43-year-old N. Purja served in the UK Gurkha Brigade, then in the Royal Marines Special Boat Service, and eventually became a professional mountaineer and guide.
He became famous in 2019 when he climbed the 14 highest peaks in the world in just six months, breaking the previous seven-year record.
“With deep sadness and great pain, we confirm that Nirmal Purja tragically died after an avalanche on Broad Peak,” said N. Purja’s company “Elite Expeditions” in a social media post.
“We have also received confirmation that other expedition members, unfortunately, did not survive,” the statement added.
The famous mountaineer had a tattoo on his back of 14 mountains with clouds and Tibetan prayer flags.
His efforts were immortalized in the 2021 Netflix documentary, which inspired a new wave of mountaineers.
However, N. Purja also faced criticism for using guides’ services, oxygen, fixed ropes, and helicopters to move from one base camp to another.
N. Purja made history in 2021 when, together with a team of nine other Nepalese climbers, he became the first to climb the dangerous K2 mountain in winter – the second highest peak in the world.
Earlier this week on the social network X, he wrote that he was close to becoming the first person to climb all 14 “super peaks” twice without oxygen.
“Broad Peak, please just a safe way up and down,” he wrote.
“My goal was never about me. It’s about who I represent. It’s important to show YOU that your own mountains – whatever they are – are conquerable,” the man said.
Broad Peak, located in the Karakoram range in northern Pakistan, is the 12th highest mountain in the world and considered one of the most difficult and technically challenging to climb.
“Everyone asks about Everest”
Born in a village in western Nepal, N. Purja joined the Gurkhas – a brigade of Nepalese soldiers in the British Army known for their fearlessness – as a teenager.
He later served in elite special forces as a cold weather warfare specialist.
The adventurer told AFP in a 2019 interview that even slippers were a luxury for him in childhood.
The man known by the nickname “Nimsdai” fell in love with mountaineering during a trek to Everest Base Camp in 2012, when he climbed the 6,119-meter Lobuche peak.
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He climbed his first peak over 8,000 meters in 2014. Two years later, when his leave from service in Afghanistan coincided with the climbing season, he climbed Everest for the first time.
“If you are from Nepal, everyone asks you about Everest. So I used my leave for mountaineering,” he said.
The following year he returned to the mountains, led a successful Gurkha mountaineering expedition, and was appointed a Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) for his work in high-altitude mountaineering.
He later traded his military boots for mountaineering gear and retired from the army after 16 years of service.
Inspiration
He then mortgaged his house again to fund his plan for a rapid ascent of the 14 highest peaks.
After setting the record, N. Purja founded a mountain expedition company and led climbers to the highest peaks in the world every season.
After the Netflix documentary brought him worldwide recognition, he became a highly sought-after guide.
Two female climbers accused N. Purja of sexual harassment and assault in 2024, but he denied these allegations.
In a 2019 interview with AFP, N. Purja said he hoped his feats would inspire a new generation of Nepalese climbers to break his records.
“As a non-Nepali, I hope my climbs will draw attention to the talented climbers here,” he said.
Nepalese guides, usually ethnic Sherpas from the valleys around Everest, are the backbone of the country’s lucrative mountaineering industry but often receive less recognition or awards than international climbers.
For a long time, Nepalese climbers played only a supporting role, but with N. Purja’s global fame drawing attention to their achievements, they have started to receive greater recognition.
Through his foundation, N. Purja funded education and mountain clean-up. He also built porters’ homes on the Everest route to ensure them safe accommodation.
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Despite several records achieved, N. Purja constantly sought new adventures.
“There are always (new) limits,” he told AFP. “It’s human, that’s what we do.”
