![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/Overhang.jpg\"\/)
The July 30 avalanche on Broad Peak likely occurred in the encircled area . (Photo: Samson Sharaf)<\/p>\n
\u201cThe overhang where the accident took place is clearly visible,\u201d says Samson Sharaf, a Pakistani mountaineer who shared several screenshots with Climbing. Sharaf is the mentor of Sohail Sakhi, the missing Pakistani guide. \u201cMost probably the entire, snow-laden face moved, sweeping the entire traverse.\u201d<\/p>\n
According to the climbers\u2019 GPS tracks, the avalanche occurred between 8:57 a.m. and 9:30 a.m. at about 6,579 meters (21,580 feet), between Camp II and Camp III of the standard West Ridge. When the avalanche hit, American climber Mallory Geis\u2019s tracker showed a sudden descent of 543 meters (1,784 feet). Omani climber Nadhira Al Harthy\u2019s tracker showed a much larger descent of 1,651 meters (5,417 feet).<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/Coordinates.jpg\"\/)
The last known positions of Nims Purja, Mallory Geis, and Nadhira Al Harthy. (Photo: Samson Sharaf)<\/p>\n
The Alpine Club has announced that search and rescue preparations are underway and will be deployed tomorrow morning. Until then, all climbers are feared dead given the size of the avalanche and the loss of communications.<\/p>\n
As the world\u2019s twelfth highest peak, Broad Peak (8,051m\/26,414ft) is considered to be among the less technical of the world\u2019s 14 highest peaks. The mountain\u2019s local name is Falchan Kangri, which essentially means \u201cbroad peak\u201d<\/a> in the local Balti language. The current speed record<\/a> is held by French alpinist Benjamin V\u00e9drines, who climbed from basecamp to the summit in seven hours and 28 minutes in 2022.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n According to the Elite Exped description<\/a> of its guided Broad Peak expeditions, climbers must spend 46 days in Pakistan. This includes rest days, trekking in, acclimatization hikes, and summiting. The outfitter ensures a one-to-one guide to client ratio, meaning that five of the climbers on the team were presumably guides. Most likely, the other four Nepali climbers on the expedition were working as guides. We have reached out to Elite Expeds for a full list of names of climbers\u2014guides and clients alike\u2014on the team, but have not yet received a response.<\/p>\n Here\u2019s what we know about the 10 climbers impacted by the Broad Peak avalanche.<\/p>\n 1. Nims Purja, Nepal, 42 Nirmal \u201cNims\u201d Purja is by far the most well-known climber feared dead on Broad Peak. He was also the leader of the 10-person expedition. Purja holds the speed record for completing the 14 Peaks Challenge\u2014climbing all 14 of the world\u2019s 8,000-meter peaks. He finished the project on October 29, 2019<\/a> after summiting each peak within a period of six months. His world record was the subject of a Netflix documentary called 14 Peaks: Nothing Is Impossible. <\/p>\n Purja is also the co-founder of the Elite Exped<\/a> guiding company and the founder of the Nimsdai Foundation<\/a>. His foundation runs educational and environmental development programs across Nepal. In January 2021, Purja, alongside nine other Nepali alpinists, also made the first successful winter ascent<\/a> of K2, the world\u2019s second highest mountain.<\/p>\n Less than a week ago, he shared on Instagram<\/a> that he had reached the top of Gasherbrum II once more\u2014it was his self-proclaimed 57th summit of an 8,000m peak.<\/p>\n \u201cThe mountains never owe us anything,\u201d he wrote in the caption. \u201cSometimes they welcome us; sometimes they don\u2019t. This time, they granted us safe passage, and for that I am deeply thankful.\u201d<\/p>\n After the release of the documentary, two women accused of Purja of sexual assault in a 2024 New York Times feature<\/a>. A 2025 podcast series<\/a> by reporter Poppy Damon has called into question some of those allegations.