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Pakistani authorities recovered the bodies of all 10 climbers after an avalanche struck their team on the 8,047-metre peak, according to multiple reports including a BBC dispatch that identified six of the victims as Nepalese nationals. The multinational group also included climbers from the United States, China, Oman and Pakistan, with Purja serving as expedition leader on a trip that would have advanced his goal of completing all 14 eight-thousanders twice. National Geographic reported that the disaster occurred as the team pushed for the summit on one of the more technically demanding 8,000-metre peaks, where dozens of climbers have died since its first ascent by an Austrian expedition in 1957.
Purja rose to global prominence in 2019 by ascending all 14 of the world’s highest peaks in six months and six days with supplemental oxygen, shattering the previous record of roughly seven years and 11 months set by Jerzy Kukuczka, according to records compiled on his Project Possible website. A National Geographic assessment placed that 2019 campaign, dubbed Project Possible, as the catalyst for a Netflix documentary released in 2021 that brought wider attention to the role of Nepali high-altitude guides in commercial mountaineering. The same reports noted that Purja added further records in subsequent years, including the fastest completion of all 14 peaks without bottled oxygen in two years and five months by October 2024.
Nepal’s Prime Minister Balendra Shah described Purja’s contributions as a lasting source of inspiration, while the climber’s brother Kamal wrote in a Facebook tribute that their hearts were broken yet filled with pride. “Although our hearts are broken, we are incredibly proud of you. Your legacy will live forever,” Kamal stated. At Purja’s former Small Heaven School in Chitwan district, students and staff held a candlelight vigil where one pupil, Sarbagya Paudel, told reporters that the mountaineer’s bravery had brought pride to the institution and the entire country.
School officials who remembered Purja as a boy recalled his early determination, with former hostel supervisor Shailendra Baral describing him to AFP as fearless, committed, honest and obedient even in childhood. Childhood friend Bahadur Panta spoke of sleepless nights spent praying for Purja’s safe return after initial reports of the disappearance, adding that “it was his fate, no one could avoid it.” Social media platforms filled with messages from Nepalese users who called the country in mourning over the loss of a legend whose feats had elevated national pride in the mountaineering sector.
The expedition also claimed the lives of other prominent Nepali climbers, including Pur Bahadur Gurung, who had reached the summit of Everest 10 times and participated in the 2024 discovery of a century-old boot believed linked to the 1924 Mallory-Irvine attempt, according to expedition records. Fellow guide Uttam Lapraki posted on social media that standing with Gurung on Everest remained a cherished memory, while an expedition company that employed Kili Pemba Sherpa, another victim and veteran of the 2021 winter K2 ascent, described him as a humble foundation of their team who never tired of assisting others. Those accounts from climbing partners underscored the depth of experience lost in a single incident that has reverberated through Nepal’s tight-knit mountaineering community.
Purja, who was born in Nepal and later settled in Hampshire, England, with his wife and young daughter, served 16 years in the British military including a decade in special forces before transitioning to professional guiding, a BBC profile noted. He received an MBE from the late Queen in 2018 for services to high-altitude mountaineering and was the first Gurkha to summit Everest during active service. A 2024 New York Times report detailed allegations of sexual misconduct against him, which Purja denied through legal representatives.
