Mingma G is heading into Broad Peak’s avalanche-prone section to recover three bodies, including Nirmal Purja’s remains, while Netflix UK readers watch a recovery effort that has already stretched into its sixth day. Helicopters were not flying because of bad weather, and the ground route became the only active option after the long-line plan faded.
Mingma G and three bodies
“I will try to climb the treacherous section of Broad Peak to retrieve three bodies,” Mingma G said, putting the recovery plan in direct terms. He was referring to Nirmal Purja, Nima Sherpa, and Wang Zhong, whose bodies could not be carried below 5,000m when searchers were working the mountain.
Eight of the 10 climbers who died in the massive avalanche on Broad Peak had been located, and searchers had already carried four bodies down the mountain. That leaves the recovery effort split between what has been reached and what still sits in the danger zone, with Mingma G now choosing to move in person rather than wait for safer air support.
Base Camp pressure
“There was another avalanche,” Mingma G said, explaining why rescuers had to suspend efforts to move the bodies all the way to Base Camp. That interruption forced the operation back to a slower, riskier method, with the weather grounding helicopters and the recovery team left to work around a slope that had already taken lives.
“All others have already left, and my team is the only one here,” he said, which leaves the recovery as a small, exposed operation rather than a broad search. Killi Pemba Sherpa was recovered from Broad Peak yesterday, while Nawang Thindhu Sherpa’s remains lay in an unreachable area at around 6,000m and the location of Sohail Sakhi and Mallory Geis was still unknown.
January 2021 bond
Mingma G and Nirmal Purja made the first winter ascent of K2 together in January 2021, and that earlier partnership now sits inside this recovery effort. Mingma G’s social media post on Saturday — “My loving brothers Kilu, Wang and Nims, we will take you back home to see families…” — makes clear that the mission is as personal as it is operational.
For readers following Netflix UK coverage of the story, the important point is simple: the recovery is no longer waiting on a helicopter solution, and the only people left to move the bodies are the team on the mountain. If Mingma G gets through the avalanche-prone section, the operation can close three of the most difficult recoveries on Broad Peak; if he does not, those remains stay where weather and terrain have already stalled everything else.
