{"id":397,"date":"2026-08-01T11:43:37","date_gmt":"2026-08-01T11:43:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thechroniclesofnepal.com\/?p=397"},"modified":"2026-08-01T11:55:27","modified_gmt":"2026-08-01T11:55:27","slug":"world-renowned-mountaineer-nirmal-purja-nims-dai-passes-away-in-broad-peak-avalanche","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thechroniclesofnepal.com\/?p=397","title":{"rendered":"World-Renowned Mountaineer Nirmal Purja &#8216;Nims Dai&#8217; Passes Away in Broad Peak Avalanche"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>KATHMANDU<\/strong> \u2014 The global mountaineering community is in profound shock following the tragic death of world-renowned mountaineer Nirmal Purja, popularly known as &#8220;Nims Dai,&#8221; who died in an avalanche on Pakistan&#8217;s Broad Peak. His climbing company, <strong>Elite Exped<\/strong>, officially confirmed the tragedy on Saturday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Purja, who famously popularized the slogan <em>&#8220;Nothing Is Impossible,&#8221;<\/em> was leading a 10-member team when they were struck by a massive avalanche on Thursday on the 8,047-meter-high Broad Peak. Trusted companions and guides <strong>Pur Bahadur Gurung (Yukta)<\/strong> and <strong>Nima Sherpa<\/strong> also lost their lives in the accident.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"533\" src=\"https:\/\/thechroniclesofnepal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/Untitled-design-5-1-1024x533.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-402\" srcset=\"https:\/\/thechroniclesofnepal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/Untitled-design-5-1-1024x533.png 1024w, https:\/\/thechroniclesofnepal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/Untitled-design-5-1-300x156.png 300w, https:\/\/thechroniclesofnepal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/Untitled-design-5-1-768x400.png 768w, https:\/\/thechroniclesofnepal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/Untitled-design-5-1.png 1200w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Born in the remote village of Dana in the Myagdi district and raised in Chitwan, Purja\u2019s early life laid the foundation for an extraordinary career of resilience and adventure:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Military Career:<\/strong> In 2003, at age 18, he joined the British Gurkha Army. After six years in the Gurkha Rifles, he made history as the first Nepali to join the <strong>Special Boat Service (SBS)<\/strong>, an elite special forces unit of the British Royal Navy.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Service &amp; Honors:<\/strong> He spent 16 years serving in dangerous conflict zones like Afghanistan. In recognition of his exceptional military service, Queen Elizabeth II honored him with an <strong>MBE<\/strong> in 2018.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"819\" height=\"1024\" src=\"https:\/\/thechroniclesofnepal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/nirmal-2-819x1024.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-386\" srcset=\"https:\/\/thechroniclesofnepal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/nirmal-2-819x1024.jpg 819w, https:\/\/thechroniclesofnepal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/nirmal-2-240x300.jpg 240w, https:\/\/thechroniclesofnepal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/nirmal-2-768x960.jpg 768w, https:\/\/thechroniclesofnepal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/nirmal-2.jpg 1000w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 819px) 100vw, 819px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Image: Nims Dai Facebook<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Driven by an unyielding passion for the mountains, Purja left his military career in 2018 to pursue mountaineering full-time. In 2019, Purja launched <strong>&#8220;Project Possible 14-7,&#8221;<\/strong> stunning the global adventure community by successfully summiting all 14 of the world&#8217;s 8,000-meter peaks in just <strong>6 months and 6 days<\/strong>\u2014a feat that previously took climbers decades.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">His journey was later immortalized in the acclaimed Netflix documentary <strong><em>14 Peaks: Nothing Is Impossible<\/em><\/strong>. Further cementing his legacy, in the winter of 2021, he led a historic 10-member team of Nepali climbers to achieve the <strong>first-ever winter ascent of K2<\/strong>, Pakistan&#8217;s legendary &#8220;Killer Mountain.&#8221;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Beyond personal milestones, Purja&#8217;s overarching mission was to elevate Nepali Sherpas and climbers\u2014historically viewed as support staff\u2014into prominent, global leadership roles within mountaineering.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"576\" src=\"https:\/\/thechroniclesofnepal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/nirmal-edited-1024x576.