World-renowned climber Nirmal Purja among 10 feared missing following avalanche in Pakistan
By Ross Adkin, Xiaoqian Lin, Lex Harvey, CNN
(CNN) — World-renowned climber Nirmal Purja is feared missing following an avalanche on a mountain in Pakistan, the Alpine Club of Pakistan said in a statement.
The Nepali climber made history in 2019, climbing all of the world’s 14 peaks over 8,000 meters (26,300 feet) in just over six months. His feat was chronicled in the hit Netflix documentary “14 Peaks: Nothing Is Impossible.”
The Alpine Club said it “has received deeply concerning reports of an avalanche that struck a team of climbers on Broad Peak” around midday Thursday. Broad Peak, in the Karakoram mountain range, is 8,047m high.
According to initial reports, the expedition was made up of 10 climbers, including nationals from Pakistan, Oman, China and the US, the statement said.
“The entire team has reportedly been out of communication since the avalanche,” the statement said.
The Alpine Club was “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.”
“Nims” Purja was a soldier for 16 years with the British army, in the Brigade of Gurkhas and later the Special Boat Service, a British special forces unit of the UK’s Royal Navy.
His mountaineering career began when he trekked to Everest Base Camp in 2012, an experience that “fired his passion and ambition for the mountains,” according to the website for his foundation, Nimsdai, which supports mountain communities in Nepal.
CNN has reached out to Purja’s foundation for comment.
Purja quickly became “addicted” to climbing, he told CNN in 2019.
He was appointed a Member of the Order of the British Empire in 2018, for his military service and mountaineering achievements.
Purja set off on his record-breaking summit of the world’s 14 highest peaks in April 2019, finishing 189 days later in October, smashing a record set by South Korean Kim Chang-ho in 2013 – by more than seven years.
Purja and his team also carried out a number of daring rescues, often putting their own lives in danger.
He described his feat to CNN as an “extremely, horrendously good experience” – despite his oxygen being stolen while climbing Lhotse, Earth’s fourth-highest peak.
Purja brought global attention to the issue of overcrowding on Mount Everest, posting a photograph of a “traffic jam” on the upper slopes of the world’s highest peak during his summit in 2019. The resulting backlash led the Nepalese government to draft new climbing rules.
The speed record for summiting the world’s tallest peaks was broken again in 2023 by a Norwegian woman, Kristin Harila, and a Nepali man, Tenjin Sherpa, who summited all 14 peaks in three months and one day.
Summiting just one “8,000er,” let alone all 14, is challenging enough given climbers are exposed to the “death zone” – a mountaineering term that describes altitudes over about 8,000m where the human body is exposed to insufficient levels of oxygen.
In 2024, Purja became the fastest person to summit all 14 of the peaks without supplementary oxygen.
After climbing Broad Peak, Purja had planned to climb Cho Oyu, the world’s sixth-highest mountain, located in the Himalayas, to become the first person in history to climb all 14 “8,000ers” twice, according to a post on his X account Monday.
“Broad Peak, I ask for nothing but safe passage up and back down,” he wrote.
“I take zero mountains for granted. Not one. The moment my foot leaves basecamp, it’s 100%. Always has been. Always will be.”
This is a developing story and will be updated.
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