Tragic news has come from the 12th-highest mountain in the world. An avalanche swept down Pakistan’s Broad Peak just as a large climbing group was on its way to the summit. At least 10 people were hit by the avalanche, including Nirmal “Nims” Purja, a well-known mountaineer who was leading an Elite Exped team.
At least two climbers died in the avalanche, according to the Alpine Club of Pakistan. The rest remain unaccounted for. However, several news outlets, including the BBC, have reported that four climbers from the team were already confirmed dead.
Details about the status of remaining climbers are likely to emerge soon, and we’ll update when more information is available. So far, efforts to contact Purja’s team after the avalanche have been unsuccessful.
The two confirmed dead were identified as Nadhira Ahmed Abdullah Al Harthy from Oman and Pur Bahadur Gurung from Nepal, according to the Alpine Club of Pakistan. Other climbers in the group included Pakistani Sohail Sakhi with American client Mallory Geiss.
The original version of this story was published on ExplorersWeb.
What We Know So Far
The Alpine Club of Pakistan released a press release about the incident:
The Alpine Club of Pakistan (ACP) has received deeply concerning reports of an avalanche that struck a team of climbers on Broad Peak (8,047m) in the Karakoram around midday today.
According to the initial information received, the expedition comprises 10 climbers, including five Nepalese mountaineers led by the renowned climber Nims Dai, one Pakistani climber, Sohail Sakhi from Hunza, Nathira, an Omani mountaineer, American climber Mallory Geis, one Chinese climber, Mr. Wang, and one other foreign climber. The entire team has reportedly been out of communication since the avalanche.
The President of the Alpine Club of Pakistan, Major General Irfan Arshad, along with the senior leadership of the Club, is in constant contact with the highest government authorities and all relevant agencies to facilitate an immediate search and rescue operation. Every possible effort is being made to ensure that helicopter support and all available rescue resources are mobilized at the earliest opportunity, subject to weather and operational conditions.
The Alpine Club of Pakistan is closely monitoring the situation and coordinating with all concerned stakeholders. The Club prays for the safety and successful rescue of all the climbers and stands in solidarity with their families and the international mountaineering community during this difficult time.
As more information becomes available, one oddity immediately stands out. The large avalanche (or avalanches; some sources report two) occurred around 9:20 a.m. on Thursday. However, no alarm went out until almost 13 hours later, even though each team has staff at Base Camp and other climbers are often there, too.
“We only found out at 10 p.m. [Thursday],” Naila Kiani of the Alpine Club of Pakistan told ExplorersWeb. Thus, the entire day, when a prompt response might have allowed helicopters to reach the site before dark, was lost. “We are all shocked,” Kiani said.
There were four teams on the mountain — Sohail Sakhi of Pakistan with client Mallory Weis of the U.S., Nirmal Purja leading the EliteExped team, an Imagine Nepal team (without leader Mingma G, who is currently on K2), and a Seven Summit Treks group.
An Ongoing Rescue Mission
A full day has now passed without any contact from the teams hit by the avalanche. Moreover, ExplorersWeb gained access to some of the climbers’ trackers, which reveal a concerning pattern: the climbers stopped their ascent around 9:30 a.m. Pakistan time and then fell several hundred meters.
Two helicopters will fly to Broad Peak on Friday, loaded with rescuers and oxygen.
According to Imagine Nepal, the climbers on Broad Peak had reached Camp 2 on Wednesday. The plan was to go to Camp 3 on Thursday, and then, after a short break, continue to the summit on Friday. The avalanche seems to have hit the climbers between Camps 2 and 3, at around 6,660m.
As for Nirmal Purja, a recent post on social media suggested that Broad Peak was a last-minute decision to break a record.
“This was never the plan,” Purja wrote on Instagram. “Initially, the plan was to climb just G2 [Gasherbrum II]. But just before setting off for Pakistan, I ran the numbers on my 8,000m summits. That’s when it hit me: If I tick off Broad Peak whilst I’m here, only one remains, Cho Oyu. Then I become the FIRST person in history to climb all 14 eight-thousanders twice without oxygen.”
