How a generation of record-setting guides died in a disaster that killed a climbing legend

Summary

British-Nepali climber Nirmal Purja, who led the Broad Peak expedition, was best known for speed climbing the "14 peaks" Altogether, they summited Mount Everest dozens of times and achieved numerous feats previously thought impossible - like climbing 8,000m peaks without supplemental oxygen and scaling K2, one of the world's most lethal mountains, in the dead of winter. But beyond these accomplishments, the six Nepalis who died in an avalanche on Pakistan's Broad Peak last week also elevated the world's recognition of Nepali mountain guides, or Sherpas, who had previously been seen as mere aides. Among those killed was the decorated British-Nepali climber Nirmal Purja , best known for climbing the world's 14 highest peaks, rising above 8,000m (26,246 ft), in just over six months. Their fellow guides say their deaths deal a devastating blow to Nepal's mountaineering community. Purja, 43, also known as Nims, was the leading figure of the 10-member international team up Broad Peak, the world's 12th highest mountain, when the avalanche struck. "Nims of course was iconic and undisputedly amongst the best of his generation," says Ben Ayers, a longtime Everest reporter for Outside Magazine. Kili Pemba Sherpa and Pur Bahadur Gurung, who were also guiding the Broad Peak expedition, were "strong climbers with a solid resume", Ayers said. Kili Pemba, 46, had just earned the coveted mountaineering Grand Slam after completing his last of the 14 highest peaks, also known as eight-thousanders, in early July. "We have to fix our own ropes, cut our steps into the ICE (immigration enforcement agency), and set up camps as we go along," says Nima Rinji Sherpa. "We've seen disasters like this one before, and nothing changed," says expert mountaineer and writer Alan Arnette, who pointed to how an ice avalanche on Everest killed 16 Sherpas in April 2014, and the 11 climbers who died on K2 in 2008 after a massive chunk of ice broke off.