- Nirmal Purja and all 10 members of his expedition team were confirmed dead after an avalanche struck them on Broad Peak in Pakistan.
- The incident occurred Thursday morning as the team ascended between Camp II and Camp III at approximately 6,600 meters.
- Recovery efforts are ongoing, with Purja's body found at an altitude of about 5,700 meters.
- As of Sunday, seven bodies, including Purja's, have been recovered, while one additional body at a significantly higher and hazardous elevation is unlikely to be retrieved.
- The identified climbers include Purja, Chinese climber Wang Zhong, Nepalese climbers Nima Sherpa and Kili Pemba Sherpa, US climber Sarah Mallory Geis, Nadhira Ahmed Abdullah Al Harthy from Oman, and Nepalese citizen Pur Bahadur Gurung.
- Nirmal Purja, 43, was a celebrated mountaineer known for his "Project Possible" in 2019, where he set a speed record for summiting the world's 14 highest peaks, a feat documented in the Netflix film "14 Peaks: Nothing Is Impossible." He was also awarded an MBE.
- Tributes have poured in for the climbers, with Nepal Prime Minister Balendra Shah expressing shock and sorrow, and Prince William describing Purja as "one of the world’s greatest mountaineers" and "truly unique."
Nirmal Purja, 43, was a celebrated mountaineer known for his "Project Possible" in 2019, where he set a speed record for summiting the world's 14 highest peaks, a feat documented in the Netflix film "14 Peaks: Nothing Is Impossible." He was also awarded an MBE.156
The avalanche struck on Thursday morning as the team ascended between Camp II and Camp III at approximately 6,600 meters. Recovery efforts are ongoing, with Purja's body found at an altitude of about 5,700 meters. As of Sunday, seven bodies have been recovered, including Purja's, while one additional body at a significantly higher and hazardous elevation is unlikely to be retrieved.234
The identified climbers include Purja, Chinese climber Wang Zhong, Nepalese climbers Nima Sherpa and Kili Pemba Sherpa, US climber Sarah Mallory Geis, Nadhira Ahmed Abdullah Al Harthy from Oman, and Nepalese citizen Pur Bahadur Gurung.
Tributes have poured in for the climbers, with Nepal Prime Minister Balendra Shah expressing shock and sorrow, and Prince William describing Purja as "one of the world’s greatest mountaineers" and "truly unique."7
“Prince William called Purja “one of the world’s greatest mountaineers” and “truly unique,” while Nepal Prime Minister Balendra Shah expressed shock and sorrow. Purja, 43, set the 2019 speed record for climbing the world’s 14 highest peaks in “Project Possible,” later documented in Netflix’s “14 Peaks: Nothing Is Impossible.””
The Independent
ABC7 Chicago
