A week after an avalanche killed 10 mountaineers on Broad Peak in Pakistan’s Gilgit-Baltistan region, rescuers have recovered the bodies of seven victims.
The Alpine Club of Pakistan – a non-governmental organisation for mountaineering and mountain sports – said on Wednesday that the recovery operation was “exceptionally challenging and technically demanding”.
The bodies of renowned British-Nepali mountaineer Nirmal Purja, fellow Nepali climbers Nima Sherpa, Kili Pemba “Kilu” Sherpa, Pur Bahadur “Yukta” Gurung, Gyalu Sherpa, Chinese climber Wang Zhong, and Omani climber Nadhira Ahmed Abdullah Al Harthy were recovered.
The body of another climber – Nawang Thindhu Sherpa – has reportedly been found in an inaccessible area at around 6,000m, while Pakistani guide Sohail Sakhi and American climber Mallory Geis remain missing. The rescuers had earlier found Geis’s amputated leg, confirming her death.
Who were the climbers?
While attention has been focused on high-altitude mountaineering’s controversial star Nirmal Purja, also known as Nims Dai, the avalanche also claimed the lives of nine other climbers and guides from five countries – Nepal, Oman, Pakistan, China and the US.
Nepal-born British mountaineer Purja redefined the limits of high-altitude climbing by scaling the world's 14 highest peaks in a record-breaking 189 days. He was 43.
Celebrated for pushing the limits of human endurance, Purja achieved fame beyond the mountaineering community through the Netflix documentary 14 Peaks: Nothing Is Impossible.
Nadhira Ahmed Abdullah Al Harthy
Mountaineer Nadhira Ahmed Abdullah Al Harthy made history in 2019 as the first Omani woman to summit Mount Everest, the highest mountain peak in the world.
She later climbed K2 and Manaslu, adding two of the world’s highest peaks to her achievements.
On social media, some have called her “an inspiration across the Arab world”.
Nelly Attar, a a Saudi-Lebanese mountaineer, who in 2022 became the first Arab woman to summit K2, wrote a tribute to Al Harthy on Instagram: “How lucky I am to have known you. To have climbed with you for many years. To have shared so many incredible adventures with you. One of the greatest gifts the mountains gave me was our sisterhood.
“You were a beacon of light and strength. When I picture you, I see you smiling, laughing, giggling. You radiated positivity everywhere you’d go - even in the most hostile environments.
“The world has lost a phenomenal athlete, mountaineer, and, above all, one of the kindest human beings I’ve ever known. You moved mountains, Nani. You showed an entire generation what was possible, and your legacy will continue to move mountains for generations to come.”
Pur Bahadur “Yukta” Gurung
Pur Bahadur Gurung, 37, known as Yukta among the mountaineering community, was an experienced Nepali mountaineer and lead guide whose career spanned more than two decades.
After starting out as a porter and trekking cook, he became one of Nepal’s elite high-altitude climbers, reaching the summit of Everest seven times, K2 twice and 11 of the world’s 14 highest peaks, while also working as a rescue-trained expedition guide.
He worked for Elite Exped, Nims Dai’s expedition company.
In 2024, Pur Bahadur was among the climbers who discovered a century-old boot on Everest believed to have belonged to British mountaineer Andrew Irvine, who disappeared on the mountain in 1924.
Mallory Geis
American climber Mallory Geis, 39, was attempting her first 8,000-metre peak after selling her Pilates business in San Antonio, Texas, to pursue mountaineering full time, according to expedition organiser Moving Mountains.
Announcing the decision on Instagram, she wrote: “Taking a giant leap of faith into the unknown to see where life goes. I have a sneaking suspicion there will be lots of helmets, harnesses, and crampons involved.”
Before departing for Pakistan, she described Broad Peak as her “first big kid climbing expedition”.
She wrote: “Let’s see if we can get this body and these boots up Broad Peak, the 12th highest mountain in the world.”
Her father George Geis told Kens5 news outlet: “That’s what she wanted to do, was go hike. She was a very positive person, and very smart, and could do almost anything she wanted to do.”
In a statement, her family said: “Mallory was a bright light who was loved deeply by her family and friends. She will be profoundly missed.”
She was a client of Pakistani guide Sohail Sakhi.
Wang Zhong
Chinese mountaineer Wang Zhong, 52, was an experienced high-altitude mountaineer.
