An avalanche that struck a ten-member climbing team on Pakistan's Broad Peak on July 30 has claimed the lives of all ten climbers, including Nirmal "Nimsdai" Purja, the Nepal-born mountaineer who redefined the limits of high-altitude climbing and became one of the most recognizable names in modern mountaineering.

The deaths were officially confirmed on Saturday evening by Elite Exped and the Nimsdai Foundation, both organisations Purja founded, in a joint statement posted to social media. Only four of the ten bodies have so far been physically recovered from the mountain; recovery operations for the rest are continuing as this story goes to press.

The tracker’s GPS data showed an avalanche struck the team at 9 am local time at the height of 6,579 metres on Broad Peak, the world's twelfth-highest mountain at 8,047 metres, in Pakistan's Karakoram range, as the climbers were between camps two and three. The incident triggered a search and rescue operation in difficult weather and terrain. Several were swept hundreds of metres down the slope. Poor weather grounded rescue helicopters for much of the following two days, forcing ground teams to lead the initial search and recovery effort.

The Ten Climbers

The expedition included six Nepali climbers and four foreign nationals.

1. Nirmal Purja, known as "Nimsdai"

   The expedition leader, born in Dana village in Myagdi district and raised largely in Chitwan. In 2019 he became the first person to climb all fourteen of the world's 8,000-metre peaks in under seven months, a feat he called Project Possible. In January 2021 he was part of the ten-member all-Nepali team that achieved the first winter ascent of K2.

2. Pur Bahadur Gurung, known as "Yukta"

   From Gorkha, Gurung had summited Everest ten times, more than anyone else from the Gurung community, and had climbed twelve of the world's 8,000-metre peaks. He also held a record for summiting K2 within 24 hours and was frequently involved in rescuing stranded climbers. His body was recovered on July 31 and flown to Skardu.

3. Kili Pemba Sherpa, known as "Kilu"

   From Dolakha. Kili Pemba Sherpa set the record as a climber who has successfully climbed all the 8,000-meter peaks in the world. He also holds another record as a member of the first historic team of 10 Nepali climbers to successfully summit Mount K2, the world’s second-highest mountain in winter. He drew global attention in 2018 by successfully guiding Chinese climber Xia Boyu, who had lost both legs, to the top of Everest. He has also led Russian climber Rustam Nabiev, who also had no legs, to the summit of Manaslu. A lead guide with the Imagine Nepal team, he was guiding Chinese climber Wang Zhong when the avalanche struck.

4. Nima Sherpa 

   From Sankhuwasabha, he was a senior guide with Nimsdai’s Elite Exped. Coming from a modest farming background, he quickly built a reputation for himself by summiting four 8,000-meter peaks, fully committing his life to mountaineering. 

5. Gyaljen Sherpa, known as “Gyalu”

   From Okhaldhunga, Gyaljen was a guide with Seven Summit Treks. Over the years, he had summited Lenin Peak, Mera Peak, Lobuche, Himlung Himal, Cholatse, Manaslu, Kanchenjunga, and the highest one, Everest. He had set a Guinness World Record by summiting Kanchenjunga, the third-highest mountain, three times in a single season.

6. Nawang Thindu Sherpa 

   From Sankhuwasabha, he was with the Seven Summit Treks, from where he began his climbing career professionally. In this journey, he was a high-altitude expedition supporter.

7. Sohail Sakhi 

   He was a Pakistani, from Hunza. A guide, geographer and high-altitude photographer with the outfitter Moving Mountains, this expedition was reportedly to be his final climb above 8,000 metres.

8. Wang Zhong 

   He was of Chinese descent, being guided by Kili Pemba Sherpa at the time of the avalanche.

9. Nadhira Al Harthy 

   In 2019, she became the first Omani woman to summit Mount Everest, and later the first Omani to summit K2. She held a master's degree in geography and had served as director of the Citizenship Department at Oman's Ministry of Education. Her body was recovered on July 31 and airlifted to Skardu.

10. Mallory Geis

    She was an American, from San Antonio. This was her first attempt on an 8,000-metre peak in Pakistan; she had recently announced on her social media that she would be closing her Pilates studio to pursue high-altitude climbing. Her body was recovered on July 31.

Bodies Recovered and Recovery Operations 

Bodies recovered so far: 4 of 10.

• Pur Bahadur Gurung "Yukta": recovered July 31
• Nadhira Al Harthy: recovered July 31
• Mallory Geis: recovered July 31
• One additional body, recovered July 31, remained formally unidentified as of the last confirmed update

Status: All ten members of the expedition, including Nirmal Purja, have been confirmed dead by Elite Exped and the Nimsdai Foundation. Recovery operations for the remaining climbers are ongoing.

Latest search and rescue update: Pakistani authorities mobilised military helicopters, drones and ground teams from Skardu, though poor weather repeatedly delayed helicopter flights in the days immediately after the avalanche. 

Who Was Nirmal "Nimsdai" Purja?

Before he was a mountaineer, Purja was a soldier. He came from a family with a long tradition of Gurkha service; his father and three older brothers all served before him, and he followed that same path himself. Purja served six years as a British Gurkha before becoming the first Nepali accepted into the British Special Boat Service, an elite Royal Navy unit, over a military career spanning roughly sixteen years. He was appointed a Member of the Order of the British Empire in 2018 for his military service and mountaineering achievements.

His climbing career began almost by accident: a 2012 trek to Everest Base Camp, meant to end at the base camp, turned into a summit push. Seven years later, he resigned from the Special Boat Service, gave up his military pension and sold his house in the UK to fund an expedition climbing all fourteen of the world's 8,000-metre peaks in under seven months. He finished in six months and six days, breaking the previous record by more than seven years. Along the way, he twice interrupted his own summit attempts to help rescue other climbers in distress, on Annapurna and Kanchenjunga.

The record made him one of the most recognizable mountaineers in the world, chronicled in the Netflix documentary 14 Peaks: Nothing Is Impossible.

He later became part of the 10-member Nepali team that achieved the first winter ascent of K2 in January 2021, one of the last great unclaimed milestones in Himalayan mountaineering. 

The ascent mattered beyond the climb itself. For decades, Nepali climbers had largely been cast in supporting roles on Western-led expeditions carrying loads, fixing ropes, rarely credited as the driving force behind a summit. The all-Nepali K2 team, and Purja's global profile more broadly, helped shift that narrative, positioning Nepali mountaineers as leaders and record-setters in their own right rather than as support staff for other nations' ambitions.

A Nation in Mourning

Broad Peak's search and recovery operation continues, even as Nepal absorbs the loss of six of its own climbers and the death of a man who had become, in less than a decade, one of the most recognizable figures the country's mountaineering tradition has ever produced. Purja is survived by his wife, Suchi Purja, and their daughter, Himani.

As families in Gorkha, Dolakha, Sankhuwasabha, Okhaldhunga and Myagdi wait for word on their sons and brothers still on the mountain. Broad Peak has claimed their lives, but Nepal will forever honor the legacy they left high above the clouds.