Somewhere on the upper slopes of Nanga Parbat, one of the world’s most unforgiving mountains, a group of ten climbers including one of Britain’s most celebrated adventurers is feared lost after a devastating avalanche swept through the region.
Nirmal Purja, the former Special Boat Service operator who made global headlines in 2019 by summiting all 14 of the world’s 8,000-metre peaks in just six months and six days, is among those reported missing following the disaster in northern Pakistan’s Gilgit-Baltistan region.
The group had been attempting a climb on Nanga Parbat, the ninth-highest mountain on earth at 8,126 metres, when an avalanche struck. Rescue operations were launched almost immediately, but deteriorating weather conditions have repeatedly grounded helicopter teams and hampered ground efforts.
Purja, 41, is no stranger to extreme conditions. Known widely by his nickname “Nimsdai”, he built a reputation not just for speed records but for high-altitude rescues that would make most climbers blanch. In 2019 he helped save a Turkish climber stranded above 8,000 metres on Annapurna, a feat that was later featured in his Netflix documentary 14 Peaks: Nothing Is Impossible.
The climbing community, already a tight-knit world, reacted with visible alarm. Social media accounts run by his team went quiet shortly after the incident was reported, and followers began flooding comment sections with messages of hope.
“Nanga Parbat doesn’t forgive mistakes, and it doesn’t negotiate,” one veteran Himalayan climber wrote online. “Even the very best are at its mercy.”
The mountain’s nickname among Pakistani locals is “Killer Mountain”, and it has earned that name honestly. It has claimed dozens of lives since the first attempts on its summit in the early 20th century, with its sheer scale and sudden weather shifts making it uniquely treacherous even by 8,000-metre standards.
Pakistani authorities have confirmed search operations are ongoing, with military helicopters on standby to move the moment conditions allow. Families of those missing have been notified, though official identifications of all ten climbers have not yet been fully confirmed by press time.
Whether Purja’s extraordinary resilience and mountain experience can prove decisive in the worst of circumstances is something the world is now waiting, with very real dread, to find out.
