Nirmal Purja and nine climbers missing after Pakistan avalanche

Communication with a 10-person international climbing team on Broad Peak was severed on Thursday, after an avalanche struck the mountain around midday. The expedition was led by Nirmal Purja, a former Royal Marine and world-record-setting mountaineer.

Search-and-rescue operations led by the Pakistan Army and the Alpine Club of Pakistan (ACP) located four bodies on Friday, though authorities have not yet identified them. Six climbers remain missing. Efforts to retrieve the recovered bodies and locate the others are currently hampered by adverse weather and harsh conditions, which have restricted the utility of two dispatched army helicopters, according to reports from wcjb.com and Getaway.

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The attempt on Broad Peak, the world's 12th-highest mountain at 8,047 meters, was an unplanned addition to Purja's itinerary. In a final public message on X posted July 27, Purja wrote:

"This wasn’t planned. But opportunities don’t scream: they whisper to those already working in silence. Broad Peak, I ask for nothing but safe passage up and back down. I take zero mountains for granted."

Nirmal Purja, expedition leader, via desiblitz.com

Purja, known globally as Nims Dai, realized that summiting this peak would leave him just one mountain away from becoming the first person to climb all 14 mountains above 8,000 meters twice without supplemental oxygen. This ambition followed his successful summit of Gasherbrum II on July 21, which marked his 57th ascent of an eight-thousander.

The missing team comprised a diverse group of high-altitude climbers:

• Nirmal Purja: British-Nepali expedition leader.
• Mallory Geis: A 39-year-old from San Antonio, Texas, for whom this was a first attempt at an 8,000-meter peak in Pakistan.
• Sohail Sakhi: A Pakistani guide, geographer, and photographer for the company Moving Mountains, who expected this to be his final peak.
• Other members: An Omani climber named Nathira, a Chinese climber identified as Wang, five Nepali climbers, and one other foreign climber whose nationality was not disclosed.

The recovery effort is operating in what Sajid Hussain, deputy director of the tourism department in Gilgit-Baltistan, described to Reuters as an extremely difficult area. This difficulty is compounded by the nature of the Karakoram range, where Broad Peak's unpredictable weather and avalanche-prone terrain make it one of the most demanding climbs in the region. Chief Minister Amjad Hussain stated on Friday that bad weather continues to obstruct the search.

There are conflicting reports regarding the number of recovered casualties. The Nepali outlet Kantipur reported that two bodies had been found, while Al Jazeera and the Associated Press report that four bodies were located by Friday.

Purja’s career has been defined by aggressive milestones and military precision. A former Royal Marine who served 16 years in the British Army, he gained international fame in 2019 by climbing the world’s 14 highest peaks in six months and six days. To fund that effort, known as "Project Possible," Purja re-mortgaged his home. The expedition was later featured in the Netflix documentary 14 Peaks: Nothing is Impossible, though his record was surpassed in 2023.

His approach to mountaineering often blended elite discipline with personal daring. Purja previously stated he could have climbed Everest, Lhotse, and Makalu in three days rather than five had he not stopped for two nights to have a drink. Documentaries of his climbs have shown him ascending peaks while hungover. In May 2019, he captured a viral image of a queue of climbers on Mount Everest, triggering global debates on safety and overcrowding.

The human stakes of the current crisis were signaled months ago by Mallory Geis, who announced on social media that she was closing her Pilates studio to take a giant leap of faith into the unknown.

The Chinese government is currently attempting to verify if its national, Wang, is among the missing. Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning stated in Beijing on Friday that China is willing to offer assistance to the Pakistani side and any Chinese citizens in need.

The immediate priority for the Pakistan Army and the ACP is the retrieval of the four recovered bodies and the identification of the missing. The success of these efforts remains dependent on the opening of weather windows to allow helicopters to return to the remote avalanche site.