The body of American climber Sarah Mallory Geis, who had died on Broad Peak in the Karakoram range which spans Gilgit-Baltistan, Pakistan and Xinjiang, China, three weeks ago, has been recovered by local volunteer rescuers, the Alpine Club of Pakistan said on Friday.
“Finally, the dead body of Sarah Mallory Geis, the missing US climber, has been found on the slopes of Broad Peak by local volunteer rescuers,” Alpine Club of Pakistan President Irfan Arshad Khan told an international media outlet.
Khan had earlier confirmed that rescuers had found a body on the mountain but its identity had not been established at the time.
Geis was among 10 climbers caught in an avalanche on July 30 that killed six Nepali climbers, including famous mountaineer Nirmal Purja, also known as ‘Nimsdai’.
Nepali climber Mingma Gyalje Sherpa, known as Mingma G, led the initial rescue and recovery effort. His team used drones to locate most of the bodies on the mountain, but Geis and Pakistani climber Sohail Sakhi remained unaccounted for.
The Alpine Club said that Geis’ body was being taken to Base Camp from where it will later be transported to her family.
Nepali climbers, along with Pakistani mountaineer Sirbaz Khan, recovered seven bodies from the mountain despite the continued risk of avalanches. The body of Nepali climber Nawang Thendu Sherpa is still on Broad Peak.
Speed Dawa, who was part of the recovery effort, told an international media outlet that rescuers had not been able to retrieve Thendu Sherpa’s body because it was located above 6,000 metres in a difficult position and there was not enough rope to reach it.
The recovery teams also faced repeated dangers during the operation. In one incident, rescuers carried four bodies from around 5,700 metres to a lower point, but an avalanche later swept the bodies away. The rescuers narrowly escaped.
Two days later, the team returned to the area and recovered the bodies from the avalanche debris on a slope with an angle of about 60 degrees in an avalanche-prone section of the mountain.
Sakhi’s body had earlier been found and recovered by local volunteers.
Muhammad Nadeem, Muhammad Bashir and Ali Abuzar, residents of Tissar village in Shighar between Skardu and Askole, were searching for abandoned climbing equipment near Advanced Base Camp when they noticed a boot sticking out of the snow.
The three men found Sakhi’s body buried under the snow and called for assistance. They then carried the body to Base Camp with the help of others in the area. It was later identified as Sakhi and airlifted to Skardu the following day.
With Geis’ body now recovered, Nawang Thendu Sherpa is the only climber from the Broad Peak avalanche whose body remains on the mountain.
Speed Dawa said the body could potentially be recovered next summer if it remains in its current position. However, bringing it down this season is considered impossible due to the terrain and avalanche risk.
Rising temperatures are also melting the snow on the mountain, causing the buried remains of Sakhi and Geis to emerge around the lower camps.
