Mountaineer Nirmal Purja killed in Pakistan avalanche, his company says

Who is Nirmal Purja, the famed mountaineer missing in Broad Peak avalanche?

Renowned mountaineer and former British Army soldier Nirmal Purja is among those killed in an avalanche on Broad Peak in Pakistan, his company has said. Sharing the news on social media, Elite Expeditions said it confirmed with “profound sadness and immense heartbreak” that Purja had died in Thursday’s avalanche.

It also said that none of other nine members of the expedition had survived.
Purja, a Nepali-born climber, was known for scaling the world’s 14 highest peaks in just over six months in 2019.

Pakistani officials had previously announced that the bodies of three climbers from the expedition – American Mallory Geis, Nadhira Ahmed Abdullah Al Harthy from Oman and Pur Bahadur Gurung from Nepal – had been recovered.

Purja’s death was also confirmed by Nepal’s Prime Minister Balendra Shah, who said on social media that “the tragic death of six Nepalese and four other foreign climbers, including world record holder Nirmal Purja, in the Karakoram mountain range of Pakistan, has shocked us”.

“The history of their courage, dedication, and contributions will always remain inspiring,” the prime minister added.

Rescue teams in Pakistan had been searching for the climbers on the world’s 12th-highest summit after an avalanche on the 8,047m (26,400ft) peak in the Karakoram range.

The multinational climbing group was being led by Purja. Also known as Nims, he rose to prominence in 2019 when he climbed all 14 of the world’s mountains with peaks above 8,000m in 189 days – smashing the previous record by more than seven years.

The 43-year-old became widely known following a Netflix documentary chronicling his journey, 14 Peaks: Nothing Is Impossible, released two years later.

At the time, he said: “It has been a gruelling but humbling six months, and I hope to have proven that anything is possible with some determination, self-belief and positivity.”

Purja served in the British military for 16 years, 10 of which were spent in the special forces, and he was awarded an MBE by the late Queen in 2018 for his achievement in extreme high-altitude mountaineering.

He said he was also the first Gurkha to climb Everest while serving in the British military.

In his last post on X, published on Monday, Purja said he had not intended to climb Broad Peak.

“Initially, the plan was to climb just G2,” he wrote, referring to Gasherbrum II, another peak in the Karakoram mountain range.

But right before he set off for Pakistan, he realised that if he also managed to climb Broad Peak while he was there, he would have only one more mountain to conquer before becoming the “first person in history to climb all 14 eight-thousanders twice. Without oxygen.”

An eight-thousander is a mountain that rises more than 8,000m above sea level.

“This wasn’t planned,” Purja wrote. “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,” he wrote.

Broad Peak is regarded as one of the more challenging mountains for climbers. The first successful ascent was in 1957, when an Austrian expedition reached the summit.

Since then, many more have climbed the mountain, but dozens have lost their lives.

One of Broad Peak’s deadliest years was 2013, when at least six fatalities were recorded.

By BBC News