Netflix Documentary Star Nirmal Purja Among 10 Climbers Killed in Pakistan Avalanche
Mountaineering has always carried inherent risk, but few tragedies in recent memory have hit the climbing community and its wider audience quite like this one. A team that included one of the sport’s most recognizable modern figures has been confirmed dead following a catastrophic avalanche in northern Pakistan.
Nirmal Purja, the Nepal-born mountaineer who rose to global fame through Netflix‘s 2021 documentary “14 Peaks: Nothing Is Impossible,” has died along with nine other members of his expedition team after an avalanche struck Broad Peak, one of the world’s highest mountains, in Pakistan’s Gilgit-Baltistan region.
Purja’s company, Elite Expeditions, confirmed the news in a statement, saying it was “with profound sadness and immense heartbreak” that they confirmed Purja had lost his life following the avalanche, adding that confirmation had also been received that the rest of the expedition members did not survive. The tragedy has sent shockwaves through the international climbing community and beyond, given Purja’s status as one of the sport’s most publicly recognized figures.
The avalanche struck the team on Broad Peak, the world’s twelfth-highest mountain at 8,047 meters, on Thursday, July 30, according to the Alpine Club of Pakistan. The expedition lost contact with base camp shortly after the avalanche hit, prompting a multi-day search and rescue operation involving Pakistani army helicopters.
The full expedition team included six Nepalese nationals along with climbers from Pakistan, Oman, China and the United States. Among those confirmed dead were Purja’s climbing partners and guides Pur Bahadur Gurung, known as Yukta, and Nima Sherpa, along with American climber Mallory Geis, whose death was confirmed by a U.S. State Department spokesperson extending condolences to the victims’ families.
Purja’s fame extended far beyond the mountaineering world after he became the subject of Netflix’s documentary chronicling his record-setting achievement of climbing all fourteen of the world’s peaks above 8,000 meters in just 189 days back in 2019, a feat that was later surpassed in 2023. He was also a former Gurkha soldier in the British Army before turning his focus entirely to high-altitude climbing.
Tributes have poured in from officials and fans since news of the deaths broke. Nepali Prime Minister Balendra Shah said the tragic deaths of six Nepalese climbers and four other foreign climbers, including world record holder Nirmal Purja, in the Karakoram mountain range had shocked the nation.
Broad Peak sits within Pakistan’s Karakoram range, home to five of the world’s fourteen peaks above 8,000 meters, an area that continues to draw climbers from around the globe despite its well-documented dangers. Accidents involving avalanches and sudden weather shifts remain a persistent risk for mountaineers attempting these extreme altitudes.
The loss of Purja and his entire team marks one of the most significant tragedies in recent high-altitude climbing history, striking a figure whose documentary had introduced millions of viewers to the extreme demands and risks inherent in this kind of mountaineering.
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