Record-setting climber Nirmal Purja, also called Nimsdai, died when an avalanche hit Broad Peak in Pakistan’s Gilgit-Baltistan area while he led a team on Thursday. Elite Exped, the firm he helped start, confirmed the death on Saturday and noted that team members including Pur Bahadur Gurung and Nima Sherpa also perished. The company asked for privacy for the families. Purja had posted on social media about his goals for the climb and his approach to the mountains. Broad Peak was added to his plans after he aimed first at Gasherbrum II. Success there would have put him close to becoming the first to climb all fourteen peaks over eight thousand metres twice without extra oxygen. In his post he wrote that he sought only safe passage on the mountain and stressed that he never took any peak lightly. Rescue teams saw movement on his tracker after the avalanche but later found four bodies via drone near Camp I. Up to ten climbers may have died. Purja served sixteen years in the military before focusing on climbing. He gained fame in 2019 by scaling all fourteen eight-thousand-metre peaks in under seven months, a story told in a Netflix film. He received an MBE for his work. In his final post he said he viewed climbing as a personal challenge rather than a contest with others.
