KATHMANDU: On July 30, a massive avalanche struck an international expedition team on Broad Peak, killing 10 climbers, including record-holding Nirmal Purja ‘Nimsdai’. The avalanche hit the team members above Camp II while they were heading for Camp III to begin their final summit push on the evening of July 30.

Other climbers at the K2 base camp learned about the avalanche only in the evening, so the search and rescue was launched only on the morning of July 31. A record-holding Nepali climber, Sona Sherpa from 14 Peaks Expedition, was the first to reach the avalanche site on Broad Peak on the morning of July 31. “Nobody was there at the Broad Peak base camp when the incident occurred; I reached the avalanche area at around 6 am to conduct the search and rescue,” Sona exclusively shared details with The Tourism Times after he arrived in Kathmandu from Pakistan a few days ago.

After getting information about the avalanche on the nearby mountain, Sona left K2 base camp at around 4:00 am local time. “A Pakistani mountain worker, two Pakistani kitchen staff and myself reached Broad Peak base camp within an hour’s walk,” he said. Despite facing the threat of further avalanches, he hiked towards the site along with a Pakistani guide, while the two kitchen staff waited at the base camp.

“Then, we noticed two bodies of climbers who had perished in the avalanche,” Sona said, adding that the body of Pur Bahadur Gurung ‘Yukta’ was found at around 4,900m, while the mortal remains of Omani climber Nadhira Al Harthy were discovered some 20 metres ahead from the same area. “I collected tents and wrapped the bodies of the two climbers there,” he said, adding that some climbing logistics were also found during the search. After spending nearly two hours in the area, we brought down the two bodies to the Advance Base Camp and discovered the identity. “A human leg, later identified as that of American climber Sarah Mallory Geis, was also found at around 5,000m on the same day,” Sona shared.

Sona further said that a Pakistani Army helicopter flew twice to the base camp the same day and brought both bodies to Skardu. “We also noticed another body of Gyalu Sherpa nearby, but it couldn’t be retrieved the same day,” he added. Local workers retrieved Gyalu’s body the next day.

The 37-year-old climber from Makalu, Sona, holds the world record for the first winter ascent of K2 along with other Nepali climbers. With at least 32 successful ascents of 8,000m mountains under his belt, Sona has scaled Mt. Everest eight times and K2 thrice. Sona, a climbing guide from 14 Peaks Expedition, scaled Manaslu as his first 8,000er in 2012 and made his first Everest summit in 2013.

“What I felt on the ground was that the Broad Peak avalanche was one of the worst mountaineering disasters in history,” Sona shared. On July 30, Sona and a few support staff who were at K2 base camp came to know about the avalanche at around 7:00 pm. The expedition team, which left Camp II on the morning of July 30, was supposed to call from Camp III at 6:00 pm. “Nimsdai conveyed a message to the K2 base camp staff that he would call from Camp III after 6:00 pm when they began their final summit push,” Sona said, adding that no calls were received at that time. “All of us tried to communicate with the climbers and tried to track them via their tracking devices, but all efforts went in vain,” he said. Then, it seemed that something was wrong.

Other climbers, including Mingma G, who were at Camp III on K2, also tried to reach out to the Broad Peak climbers but couldn’t, Sona said. Then, they came to the conclusion that an avalanche could have occurred. “It was too late to launch a search and rescue on July 30, so I waited overnight at K2 base camp and began the search mission on July 31,” he shared.

Abandoning their K2 summit push, Mingma G and his team returned to K2 base camp and launched another search and recovery mission on August 2. A search and recovery team led by Mingma G then located the bodies of four climbers, including Nimsdai, Kili Pemba Sherpa ‘Kilu,’ Nima Sherpa, and Chinese climber Wang Zhong, at around 5,700m on Broad Peak that day. Then, in another attempt, the Mingma G-led team brought all four bodies to the base camp on August 5.

The mortal remains of Sohail Shakhi were retrieved by local workers on August 13, while the remains of American climber Mallory Geis were also recovered today, as per the Pakistan Alpine Club. The body of Nepali climber Nawang Thindhu Sherpa is still missing on Broad Peak.