Nirmal Purja's Death Puts Spotlight on the Decade's Deadliest Avalanches

The mountains have delivered another brutal reminder that they always have the final word.

The avalanche that killed legendary mountaineer Nirmal Purja and nine other climbers on Pakistan's Broad Peak has reignited global attention on one of mountaineering's greatest dangers. But Broad Peak is only the latest in a string of catastrophic avalanches that have struck across Asia and North America over the past six years.

Here are the deadliest avalanche disasters of the decade.

1. Neelum Valley, Pakistan (2020): 77 Dead

The deadliest avalanche of the decade struck Pakistan-administered Kashmir in January 2020 after unusually heavy snowfall buried entire villages in Neelum Valley. At least 77 people were killed and 94 injured as rescue teams battled extreme weather to reach survivors.

2. Nyingchi, Tibet (2023): 28 Dead

Just days before the Chinese New Year, an avalanche engulfed a mountain highway in Tibet's Nyingchi region, killing 28 people and injuring dozens more. Many victims were travellers heading home for the holiday when rapidly warming temperatures destabilised the snowpack.

3. Draupadi Ka Danda, India (2022): 27 Dead

India witnessed its worst-ever mountaineering disaster in October 2022 when an avalanche struck trainees from the Nehru Institute of Mountaineering during an advanced course near Draupadi Ka Danda peak in Uttarakhand. Twenty-seven climbers lost their lives, shocking the country's mountaineering community.

4. Tajikistan (2023): 20 Dead

A series of avalanches swept through Tajikistan's Gorno-Badakhshan region over two days in February 2023, killing 20 people, forcing hundreds of families to evacuate and bringing transportation across the mountainous region to a standstill.

5. Astore, Pakistan (2023): 11 Dead

An avalanche at Shounter Top Pass in Pakistan's Astore district killed 11 people, including members of a family travelling through the mountains with their livestock. Thirteen others were injured.

6. Broad Peak, Pakistan (2026): 10 Dead

On July 30, 2026, an avalanche swept across Broad Peak in the Karakoram, killing all 10 members of an international expedition. Among them was Nirmal Purja, the British-Nepali mountaineer who transformed high-altitude climbing by summiting all 14 of the world's 8,000-metre peaks in just over six months. His death stunned the global climbing fraternity and has become one of the defining mountaineering tragedies of the decade.

7. Lake Tahoe, California (2026): 9 Dead

Earlier this year, an avalanche near Castle Peak claimed the lives of nine backcountry skiers, making it the deadliest avalanche in the United States in nearly 45 years. Six others survived after an extensive rescue operation.

As climate change alters snow conditions and more climbers venture into high-altitude terrain, avalanche experts say the risks are becoming increasingly unpredictable. Nirmal Purja's death is not just the loss of one of the greatest mountaineers of his generation. It is the latest reminder that even the world's best cannot always outrun the mountains.

(With inputs from yMedia)