Celebrated British-Nepali mountaineer Nirmal "Nimsdai" Purja and nine fellow expedition members have died after being swept away by a devastating avalanche on Broad Peak in northern Pakistan.
Purja's guiding company, Elite Expeditions, confirmed the tragic loss of the entire ten-person team on the 26,414-foot (8,047-meter) mountain, the 12th highest peak in the world. The international group comprised climbers from Nepal, Pakistan, China, Oman, and the United States. Among those lost was 39-year-old Mallory Geis from San Antonio, Texas, who had recently closed her Pilates studio to pursue high-altitude mountaineering.
Search and rescue operations involving military helicopters, high-altitude porters, and specialized teams faced harsh weather and treacherous terrain, but ultimately proved futile. Nepal's Prime Minister Balendra "Balen" Shah and local authorities confirmed the recovery and transport of several climbers' remains to regional hospitals.
Purja, 43, was widely regarded as one of the most extraordinary high-altitude climbers of his generation. A former operative in the UK's elite Special Boat Service, he catapulted to global fame in 2019 by scaling all 14 of the world's 8,000-meter peaks in a record-shattering six months and six days—a feat chronicled in the 2021 Netflix documentary 14 Peaks: Nothing Is Impossible. In 2021, he was also part of the historic all-Nepali team that achieved the first winter ascent of K2.
Tributes have poured in from across the global climbing community as families and supporters mourn the profound loss on Broad Peak.