<\/p>\n 2. Sohail Sakhi, Pakistan, 35<\/p>\n Originally from the alpine Hunza Valley in northeastern Pakistan, Sohail Sakhi is a high-altitude guide with experience across Pakistan. A mathematician by training, he earned his master\u2019s degree from Quaid e Azam University in Islamabad, according to his mentor. In addition to his employment as a guide, he also worked as a mountain photographer and drone pilot. In 2025, he summited Nanga Parbat without the use of supplemental oxygen. He has also summited K2, Gasherbrum I, and Gasherbrum II, the latter two without supplemental oxygen.<\/p>\n Sakhi has acted as an advocate for reform and justice in the Pakistan mountain community. In an interview with ExplorersWeb last summer<\/a>, he said that the Pakistani guide community had been \u201cleft behind\u201d as Western and Nepali guides swept in and began guiding in the Karakoram. He also spoke out about pay inequity for Pakistani guides and workers.<\/p>\n 3. Mallory Geis, San Antonio, Texas, U.S., 39<\/p>\n Mallory Geis, 39, is Sakhi\u2019s American client. Based in San Antonio, Texas, Geis is a travel photographer and pilates studio owner who had previously summited Lobuche East (6,119m\/20,075ft) and Mera Peak (6,476m\/21,246ft), both in Nepal. Broad Peak was her first attempt at an 8,000-meter peak.<\/p>\n According to her LinkedIn account, Geis studied communication at the University of Southern California and sports management at San Diego State University.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019ve never felt more at peace in another place,\u201d she wrote<\/a> about northern Pakistan in May 2025. \u201cIronic given the western narratives we are fed about that part of the world. Don\u2019t listen to it. Go see for yourself. This gem of a country should be at the top of any adventurer\u2019s destination list.\u201d<\/p>\n 4. Nadhira Al Harthy, Oman, 48<\/p>\n Nadihra Al Harthy is the first Omani woman<\/a> to climb Everest, summiting on May 23, 2019. According to her own website<\/a>, Al-Harthy grew up in a large family and didn\u2019t discover mountaineering until later in life.<\/p>\n \u201cI am still that small village girl who embraced her inner adventurous spirit and embarked on a remarkable journey of self-discovery,\u201d she wrote.<\/p>\n She is also a geology teacher, serves as the general deputy director at the Oman Scouts and Guides Organization, and represents her country in the GLOBE Program, furthering environmental education and awareness. In addition to Everest, Al-Harthy has climbed Ama Dablam and Manaslu.<\/p>\n Three weeks ago, Al-Harthy posted on LinkedIn<\/a> that she was in Pakistan, preparing to climb Broad Peak (8,051m) and Gasherbrum I (8,080m). Her greater goal was to climb all 14 of the world\u2019s 8,000m peaks. \u201cProgress comes one step at a time,\u201d she wrote.<\/p>\n 5. Wang Zhong, China, age unknown<\/p>\n Wang Zhong is the presumed \u201cMr. Wang\u201d named in the Alpine Club of Pakinstan\u2019s press release. Zhong is a Chinese climber who reached his eleventh 8,000-meter peak<\/a> on July 4, summiting Gasherbrum II alongside Purja. Broad Peak would have been his thirteenth 8,000-meter peak. The other mountain still on Zhong\u2019s 14 Peak Project list<\/a> was Shishapangma (8,027m\/26,335ft) in Tibet.<\/p>\n 6. One other foreign climber<\/p>\n The identity of the other international climber on the Broad Peak expedition has not yet been released.<\/p>\n 7-10. The four Nepali climbers<\/p>\n In addition to the Purja, the avalanche impacted four other Nepali climbers, who are presumed to be guides on the July 2026 team. According to Nepal-based outfitter Seven Summits, the missing Nepali climbers include Gelu Sherpa and Nawang Thindu Sherpa. We will update this story with more details on each of these climbers soon.<\/p>\n
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On November 24, 2023, Purja received the ISPO Cup Award in Dusseldorf, Germany, for his climbing accomplishments and charity work through the Nimsdai Foundation. (Photo: Andreas Rentz \/ Getty Images)<\/p>\n