American climber's remains found on Broad Peak after fatal avalanche

Climber Geis’ remains were found by a team made up of local volunteers. The expedition was Geis’ first attempt to climb an 8,000-meter (26,247-foot) peak.

Search teams on Friday found the remains of American climber Mallory Geis, the last missing member of a 10-member international mountaineering team that was killed in an avalanche on Broad Peak weeks ago, a mountaineering official and local authorities said.

Broad Peak is the 12th-highest mountain in the world, standing at an elevation of 8,051 metres (26,414 feet) above sea level. (Facebook/Amir Sohail Khan)

Geis’ remains were found by a team made up of local volunteers, according to Irfan Arshad Khan, president of the Alpine Club of Pakistan. The expedition was Geis’ first attempt to climb an 8,000-meter (26,247-foot) peak.

Geis, 39, lived in San Antonio, Texas. She announced on social media earlier this year that she was closing her Pilates studio to take “a giant leap of faith into the unknown to see where life goes. I have a sneaking suspicion there will be lots of helmets, harnesses, and crampons involved.”

Her family remembered her in a statement earlier this month as “a bright light who was loved deeply by her family and friends.”

The recovery ended a search that began on July 31 after the expedition, led by renowned climber Nirmal Purja, was swept away by an avalanche on Broad Peak.

Purja, a Nepal-born former British Army soldier widely known as Nims Dai, climbed the world’s 14 highest peaks in a record 189 days in 2019, an achievement featured in the Netflix documentary “14 Peaks: Nothing Is Impossible.” His record was broken in 2023.