ISLAMABAD (AP) — A San Antonio woman has been confirmed among the climbers killed after an avalanche swept across one of the world’s highest mountains in northern Pakistan.
According to The Wall Street Journal, Pakistani Army and local officials confirmed search teams have recovered four bodies from the avalanche on Broad Peak. Early statements from regional officials identified 39-year-old Mallory Geis of San Antonio, an Omani climber and a Nepali climber among those confirmed dead.
Rescuers continued searching Friday for the six remaining missing climbers, but efforts have been slowed by dangerous weather and limited helicopter access.
The avalanche struck Broad Peak as a 10-member expedition attempted to climb the 26,401-foot mountain in Pakistan’s Karakoram range. The team lost contact with its base camp after the avalanche, prompting a large-scale search involving the Pakistani military and rescue crews.
The expedition included five Nepali climbers, Pakistani mountaineer Sohail Sakhi, an Omani climber identified as Nathira, American climber Mallory Geis, a Chinese climber identified only as Wang and another foreign climber.
Geis, who lived in San Antonio, had shared earlier this year that she was closing her Pilates studio to pursue her dream of high-altitude mountaineering.
In a social media post announcing the decision, she described it as “a giant leap of faith into the unknown” and wrote that she believed her future would involve “lots of helmets, harnesses, and crampons.”
The expedition was led by renowned mountaineer Nirmal “Nims” Purja, the Nepal-born climber who gained worldwide recognition after summiting the world’s 14 highest peaks in a record 189 days in 2019, a feat featured in the Netflix documentary 14 Peaks: Nothing is Impossible. His record was later broken in 2023.
Pakistani adventure company Moving Mountains had announced last month that the team was heading to the remote village of Askole before beginning its climb of Broad Peak. The company said the expedition marked Geis’ first attempt at climbing one of Pakistan’s 8,000-meter peaks.
Broad Peak is the world’s 12th-highest mountain and is considered one of the most challenging climbs in the Karakoram range. The region attracts experienced mountaineers from around the world but is also known for deadly avalanches, rapidly changing weather and other high-altitude hazards.
Chinese officials said Friday they were also working to determine whether one of their citizens was among those still missing. Search efforts remain ongoing for the six climbers who have not yet been located.