 8,000-metre peaks twice without supplemental oxygen. He had completed his earlier 14 Peaks Challenge without supplemental oxygen in October 2024, a feat documented in the Netflix film “14 Peaks: Nothing Is Impossible,” and had taken part in the 2021 winter ascent of K2. Following the documentary’s release, Climbing reported that two women accused Purja of sexual assault in a 2024 New York Times feature, and a 2025 podcast series later questioned some of the allegations. Sakhi, a guide from Hunza with a mathematics degree, had spoken previously to ExplorersWeb about pay inequity facing Pakistani guides. Gurung came from Luprak, near the epicentre of Nepal’s 2025 earthquake, while Nawang Thendu Sherpa had taken part in earlier rescue work on Annapurna.

What is not yet confirmed

The fate of the three climbers still unaccounted for after August 1 had not been confirmed Gripped Climbing. The exact timing and triggering elevation of the avalanche remained inconsistently reported across outlets ExplorersWeb Desnivel. Whether the body spotted at a higher elevation on Broad Peak would be recovered had not been determined. The full circumstances behind Purja’s GPS track continuing to register movement after the avalanche, as described by Elite Exped, had not been independently explained.

Sources referenced

Written by Andoram by combining 5 independently published reports, each linked above. We synthesise facts and reproduce no source text.

Coverage timeline

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 3 Sep 2026 04:00 UTC.

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