Nepal receives body of mountaineer Pur Bahadur Gurung killed in Broad Peak avalanche

Nepal on August 6 received the mortal remains of celebrated mountaineer Pur Bahadur Gurung, popularly known as "Yukta", who died in an avalanche on Broad Peak in Pakistan last week.

The body of the 37-year-old climber was flown from Pakistan to Kathmandu via Qatar. Hundreds of family members, relatives and fellow mountaineers gathered at Tribhuvan International Airport to pay their last respects. His funeral is scheduled to take place on August 7.

Gurung was widely recognised as the non-Sherpa Nepali climber with the highest number of Mount Everest summits. He had reached the world's highest peak 10 times, the most by any member of Nepal's Gurung community.

Born on December 24, 1988, in Laprak village of Gorkha district, Gurung initially aspired to join the British Gurkhas. He later worked at a hotel in Manang, where he developed an interest in trekking and mountaineering before moving to Kathmandu to pursue a career as a mountain guide.

He began working as a porter in 2009 and summited Mount Everest for the first time in 2011. He returned to the peak in 2017, 2018 and 2019, twice in 2022, once in 2024, twice in 2025, and completed his tenth and final Everest ascent on 20 May 2026.

Beyond Everest, Gurung climbed 12 of the world's 14 mountains higher than 8,000 metres. Among his notable achievements was completing a K2 ascent in Pakistan within 24 hours. During the current climbing season, he had already summited three separate 8,000-metre peaks.

Earlier this year, Gurung also earned the prestigious International Mountain Guide certification through the Nepal National Mountain Guide Association after completing the rigorous IFMGA assessment process.

He was part of Nirmal Purja's Elite Exped team attempting Broad Peak when an avalanche struck the expedition at the end of July. Gurung had travelled to Pakistan three weeks earlier after failing to secure permission to climb Shishapangma in Tibet.