Category: Mount Kilimanjaro

Earlier this year Sarah Mallory Geis shut the doors of her Pilates studio in San Antonio, Texas, and told friends she was stepping into the unknown. On Instagram, she wrote that she was taking “a giant leap of faith” and suspected there would be “lots of helmets, harnesses, and crampons involved.” That leap carried her to Pakistan’s Broad Peak, the world’s twelfth-highest mountain. On 30 July 2026 she was killed in an avalanche along with nine other climbers. When the news broke about the terrible accident on Broad Peak, many were wondering if she was related to George Mallory, who incidentally died on Mount Everest over 100 years ago, in 1924, but to clarify, there is no official evidence that connects them apart from their love for mountains. https://www.tranquilkilimanjaro.com/how-george-mallorys-body-was-discovered-on-everest/ A First 8,000-Metre Attempt Geis, 39, was making her first attempt on a peak above 8,000 metres. The expedition was organised by the Pakistani company Moving Mountains. She was climbing with Sohail Sakhi, a Pakistani guide, geographer and high-altitude photographer for whom Broad Peak was expected to be the last 8,000-metre summit in his home country. The ten-person team was led by the well-known Nepali-British mountaineer Nirmal “Nims” Purja. It also included five other Nepali climbers, an Omani climber, a Chinese climber identified as Wang Zhong, and one additional foreign climber. Moving Mountains had posted that the group was on its way to Askole and wished them a safe journey. Geis herself wrote before departure: “I’m heading out for my first big kid climbing expedition in Pakistan. Let’s see if we can get this body and these boots up Broad Peak.” The Avalanche On the morning of 30 July, the team was moving between Camp II and Camp III on Broad Peak when a large avalanche struck. Contact with base camp

Nirmal Purja really shaped modern mountaineering into what it is today.  Better known to many as Nims or Nimsdai, a name that combined his shortened name Nirmal (nims) and a word used widely in Nepali culture, "Dai," which basically means BROTHER; hence, Nims Dai meaning brother Dai. He really put the local Nepalese Sherpas on the world map and broke records in record time, for example, becoming the fastest person to climb all the 14 8000m peaks. Before pouring our hearts into his tribute, he was the founder of Elite Exped alongside Mingma David Sherpa, a premier high-altitude guiding company that specializes in commercial expeditions to the world's most challenging peaks, like all of the 14 eight-thousanders in the world. Apart from that, he also organised expeditions to other countries around the world, including climbing Mount Kilimanjaro. He was a Nepali-British mountaineer who first served in the British Army’s Brigade of Gurkhas and later in the Royal Navy’s Special Boat Service before turning full-time to the world’s highest peaks. In 2019 he climbed every one of the fourteen mountains above 8,000 metres in six months and six days while using bottled oxygen, a mark that stood until 2023. He was the first climber to stand on the tops of Everest, Lhotse and Makalu inside 48 hours, and in January 2021 he and nine fellow Nepalis completed the first winter ascent of K2. Many regarded him as one of the outstanding figures in modern high-altitude climbing. On 30 July 2026, an avalanche on Broad Peak in Pakistan killed him and the nine other members of his team. Early Life He was born in the small village of Dana in Nepal’s Myagdi District, not far from Dhaulagiri and roughly 1,600 metres above sea level. The fourth of five children of Nanda Bahadur

On July 30, 2026, a major avalanche struck an international climbing team on Broad Peak in Pakistan’s Karakoram Range, leaving 10 mountaineers unaccounted for, including renowned Nepali climber Nirmal “Nimsdai” or “Nims” Purja, founder of Elite Exped that organizes many high-altitude climbs, including Mount Everest and Mount Kilimanjaro. The 10 climbers were caught in the path of a horrific Himalayan serac avalanche between Camp 2 and Camp 3 of Broad Peak in the mid-morning time of around 9:30 am.  The official Elite Exped statement just released in the Afternoon of local Pakistan time 15:15 pm (GMT +5) confirmed the passing away of all climbers with deep regret. The news has been received with immense sadness and shock in the mountaineering community.  It has now emerged that just 14 hours before the tragedy, Nirmal Purja a.k.a Nims Dai sent a brief voice note to NDTV Editor-in-Chief, Vishnu Som, from Camp 2 on Broad Peak, saying, "Hope you guys are well and it's great to be connected. Thank you guys and greetings from Camp 2 on Broad peak, ciao ciao" Just a few years back, in 2024, Nirmal “Nimsdai” Purja led a nine-climber rescue team that recovered the bodies of American climber Anna Gutu and her Sherpa guide Mingmar Sherpa from Mount Shishapangma in Tibet. The pair had been buried by an avalanche on October 7 (seven months earlier). Over three grueling days and nights, the team worked under extreme conditions at high altitude. Manpower was limited: three rescuers fell ill, two required supplementary oxygen, and one was diverted to another mission on Everest. Nimsdai later described the effort as nearly failing due to exhaustion, stating he had never felt that level of fatigue. The bodies were successfully brought down and arrived in Kathmandu on around May 18th 2024. We are praying

Dr Art Ulene officially becomes the oldest person to climb to the summit of Mount Kilimanjaro at 5,895m above sea level, smashing the previous record set by Anne Lorimor in July, 2019, who summited at 89 years and 37 days. This just goes to confirm that age is nothing but a number because at Tranquil Kilimanjaro, we have guided many 60 year old, 70 year olds and even 80 year olds including at 10 year old that did the a 2 weeks 2 peaks challenge of Mount Kenya and Mount Kilimanjaro. You can read about her incredible story below of how her climb helped her raise awareness to end rape and gender based violence in India. Youngest person to summit Kilimanjaro and Mount Kenya At 19,341 feet (5,895 meters), Mount Kilimanjaro stands as Africa’s highest peak and the world’s tallest freestanding mountain. On his 90th birthday, retired OB-GYN and former NBC Today Show medical contributor Dr. Art Ulene reached Uhuru Peak, officially becoming the oldest person to summit the iconic volcano. His daughter, Dr. Valerie Ulene, confirmed the achievement, and the retired physician celebrated with cake, singing, and dancing atop the mountain in classic Ulene style—joyful, determined, and full of life. How He Prepared At an age when many people slow down, Dr. Ulene trained with the same discipline he brought to his medical career. His routine included: Climbing at least 50 flights of stairs, three days a week. Regular walking sessions motivated by a delightful reward system: gelato. “I say to myself, if you just get out the door and walk to the nearby gelato place a mile and a half away, you could have a small gelato—and that gets me right out the door,” he explained. On longer walks, he rewarded himself with bigger cups and multiple flavors.