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Mountaineer Nirmal Purja confirmed dead in Broad Peak avalanche; Nepal PM pays tribute

Andoram Desk3 September 2026 · 20:00 UTC · 3 sources
Mountaineer Nirmal Purja confirmed dead in Broad Peak avalanche; Nepal PM pays tribute
Photograph: Malikfamily via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0

An avalanche struck a group of ten climbers on Broad Peak in Pakistan’s Karakoram range on Thursday, 30 July 2026, during a push toward the mountain’s upper camps ExplorersWeb Alpinist Magazine Desnivel Climbing. Multiple recovery operations over the following days confirmed a number of deaths among the climbers, including expedition leader Nirmal “Nims” Purja, while search efforts for others continued in difficult high-altitude conditions.

What happened

Accounts of the timing vary across outlets. The Alpine Club of Pakistan’s initial report placed the avalanche around midday local time ExplorersWeb, while ExplorersWeb reported it occurred closer to 9:20 am, Desnivel cited 9:30 am Desnivel, and Climbing gave a window between 8:57 am and 9:30 am Climbing. The altitude at which the slide struck is similarly reported with some variation: ExplorersWeb said approximately 6,660 metres, Desnivel approximately 6,600 metres, and Climbing approximately 6,579 metres (21,580 feet), placing the incident between Camp II and Camp III on the standard West Ridge route. The climbers were ascending the normal route at the time Alpinist Magazine. GPS trackers showed the group had stopped ascending around 9:30 am Pakistan time before falling several hundred metres, with some devices becoming stationary above 7,800 metres afterward, according to Alpinist Magazine. Desnivel reported that, according to Elite Exped, Nirmal Purja’s tracker appeared to continue showing movement for a period after the avalanche. Climbing reported that American climber Mallory Geis’s tracker recorded a descent of 543 metres (1,784 feet) during the event, while Omani climber Nadhira Al Harthy’s tracker showed a descent of 1,651 metres (5,417 feet).

The people involved

The ten climbers caught in the avalanche were identified as Nirmal Purja of Nepal, Sohail Sakhi of Pakistan, Mallory Geis of the United States, Nadhira Al Harthy of Oman, Wang Zhong of China, and five Nepali climbers: Pur Bahadur “Yukta” Gurung, Nima Sherpa, Gyalu Sherpa, Nawang Thendu Sherpa, and Kili Pemba “Kilu” Sherpa ExplorersWeb Desnivel Climbing. Purja led the Elite Exped team and the wider ten-person expedition, and according to Elite Exped was accompanied specifically by Gurung and Nima Sherpa as trusted climbing partners. Four teams were reported on the mountain at the time of the avalanche: Sohail Sakhi with his client Mallory Geis, Purja’s Elite Exped team, an Imagine Nepal team, and a Seven Summit Treks group, though Imagine Nepal’s leader Mingma G was on K2 rather than Broad Peak. According to Imagine Nepal, the climbers had reached Camp 2 on 29 July with plans to reach Camp 3 the following day and attempt the summit on 31 July. Climbing reported that the climbers were making their attempt during what was described as the final weather window of the season. Several of those involved had extensive high-altitude records: Al Harthy had summited Everest, K2 and Nanga Parbat, among other peaks, as the first Omani to do so on each; Gurung had climbed 8,000-metre peaks 28 times; and Kili Pemba Sherpa had completed all 14 of the world’s 8,000-metre summits, reportedly finishing on Nanga Parbat on 3 July 2026.

The response

The Alpine Club of Pakistan said it remained in constant contact with government authorities and relevant agencies to coordinate search and rescue, including efforts to mobilise helicopter support subject to weather and operational conditions ExplorersWeb. ACP representative Naila Kiani told ExplorersWeb that the organisation only learned of the avalanche at 10 pm, nearly 13 hours after it was reported to have occurred, saying “We are all shocked”. Two helicopters were scheduled to fly to Broad Peak on 31 July carrying rescuers and oxygen. Karakorum Expeditions reported on the morning of 31 July that four bodies had been recovered from the base of the avalanche Desnivel, with Desnivel naming two of them as Nadhira Al Harthy and Pur Bahadur Gurung. A press release from the Commissioner of Baltistan that day stated rescuers had recovered the bodies of Gurung, Al Harthy and Mallory Geis, and had spotted several additional climbers by drone without confirming their identities or condition Climbing. Desnivel reported four confirmed deaths and six climbers still missing as of 31 July. A subsequent Alpine Club of Pakistan update said four further bodies had been recovered and brought down to Camp 1, at 5,600 metres (18,368 feet): Purja, Wang Zhong, Nima Sherpa and Kili Pemba Sherpa, while one body spotted at a higher location was not recovered at that time due to risk. An amputated leg, presumed to belong to one of the missing climbers, was also recovered. On 1 August, Elite Exped confirmed via Instagram the deaths of Purja and Nima Sherpa and said it had received confirmation that other expedition members had not survived. ACP President Irfan Arshad Khan responded on that same post, asking Elite Exped to stop circulating such information until rescuers had reached the climbers. Desnivel reported that strong winds had been blowing since the day of the avalanche, complicating search efforts carried out in what were described as very difficult conditions due to altitude and wind. The Juniper Fund launched a fundraiser to support the families of six Nepali and Pakistani mountain guides lost in the avalanche, and separate fundraisers were set up for the families of Sohail Sakhi, Yukta Gurung and Kili Pemba Sherpa.

Background and context

Broad Peak, known locally as Falchan Kangri, stands at 8,051 metres (26,414 feet) according to Climbing, though other outlets give its height as 8,047 metres; it ranks as the 12th-highest mountain in the world and sits in the Gilgit-Baltistan region of Pakistan’s Karakoram range ExplorersWeb Desnivel Climbing. Purja had added Broad Peak to his itinerary shortly before travelling to Pakistan, having originally planned to climb only Gasherbrum II; he wrote on social media that the summit would leave only Cho Oyu remaining in his bid to become the first person to climb all 14 eight-thousanders twice without supplemental oxygen. Elite Exped said the climb was part of Purja’s “Hat-Trick Project” supporting the Nimsdai Foundation, and would have marked his 13th summit of that second round. Purja had set a speed record for completing the 14 Peaks Challenge without supplemental oxygen in October 2024, having earlier completed the challenge with some supplemental oxygen in six months, documented in the Netflix film “14 Peaks: Nothing Is Impossible”. He was also part of the team that made a winter ascent of K2 in January 2021, and over his life summited 8,000-metre peaks 57 times, including 29 without supplemental oxygen, according to Climbing. Less than a week before the avalanche, Purja had posted on Instagram that he had summited Gasherbrum II, his self-described 57th 8,000-metre summit. Climbing also noted that two women accused Purja of sexual assault in a 2024 New York Times feature, and that a 2025 podcast series questioned some of those allegations.

What is not yet confirmed

The precise time and altitude of the avalanche remain reported differently across outlets, with no single figure confirmed ExplorersWeb Desnivel Climbing. The fate of Sohail Sakhi, Gyalu Sherpa and Nawang Thendu Sherpa had not been confirmed as of the most recent reporting, with Climbing listing them among the unaccounted-for climbers even after some bodies were recovered. The identity and condition of the climber whose body was spotted at a higher, unrecovered location on the mountain remain unconfirmed. It is also unclear how the apparent post-avalanche movement recorded on Purja’s GPS tracker, as described by Elite Exped to Desnivel, should be interpreted.

Sources referenced

Written by Andoram by combining 4 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 20:00 UTC.

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