Nirmal Purja, a renowned British-Nepali mountaineer, died after an avalanche struck Pakistan’s Broad Peak, one of the world’s highest mountains, on Thursday. He was 43.
His company, Elite Exped, confirmed Mr. Purja’s death in a social media post on Saturday.
“It is with profound sadness and immense heartbreak that we confirm that Nirmal “Nimsdai” Purja, tragically lost his life following the avalanche on Broad Peak,” the statement read.
Mr. Purja was celebrated for summiting a cluster of the world’s tallest peaks in record time, inspired a Netflix documentary, and founded an influential guiding company. His reputation, though, was marred when two women said he made unwelcome sexual advances toward them, allegations he denied.
Hassan Aljabal Ramal, a business partner of Mr. Purja, confirmed in a text message that Mr. Purja’s body had been found. He did not immediately confirm whether his body had been recovered. After the rescue team suspended its work on Friday evening, local officials said the bodies of several climbers had been located by drone.
Mr. Purja, along with the nine other climbers spread across four teams, had set off for the summit of Broad Peak early on Thursday morning. Tour operators had lost contact with the climbers by 9 a.m. local time, but reports of an avalanche only surfaced on Thursday evening.
Elite Exped said other climbers had died, but it was unclear if all had been confirmed dead. At least three other climbers had been confirmed dead as of Saturday afternoon. Local officials did not immediately reply to a request for comment.
“Today, we mourn not only Nims, but every life lost in this tragedy including his trusted climbing partners and guides, Pur Bahadur Gurung (Yukta) and Nima Sherpa,” Elite Exped said in its statement.
Nirmal Purja, known as Nimsdai, was born on July 25, 1983, in the Myagdi district of Nepal, and grew up in Chitwan, Nepal. As he wrote in his memoir, “Beyond Possible,” he aspired to join the military from a young age, as his father and brothers had done.
He joined the British Army in 2003 as a member of the Gurkhas, Nepali soldiers who have fought for Britain for more than 200 years. After serving for six years, he was the first Nepali accepted into the British Special Boat Service, an elite special forces unit of the Royal Navy, and acquired British citizenship while serving.
Mr. Purja wrote that he discovered a love of mountaineering during his time in the boat service. While on leave in December 2012, he trekked to Everest Base Camp, and later that month, summited Nepal’s 6,119-meter Lobuche East peak. By 2016, he had climbed several major mountains, establishing a reputation as one of Nepal’s best mountaineers.
In 2019, Mr. Purja embarked on what he called “Project Possible,” aiming to climb all 14 mountains higher than 8,000 meters in record time. During the project, he climbed six 8,000-meter mountains in Nepal in 31 days and five peaks in Pakistan in 23 days. He reached three other peaks, including Everest, within 48 hours and 30 minutes, finishing all 14 climbs in 6 months and 6 days. The previous attempt had taken more than seven years.
Mr. Purja’s achievement gained worldwide attention and was featured in the Netflix documentary “14 Peaks: Nothing Is Impossible.” In 2023, his record was broken by Kristin Harila and Tenjen Lama Sherpa, who completed the climbs in 92 days. Mr. Purja then repeated the 14 peaks in 2024, this time without supplemental oxygen. On Monday, he wrote on social media that Broad Peak was the penultimate mountain on his second attempt to summit all 14 peaks without oxygen.
In 2021, Purja, together with Mingma Gyabu Sherpa and Tejan Gurung, established Elite Exped, a guiding company that has been influential in the commercial climbing industry.
Mr. Purja has been accused of sexual abuse by female climbers, including by a former client of Elite Exped. In a 2024 New York Times article, Lotta Hintsa, a professional mountaineer and former Miss Finland, described an encounter in her hotel room in which she said Mr. Purja removed her clothes despite her protests. In the same article, Dr. April Leonardo, an American physician who employed Mr. Purja as a guide on K2, said that he repeatedly propositioned her for sex during the climb, at one point coming into her tent and placing her hand on his crotch. A lawyer for Mr. Purja at the time said that Mr. Purja “unequivocally denies the allegations of wrongdoing. These allegations are false and defamatory.”
Over the course of his climbing career, Mr. Purja has summited 8,000-meter peaks 56 times, including 28 ascents without supplemental oxygen. In January 2021, he was part of the team that made the first successful winter ascent of K2, the world’s second-highest mountain.
In 2019, a photo he took of climbers waiting to reach Mount Everest’s summit went viral, contributing to a debate about dangerous overcrowding and pollution on the mountain.
Mr. Purja is survived by his wife and daughter.
Francesca Regalado contributed reporting.
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