He was reportedly closing in on one of mountaineering’s greatest achievements: climbing all 14 of the world’s peaks above 8,000m.
Having already summited 12 of them, he arrived at Broad Peak hoping it would become his 13th before the avalanche struck, according to a report by the Yangtse Evening Post, cited by state-owned The Global Times.
Kili Pemba “Kilu” Sherpa
Kili Pemba Sherpa or “Kilu” Sherpa, 46, was one of Nepal’s most accomplished high-altitude guides. Born in Rolwaling in Dolakha district, he began working on Himalayan expeditions as a teenage support climber in 1996 before spending three decades building a career in the world’s highest mountains.
By 2026, he had climbed Everest 15 times, completed all 14 of the world’s 8,000m peaks, and was among the 10 Nepali climbers who made the first winter ascent of K2 in 2021.
He also helped guide Chinese double amputee Xia Boyu to the summit of Everest in 2018 and Russian double amputee Rustam Nabiev to the summit of Manaslu in 2021.
Just weeks before his death on Broad Peak, he completed his own quest to climb all 14 eight-thousanders by summiting Nanga Parbat on 3 July, accompanied by his client Wang Zhong, who was also killed in the avalanche.
He worked for Imagine Nepal, the expedition company.
Sohail Sakhi
Pakistani climber Sohail Sakhi was a high-altitude mountaineer, expedition leader and geographer from Hunza in Pakistan. He was the founder of Moving Mountains, an adventure company specialising in expeditions in Pakistan’s Karakoram.
He had summited K2, Gasherbrum I, Gasherbrum II and Manaslu, completed a no-oxygen, unsupported ascent of Nanga Parbat, and took part in a winter attempt on Batura I, according to the company website.
He was known for his alpine-style climbing and high-altitude photography.
Beyond climbing, he aimed to mentor young Pakistani mountaineers and was preparing to launch the Great Karakoram Trail project in 2026.
Sakhi was guiding American climber Mallory Geis on Broad Peak when the avalanche struck.
In a statement, Sohail’s family said that they “made the painful decision to perform the final rituals” even as his body remains missing on the mountain.
Gyalu Sherpa
Gyalu Sherpa had already established himself as one of Nepal’s rising mountaineers.
A guide with Seven Summit Treks, he even had a Guinness World Record to his name.
“Gyalu set a Guinness World Record by summiting Kanchenjunga three times in a single season, and he climbed Everest many times,” Chhang Dawa Sherpa, director of Seven Summit Treks, said.
His other climbs included Cholatse, Himlung Himal, Lobuche, Mera Peak and Lenin Peak.
Nima Sherpa
Nima Sherpa was a senior high-altitude guide with Elite Exped, the expedition company co-founded by Nirmal Purja.
He was born into a farming family in Makalu rural municipality in Sankhuwasabha district in eastern Nepal.
Nima Sherpa had made a name for himself by climbing four mountains above 8,000m before the Broad Peak expedition, according to Nepali news outlet Kantipur.
He was regarded as one of Purja’s trusted climbing partners and guides and regularly worked on Elite Exped expeditions.
Nawang Thindhu Sherpa
Nawang Thindu Sherpa, 28, was a star Nepali Sherpa guide. Born in Sankhuwasabha district, he began his mountaineering career with an ascent of Island Peak in 2019 before going on to summit Everest, Lhotse, Manaslu, Kangchenjunga and Makalu.
A guide with Seven Summit Treks, he had also led expeditions on Ama Dablam and other Himalayan peaks.
His last successful expedition was the summit of Makalu in spring 2026, just months before he joined the Broad Peak expedition, where he was killed in the avalanche on 30 July.
Mountaineering runs in his family. His father and three brothers were also experienced 8000m climbers.
Makalu rural municipality chairman Wangdi Tshiring paid tribute to the young Sherpa, describing his death as a major loss to Nepal’s mountaineering community.
“With Nawang’s death, our rural municipality and the entire Nepali mountaineering sector have lost an indomitable and promising pillar. This country will always remember his sacrifice and contribution,” he said, according to The Tourism Times.
In 2025, Nawang took part in the search for two missing Sherpa climbers after an avalanche on Annapurna.
In May this year, he joined a high-altitude team on Makalu that recovered the body of Czech climber David Roubinek from around 7,300m on Makalu II and brought it down to approximately 6,100m.
