Records & People
The Nepali-British soldier turned mountaineer shattered a record nobody thought was humanly possible, then died in an avalanche on Pakistan's Broad…
By Laxman Rawal · Aug 14, 2026
Key facts Nirmal Purja, 43, died in an avalanche on Broad Peak (8,051m) in Pakistan's Karakoram range on 30 July 2026. He was one of 10 climbers killed, from five countries: Nepal, Pakistan, Oman, the United States and China. In 2019 he climbed all 14 of the…
Travel Himalaya Nepal · News
Purja spent 16 years in the British Army, first as a Gurkha rifleman, then as the first Nepali ever accepted into the elite Special Boat Service. In 2019 he left the military to attempt something climbers had called reckless: summiting all fourteen of the…
Travel Himalaya Nepal · News
The avalanche hit around midday, high on Broad Peak's upper slopes, and the ten climbers it killed came from five countries — a reminder of how international a serious Karakoram expedition really is. Nadhira Al Harthy, part of the same expedition, had become…
Travel Himalaya Nepal · News
What this means for you Broad Peak is an 8,000m expedition peak, nothing like the trekking and guided climbing we run out of Pokhara — but the accident is still a sobering reminder of what altitude and avalanche terrain can do even to the most experienced…
Travel Himalaya Nepal · News
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