Mountaineer Nirmal Purja dies after avalanche on Broad Peak

Skardu – 01.08.2026: British-Nepali extreme mountaineer Nirmal “Nims” Purja has died in an avalanche on Broad Peak in northern Pakistan. His expedition company Elite Exped confirmed his death on Saturday. The avalanche struck an international group on Thursday, July 30, as they were climbing between the second and third high-altitude camps. Purja was leading the expedition.

According to the Alpine Club of Pakistan, a total of ten climbers were swept away by the snow masses. Contact with the group was then lost. By Friday, rescue teams had located four bodies and recovered three of them. The first victims identified were Nepali mountaineer Pur Bahadur Gurung, Omani climber Nathira Ahmed and American climber Mallory Geis.

On Saturday, experienced mountaineers and helicopter crews from the Pakistani military continued the search. At least six participants were initially still considered missing. Snowfall, poor visibility and unfavorable flying conditions had significantly hampered the operation on Friday. No final toll was available on Saturday. It also initially remained unclear whether other members of the expedition had been reached or recovered.

The accident occurred on the 8,047-meter-high Broad Peak in the Karakoram, near Pakistan’s border with China. Several expeditions were in the region at the time. The affected group included climbers from Nepal, Pakistan, the United States, China and Oman. According to information available so far, the avalanche occurred at high altitude on the morning of July 30. There, thin air, freezing temperatures and rapidly changing weather complicate every rescue and recovery operation.

Purja was one of the best-known high-altitude mountaineers of his generation. He gained worldwide attention in 2019 when he climbed all 14 eight-thousanders within 189 days. The feat was later documented in the film “14 Peaks.” The former British Army soldier had led commercial high-altitude expeditions through his company Elite Exped in recent years. He also climbed other eight-thousanders without supplemental oxygen.

Broad Peak is among the highest mountains on Earth and is located in the same mountain range as K2. Skardu, in the Gilgit-Baltistan region, is the starting point for many expeditions. The recovered victims were also taken there. Pakistani authorities and the Alpine Club of Pakistan coordinated the ongoing operation, whose progress continued to depend on weather and visibility conditions.