Broad Peak Avalanche Kills 10 Climbers, Including 39-Year-Old Mallory Geis

Q: What eerie secret does the smashed tracker hold about the final moments of Nirmal Purja's doomed Broad Peak expedition?

The smashed tracker appears to hold only a grim clue, not proof of survival: it suggests the climbers were swept a long distance in the avalanche, and that any later “movement” was likely the device shifting in debris rather than a person still alive. Reports from GPS and Garmin/InReach data indicate the avalanche struck between Camp II and Camp III on Broad Peak’s West Ridge at about 6,579 meters, around 9 a.m. local time. Trackers from several climbers showed sudden drops of hundreds to more than 1,600 meters, with some signals ending near the base of the mountain. Purja’s tracker was among those that reportedly showed a shifted position after the initial plunge, briefly raising hope that someone might have moved. But rescuers later found at least one tracker smashed in the avalanche debris. That discovery undercut the earlier interpretation of a live movement signal. It suggests the device may have continued transmitting briefly after being torn away, carried downhill in snow and ice, or displaced again by moving debris. So the “eerie secret” is that the tracker may preserve the expedition’s last trace: a digital record of the avalanche’s violence and the victims’ catastrophic descent. It does not reliably reveal conscious final actions by Purja or others, only that the team was swept off the mountain with devastating force and that the post-avalanche signal likely reflected debris movement, not survival.

3 articles · Updated · KSAT San Antonio · Aug 1

Moving Mountains confirmed all 10 missing climbers died after losing contact with base camp Thursday during a Broad Peak summit push in Pakistan.
Mallory Geis, 39, of San Antonio was among the dead; her family said they were heartbroken and asked for privacy after the “unimaginable loss.”
Broad Peak rises 8,047 meters in Pakistan’s Karakoram range, where avalanches and severe conditions regularly endanger expeditions on some of the world’s highest peaks.
The team included climbers from Nepal, Oman, the United States, Pakistan and possibly China, and was led by renowned mountaineer Nirmal Purja, who was also confirmed dead.