Nirmal Purja among 10 climbers missing after Broad Peak avalanche in Pakistan
On Thursday, 30 July 2026, an avalanche swept a group of ten climbers on Broad Peak, the 8,047m peak in Pakistan’s Karakoram range, as they moved between Camp 2 and Camp 3 on the West Ridge normal route. As of the most recent update, five deaths had been confirmed and others remained unaccounted for, among them Nirmal Purja, the Nepali mountaineer known for his speed ascents of the world’s 8,000m peaks. ExplorersWeb Alpinist Magazine Climbing Desnivel
What happened
The Alpine Club of Pakistan (ACP) said in an official release that the avalanche struck around midday, but other accounts place the event earlier. ExplorersWeb reported a time of roughly 9:20am, Climbing cited GPS data placing it between 8:57am and 9:30am, and Desnivel gave a time of 9:30am local. Some reports suggested two separate avalanches may have occurred. ExplorersWeb Climbing Desnivel
Elevation estimates for the strike zone also varied across outlets: ExplorersWeb put it at about 6,660m, Desnivel at about 6,600m, and Climbing at roughly 6,579m (21,580ft). Broad Peak itself is given as 8,047m in most reporting, though Climbing noted some sources list it at 8,051m (26,414ft); locally the mountain is known as Falchan Kangri, Balti for “broad peak.” ExplorersWeb Climbing Desnivel
GPS trackers carried by the climbers showed the group had been ascending steadily before suddenly stopping and falling several hundred metres. Several of the climbers’ trackers went motionless above 7,800m following the slide. Individual data points varied: Mallory Geis’s tracker showed a descent of 543m (1,784ft), while Nadhira Al Harthy’s indicated a far longer fall of 1,651m (5,417ft). According to Elite Exped, Purja’s own tracker appeared to register movement for some time after the avalanche. Pakistani mountaineer Samson Sharaf, a mentor to climber Sohail Sakhi, shared images showing the overhanging slope where the incident occurred, saying the snow-laden face gave way across the traverse. ExplorersWeb Alpinist Magazine Climbing Desnivel
The people involved
The ACP’s press release identified the group as five Nepali climbers led by Purja, Pakistani guide Sohail Sakhi, Omani climber Nadhira Al Harthy, American climber Mallory Geis, Chinese climber Wang Zhong, and one additional foreign climber. Desnivel’s list named the Nepali climbers as Yukta Gurung, Nima Sherpa, Gyalu Sherpa, Nwang Thendou Sherpa and Kili Pemba Sherpa, alongside Purja, Sakhi, Geis, Al Harthy and Wang. Four separate teams were on the mountain: Sakhi guiding Geis, Purja leading an EliteExped group, an Imagine Nepal team without its usual leader Mingma G (who was on K2 at the time), and a group from Seven Summit Treks. ExplorersWeb Desnivel
Purja, credited with having summited 8,000m peaks 57 times, more than anyone else on record, including 29 without supplementary oxygen, had added Broad Peak to his schedule at short notice. According to his own social media post, he had originally planned only to climb Gasherbrum II, but realised that adding Broad Peak would leave just Cho Oyu (8,188m/26,864ft) remaining before completing all fourteen eight-thousanders for a second time without supplemental oxygen. He had completed that challenge once already, finishing in October 2024 after two years and 150 days, following an earlier ascent of all fourteen with some oxygen use completed in six months. His climbing was the subject of the Netflix documentary “14 Peaks: Nothing Is Impossible,” and in January 2021 he was part of the Nepali team that made the first winter ascent of K2. Climbing noted that two women accused Purja of sexual assault in a 2024 New York Times feature, and that a 2025 podcast series by reporter Poppy Damon later questioned some of those allegations. ExplorersWeb Climbing
