An international team of ten professional climbers has been confirmed dead after an avalanche swept through Broad Peak in Pakistan.
The team was led by contemporary climbing legend Nirmal Purja, 43. The other members included one Chinese citizen, four Nepali Sherpa guides, one Pakistani climber, one Omani climber, and one American female climber.
Purja had set multiple world records during his lifetime, including: the fastest ascent of all 14 peaks above 8,000 meters without supplemental oxygen, the fastest complete ascent of all 14 peaks with oxygen support, the fastest consecutive summits of Everest, Lhotse, and Makalu, and the first-ever winter ascent of K2, the world’s second-highest mountain.
Purja was born on July 25, 1983, in Dana village, Myagdi district, Nepal, into a Gurkha family.
This ethnic group has lived for generations in Nepal’s Himalayan region, enduring harsh conditions and navigating complex high-altitude terrain, which forged their exceptional endurance, agility, and adaptability to mountain environments. Inspired by his father and brothers, Purja dreamed of joining the military from a young age.
At 23, Purja fulfilled his dream by joining the British Army. After six years of service, he became the first Nepali accepted into the Royal Navy’s Special Boat Service, becoming an extreme cold weather warfare instructor in 2014, during which time he also obtained British citizenship.
Nepal was once a dependent state of the British Empire, and the two countries maintain close ties in military and other fields today. Since 1815, Nepali Gurkhas have served in the British Army and remain a vital component of it to this day.
The harsh environment he grew up in, combined with years of intense special operations training, fueled a powerful obsession with high-altitude mountaineering and pushing the limits of human endurance.
In the documentary “14 Peaks: Nothing Is Impossible,” Purja recounted that experience: In December 2012, during a break, he trekked to Everest Base Camp and later that month summited Lobuche East Peak (6,119 meters) in Nepal.
After leaving the military, Purja began his climbing career with a clear goal: to summit all 14 peaks on Earth that exceed 8,000 meters.
In 2017, to commemorate 200 years of Gurkha service to the British military, he led 13 Gurkha soldiers on a successful Everest summit. Two years later, he launched the “Project Possible” initiative, completing all 14 peaks above 8,000 meters in just 189 days, setting a Guinness World Record.
Purja had survived an avalanche while climbing Annapurna in 2019. A violent snow slide slammed into his camp, nearly shredding the tents and fiberglass structures. For a moment, he thought he would be swept off the mountain. Fortunately, the avalanche subsided seconds later, and the entire team narrowly escaped disaster.
But this time, fortune did not smile on his team.
July and August are traditionally the prime high-altitude climbing window in the Northern Hemisphere. During this period, weather is relatively stable, daylight hours are ample, and route conditions are more favorable. However, as global climate change intensifies, once-predictable weather patterns have become disrupted, increasing the likelihood of extreme weather events and dramatically shrinking the safe summit window for high-altitude expeditions.
At around 9 a.m. local time on July 30, 2026, based on partial GPS data, the team was on the summit route above 6,579 meters, between Camp 3 and Camp 4. The avalanche swept the team roughly 500 to 1,600 meters down the mountainside.
Purja’s expedition company stated, “The world has lost a mountaineering master who inspired millions through his courage, humility, and unwavering belief that human potential is far greater than we can imagine.”
The president of the Alpine Club of Pakistan, Irfan Arshad Khan, called the tragedy “an immeasurable loss for the global climbing community.”
Due to historical circumstances, during the early exploration of the “roof of the world,” nearly all first ascents of the 8,000-meter peaks were achieved by European and American teams, and the rules and standards were likewise established by the Western climbing establishment. Nepali Sherpa climbers were long marginalized, and their contributions were barely acknowledged.
Indigenous climbers like Purja rewrote history through their achievements, bringing niche high-altitude mountaineering into the global mainstream spotlight through internationally distributed documentaries and industry awards, while also generating significant commercial growth for Nepal’s climbing tourism industry.
Additionally, his “Clean Mountains” environmental initiative partnered with outdoor brands to launch high-altitude eco-friendly co-branded products and foundations, ensuring sustainable commercial support for related charitable projects.
