The avalanche that claimed the lives of 10 climbers on Broad Peak on July 30, 2026 became the latest tragedy in a long series of fatal incidents on the world’s 12th-highest mountain.
Broad Peak, located in the Karakoram on the Pakistan-China border, has attracted climbers since its first ascent in 1957. The standard route climbs the West Spur from the Godwin-Austen Glacier through a series of high camps before reaching a long, exposed summit ridge that can become deadly in a blizzard, whiteout, or high winds.
Over the decades, most fatalities on 8,051m Broad Peak can be grouped into several main categories: avalanches, falls, exhaustion and altitude-related illness, disappearances in bad weather or during the descent, and a handful of rarer causes. Studying these cases helps us better understand why the mountain has claimed so many lives over the past seven decades. Today, we look back at some of these tragedies.
Avalanches
Avalanches have always been one of the major hazards on Broad Peak, particularly on the lower and middle sections of the route, where snow-loaded slopes can release with little or no warning. In May 1985, Canadian Hans Frick died in one such avalanche. Three years later, in August 1988, South Korean climber Yong-il Jang perished in another.
On June 16, 1997, at an altitude of about 7,000 metres, an avalanche swept away American Jeffrey Ian Bubb and Japanese climber Fukuzo Yokotagawa as they descended between Camp 3 and Camp 2 on the standard West Ridge route. In July 2015, Pakistani climber Qamber Ali Jangjupa also died in an avalanche.
Such tragedies often struck teams moving between camps or fixing ropes, where the terrain funnels masses of snow and ice into narrow gullies. Climbers have long noted that the slopes between Camp 2 and Camp 3 on the standard route, as well as the areas around the higher camps, are particularly prone to slab avalanches and serac activity after snowfall and storms. Even experienced teams have been caught despite seemingly stable conditions. Broad Peak’s wide face and the way snow accumulates on its western slopes make these avalanches both sudden and devastating.
Falls
Falls account for a significant share of the fatalities on Broad Peak. Many have occurred during the descent, when exhaustion sets in and climbers must negotiate a narrow, cornice-laden ridge that leaves virtually no room for error.
The first major tragedy on the mountain belonged to this category. In late July 1975, a Polish expedition reached the previously unclimbed Central Summit of Broad Peak. During the descent, in deteriorating weather and darkness, Bohdan Nowaczyk disappeared while setting up a rappel. After a desperate overnight bivouac in a storm and extreme cold, Marek Kesicki and Andrzej Sikorski slipped on hard ice the following day and fell to their deaths. Only two of the five climbers who had reached the summit survived the descent.
Similar accidents continued over the following decades.
In August 1981, Catalan climber Enric Pujol reached the summit of Broad Peak with Manuel Hernandez, completing the first Spanish ascent. After a bivouac on the col, they reached the summit at around 4:00 pm on August 5. During their descent that evening, below the col, both slipped on a section of snow and ice. Pujol suffered a fatal head injury. Hernandez, despite being injured himself, managed to contact Base Camp by radio and request assistance, survived the ordeal, and descended safely.
British climber Liam Scott Elliott fell on Broad Peak in August 1986. German climber Kurt Lyncke-Krueger died in a fall in July 1990, while South Korean climber Hyun-jae Park fell in July 1995.
In July 2009, Italian mountaineer Cristina Castagna — the first Italian woman to summit Makalu and already a veteran of several 8,000ers — reached the foresummit of Broad Peak with her partner, Giampaolo Casarotto, in poor weather. During the descent, at around 7,800 metres, she slipped, struck rocks, and fell into a crevasse. Casarotto managed to reach her but could do nothing to help. Castagna’s body remains on the mountain at an altitude where recovery is nearly impossible.
In July 2011, Hong Kong climber Jeffrey Wai Hung Chung fell into a crevasse. Pakistani climber Muhammad Baqir fell in July 2012.
South Korean climber Kim Hong-bin, who had lost fingers to frostbite on previous expeditions, fell from Broad Peak’s summit ridge in July 2021 after successfully reaching the summit. Despite efforts by Vitaly Lazo’s team, he could not be rescued. The circumstances surrounding the incident later sparked controversy and debate. Lazo subsequently published a report on the accident.
British climber Gordon Henderson fell near the summit in July 2022.
Falls are particularly common after successful summit attempts: climbers are already severely exhausted, visibility may deteriorate, and a single misstep on the exposed ridge can end in tragedy. The long summit traverse, with its cornices and sudden drops, is especially unforgiving once the emotional high of reaching the summit begins to fade.
