Who Is Nirmal Purja? Ex-Royal Marine Feared Missing After Broad Peak Avalanche in Pakistan

Elite mountaineer Nirmal Purja is among 10 climbers missing following reports of an avalanche on Broad Peak in the Karakoram range. Purja, a former member of the Royal Marine, was leading a 10-man international mountaineering team in Pakistan's Karakoram territory. The avalanche hit midday on Thursday, and since then, there has been no communication from the team.

Rescue efforts are underway. 'We are coordinating with the authorities and trying to arrange a helicopter rescue on Friday morning, Pakistani time, depending on weather conditions,' Karrar Haidiri of the Alpine Club of Pakistan told the media. Based on the latest update from Everest Today's X (formerly Twitter) account, Purja's GPS tracker is showing movement.

Who Is Nirmal Purja?

'Nirmal Purja's GPS tracker still appears to be showing movement, according to business partner Mingma Gyabu Sherpa (Mingma David). Sherpa said the tracker's recorded location has continued to change since the Broad Peak avalanche, though Purja remains missing and the situation has not yet been independently confirmed,' Everest Today reported around 7 a.m. Pakistani time.

Nepal-born Purja was leading the climbing team reportedly comprising an American, a Chinese, an Omani national and five Nepalis to the world's 12th highest mountain. Purja moved to the UK for school, attending Loughborough University, where he received a postgraduate diploma in security management. That qualification proved useful when Purja joined the Brigade of Gurkhas in 2003.

Purja became the first Gurkha to join the Royal Navy's Special Boat Service (SBS) in 2009. He resigned from SBS as a lance corporal in 2018 to focus on his mountaineering passion. That same year, the late Queen Elizabeth II appointed him as a Member of the Order of the British Empire.

A Surprise Climb

Purja documents his adventures on social media. On Instagram, he said he didn't plan to climb Broad Peak, the 8,047-metre (26,400 feet) mountain, one of the 14 8,000-metre peaks in the world. On July 28, he said: 'This was never the plan. Initially, the plan was to climb just G2 (Gasherbrum II). But just before setting off for Pakistan, I ran the numbers on my 8000m summits. That's when it hit me: If I tick off Broad Peak whilst I'm here, only one remains.'

The post means that if Purja successfully climbs Broad Peak, he just needs to scale Cho Oyu, the sixth-highest mountain in the world, to complete the 14 8,000-metre peaks twice and without oxygen. He climbed all these mountains in just seven months in 2019. Netflix documented the expedition in '14 Peaks: Nothing Is Impossible.'

'Here's the secret I've carried through every expedition: I never competed with anyone else. My only battle was against the man I was yesterday,' said Purja on Instagram. His last post before the avalanche was a shared post with his mountaineering company, Elite Exped, about their operator Zuhra, whom they helped and encouraged to summit Mount Everest following an unsuccessful attempt in 2025.

'Please Come Back'

Prayers are up for the 10-man team and many poured their love for Purjal on his Instagram. Russian model Victoria Bonya said: 'Nims, please come back.' Content creator Julian Kusi said: 'Waiting for you, Nims.'

The Alpine Club of Pakistan shared in a statement: 'The Club prays for the safety and successful rescue of all the climbers and stands in solidarity with their families and the international mountaineering community during this difficult time.'