Also among those lost was Sohail Sakhi, a guide from Hunza with a mathematics degree from Quaid-e-Azam University, who had summited Nanga Parbat without oxygen in 2025 and had spoken publicly about pay inequity facing Pakistani guides. His client, Mallory Geis of San Antonio, Texas, was on her first 8,000m attempt after previous ascents of Lobuche East and Mera Peak. Nadhira Al Harthy, confirmed dead by 31 July, was reported by Desnivel to be the first Omani to summit K2 and Nanga Parbat, in addition to being the first Omani woman to summit Everest in 2019. Wang Zhong, whose identity was confirmed in a Nepali foreign ministry release, had been attempting his 13th 8,000m peak. Guide Pur Bahadur “Yukta” Gurung, from a community near the epicentre of Nepal’s 2025 earthquake, had climbed 8,000m peaks 28 times according to Climbing, including ten Everest summits. ExplorersWeb Climbing Desnivel
The response
Naila Kiani of the ACP told ExplorersWeb that the organisation only learned of the avalanche around 10pm that night, roughly thirteen hours after it occurred, saying “We are all shocked.” That delay meant helicopters could not reach the site before nightfall on the day of the slide. Two helicopters carrying rescuers and oxygen were scheduled to fly out the following morning, Friday 31 July, with ACP leadership reported to be in constant contact with government authorities over mobilising resources depending on weather. ExplorersWeb
By 31 July, a press release from the Commissioner of Baltistan said three bodies had been recovered and identified as Gurung, Al Harthy and Geis, while Desnivel’s sourcing via Karakoram Expeditions put the recovered count at four, with two identified. Strong winds persisting since the avalanche were reported to be hampering search efforts at altitude, and rescuers spotted further climbers by drone without being able to confirm identities or conditions. Climbing Desnivel
Search operations resumed on 1 August, when four further bodies were brought down to Camp 1 (5,600m/18,368ft): Purja, Wang, Nima Sherpa and Kili Pemba Sherpa. One body was spotted higher on the mountain but recovery was not attempted owing to risk, and Climbing reported that an amputated leg, presumed to belong to one of the climbers still unaccounted for, had been recovered the day before. Elite Exped confirmed Purja’s and Nima Sherpa’s deaths via Instagram and asked for privacy for their families, prompting ACP President Irfan Arshad Khan to publicly ask the company to withhold further statements until rescue teams had physically reached the remaining climbers. The Juniper Fund launched a fundraiser for the families of the six Nepali and Pakistani guides lost, while separate fundraising efforts were started for Sakhi’s family and, per Climbing, by filmmakers Chai Vasarhelyi and Jimmy Chin. Climbing
Background and context
According to Imagine Nepal, the teams had reached Camp 2 on 29 July, planned to move to Camp 3 the following day, and aimed to summit on 31 July during what Climbing described as the final weather window of the season. The news was first reported by Everest Chronicle before being confirmed by the ACP and by Mingma David Sherpa of Elite Exped. ExplorersWeb Alpinist Magazine Climbing Desnivel
What is not yet confirmed
The precise timing of the avalanche remains inconsistent across the ACP, ExplorersWeb, Climbing and Desnivel. It is not confirmed whether one or two avalanches occurred. The exact number of bodies recovered as of 31 July differs between the Baltistan Commissioner’s release and Desnivel’s sourcing. The identities and conditions of climbers spotted by drone had not been established. The fate of Sohail Sakhi, Mallory Geis (despite an earlier report of recovery), Nima Sherpa, Nawang Thindu Sherpa and Gyalu Sherpa remained unresolved in Climbing’s most recent update, and the body spotted at higher altitude had not been recovered or identified.
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 avalanche: Rescue briefly paused after 3 bodies recovered, Nirmal Purja among missing — The Indian Express, 1 Aug 2026, 07:00 UTC
- Nirmal Purja among 10 climbers missing after Broad Peak avalanche in Pakistan — Everest Chronicle, 31 Jul 2026, 07:00 UTC
- Nirmal Purja among climbers missing in Pakistan as rescuers find four bodies — ABC News & Headlines – Australian Broadcasting Corporation, 31 Jul 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 22 Aug 2026 17:45 UTC.