Exhaustion
Exhaustion and altitude-related illness form another deadly category, particularly above 7,500 metres, where the body can deteriorate rapidly. British climber Peter Thexton died of pulmonary edema on June 29, 1983. Czech climber Bohuslav Bilek succumbed to the same condition on June 11, 1994.
One of the best-documented cases of this kind on Broad Peak was the death of Austrian Markus Kronthaler in July 2006. Kronthaler, a former police officer and experienced high-altitude climber, reached the summit but became completely exhausted from fatigue and dehydration while descending along the summit ridge.
His partner, Sepp Bachmair, tried to help him but could not prevent his death the following morning. Kronthaler’s body remained on the mountain until the following year, when his brother Georg organised a special recovery expedition that brought his remains down from 7,900 metres. At the time, it was the highest-altitude recovery operation of its kind.
In July 1996, three South Korean climbers — Dong-keun Han, Jae-mo Yang, and Sun-taek Lim — died during the descent in bad weather. In July 1998, French climbers Pascale Bessieres and Eric Escoffier disappeared. South Korean climber Seung-Kwon Hur vanished in July 1999. Czech climber Zuzana Hofmannova disappeared in July 2012.
The year 2013 brought two major tragedies of this kind. During the first winter ascent of Broad Peak, Polish climbers Maciej Berbeka and Tomasz Kowalski became separated during the descent after reaching the summit in extreme cold. They never made it back to Camp 4.
Four months later, three Iranian climbers — Aidin Bozorgi, Pouya Keivan, and Mojtaba Jarahi — partially completed a new route on Broad Peak’s Southwest Face but became disoriented during the descent. After several high-altitude bivouacs, they ran out of food and water and disappeared. Search teams found no trace of them.
Other causes
A smaller number of deaths fall into other categories. In August 1985, Polish climber Barbara Kozlowska drowned in a glacial stream above Base Camp. In July 2013, German climber Dana Heide also fell into a glacial stream near Base Camp and died. In August 2024, Pakistani climber Murad Sadpara was killed by rockfall.
Pakistanis Sharif Sadpara and Imran Karim also lost their lives in July 2022. These cases show that danger exists even around Base Camp, while objective hazards such as rockfall can strike suddenly and without warning.
A clear pattern
Taken together, these cases reveal a clear pattern on Broad Peak. Most fatalities, though not all, occur during the descent, when climbers are already severely depleted and the long ridge leaves virtually no margin for error.
Avalanches can strike the lower and middle sections of the mountain with sudden force — exactly what happened last week. In some cases, such as the recent tragedy, the power of an avalanche can be so immense that a climber may be swept 800 to 1,600 metres down the mountain in just two minutes. Surviving such a fall is virtually impossible.
Falls claim climbers who lose their footing on ice or cornices. Exhaustion and altitude sickness can overwhelm those who have already reached the summit. Disappearances often follow storms or navigational errors high on the mountain. Broad Peak has never been considered the deadliest of the 8,000ers, but its combination of relative accessibility and serious objective hazards has produced a steady and varied death toll over nearly 70 years.
Historical context
Until last week’s tragedy, Broad Peak’s long history had largely been characterised by individual fatalities or the loss of small groups, in contrast to the rare but catastrophic multi-fatality avalanches seen on other mountains.
The deadliest single avalanche in mountaineering history remains the Lenin Peak disaster of July 13, 1990. An earthquake in Afghanistan triggered the collapse of a serac on neighbouring Chapaev Peak, setting off a massive avalanche that buried Camp 2 on Lenin Peak in the Pamirs. Of the 45 climbers there, 43 were killed. Only two men survived. Many of the bodies remain entombed in the glacier to this day.
Seventeen climbers died in a single avalanche on the still-unclimbed Kawagarbo in China’s Meili Snow Mountains on the night of January 3–4, 1991. A joint Chinese-Japanese expedition was at Camp 3 when a massive avalanche, estimated to contain more than 300,000 tonnes of snow and ice, completely destroyed the camp. All 17 climbers — 11 Japanese and 6 Chinese — were killed. Most of the bodies were discovered only years later, when glacial melting exposed them. (We published a detailed account of the disaster: “Where Shepherds Stop: The 1991 Tragedy on Kawagarbo.”)
On Everest, a serac collapse and resulting avalanche in the Khumbu Icefall killed 16 Sherpas on April 18, 2014. A year later, the magnitude 7.8 Nepal earthquake sent avalanches into Everest Base Camp, killing at least 22 people.
Until the powerful avalanche of July 30, multi-fatality incidents on Broad Peak had involved relatively modest numbers of deaths compared with the disasters described above.
The July 30 avalanche became the deadliest disaster in Broad Peak’s history.
Source: alp.org.ua