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-367\" srcset=\"https:\/\/thechroniclesofnepal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/nirmal-edited-1024x576.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/thechroniclesofnepal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/nirmal-edited-300x169.jpg 300w, https:\/\/thechroniclesofnepal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/nirmal-edited-768x432.jpg 768w, https:\/\/thechroniclesofnepal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/nirmal-edited.jpg 1440w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Image: Nims Dai Facebook<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Broad Peak, the 12th highest mountain in Pakistan&#8217;s Karakoram range, is notoriously hazardous. The avalanche struck the team around noon on Thursday. By Saturday, drone surveys and a rescue team led by Mingma Galje Sherpa (Mingma G) and Sirbaz Khan were deployed to locate the sighted bodies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Elite Exped released an official statement on social media:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><em>&#8220;It is with the deepest sorrow and heartbreaking pain that we confirm that Nirmal &#8216;Nimsdai&#8217; Purja has lost his life in an avalanche on Broad Peak. We also express our condolences to his companions and guides Yukta and Nima Sherpa, who lost their lives in this tragedy.&#8221;<\/em><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Though Nims Dai has been claimed by the snows of Broad Peak, the towering records he set and his guiding ethos that <em>&#8220;Nothing is impossible&#8221;<\/em> will continue to inspire generations of adventurers worldwide.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>KATHMANDU \u2014 The global mountaineering community is in profound shock following the tragic death of world-renowned mountaineer Nirmal Purja, popularly known as &#8220;Nims Dai,&#8221; who died in an avalanche on [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":401,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"rop_custom_images_group":[],"rop_custom_messages_group":[],"rop_publish_now":"yes","rop_publish_now_accounts":[],"rop_publish_now_history":[],"rop_publish_now_status":"pending","_price":"","_stock":"","_tribe_ticket_header":"","_tribe_default_ticket_provider":"","_tribe_ticket_capacity":"","_ticket_start_date":"","_ticket_end_date":"","_tribe_ticket_show_description":"","_tribe_ticket_show_not_going":false,"_tribe_ticket_use_global_stock":"","_tribe_ticket_global_stock_level":"","_global_stock_mode":"","_global_stock_cap":"","_tribe_rsvp_for_event":"","_tribe_ticket_going_count":"","_tribe_ticket_not_going_count":"","_tribe_tickets_list":"[]","_tribe_ticket_has_attendee_info_fields":false,"_EventAllDay":false,"_EventTimezone":"","_EventStartDate":"","_EventEndDate":"","_EventStartDateUTC":"","_EventEndDateUTC":"","_EventShowMap":false,"_EventShowMapLink":false,"_EventURL":"","_EventCost":"","_EventCostDescription":"","_EventCurrencySymbol":"","_EventCurrencyCode":"","_EventCurrencyPosition":"","_EventDateTimeSeparator":"","_EventTimeRangeSeparator":"","_EventOrganizerID":[],"_EventVenueID":[],"_OrganizerEmail":"","_OrganizerPhone":"","_OrganizerWebsite":"","_VenueAddress":"","_VenueCity":"","_VenueCountry":"","_VenueProvince":"","_VenueState":"","_VenueZip":"","_VenuePhone":"","_VenueURL":"","_VenueStateProvince":"","_VenueLat":"","_VenueLng":"","_VenueShowMap":false,"_VenueShowMapLink":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[4,3],"tags":[109,106,108,107],"class_list":["post-397","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-world","category-diaspora","tag-avalanche-in-pakistan","tag-nims-dai","tag-nims-dai-death","tag-nirmal-purja-death"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thechroniclesofnepal.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/397","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thechroniclesofnepal.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thechroniclesofnepal.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thechroniclesofnepal.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thechroniclesofnepal.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=397"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/thechroniclesofnepal.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/397\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":403,"href":"https:\/\/thechroniclesofnepal.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/397\/revisions\/403"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thechroniclesofnepal.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/401"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thechroniclesofnepal.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=397"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thechroniclesofnepal.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=397"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thechroniclesofnepal.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=397"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}