On July 30, 2026, an avalanche swept through an internat­ional expedition on the 8,051-metre Broad Peak, killing all 10 climbers, among them a beloved Pakistani mountain guide, Sohail Sakhi, and renowned British-Nepali mountaineer Nirmal ‘Nims’ Purja.

The obvious question, particularly in a year when climbers across the Karakoram range have repeatedly complained of unstable conditions, is whether climate change played a role.

There is no evidence yet to say that it did, at least not directly. Fida Ali Arandu, a veteran Pakistani mountaineer and a member of the Purja’s Elite Exped team, believes climate change may have contributed, but also points to another factor: heavy snowfall in the days before the accident and what he considered an overly hurried summit push. His advice is simple: after heavy snowfall, wait, let the mountain settle and only move when conditions are clear.

Naila Kiani, who has climbed 12 of the world’s highest mountains, says the question surrounding the serac collapse that triggered the Broad Peak avalanche remains unresolved. Was it the result of a normal accumulation of snow and ice, or had warming temperatures contributed to instability? “We’re still trying to analyse” what happened, she says.

Glaciers are retreating, routes are shifting and rockfall and avalanches are becoming more common. Even the traditional seasons are no longer predictable. Is climate change rewriting the rules of mountaineering?

Glaciers are retreating, routes are shifting and rockfall and avalanches are becoming more common. Even the traditional seasons are no longer predictable. Is climate change rewriting the rules of mountaineering?

That uncertainty is important. Not every avalanche is caused by global warming. Avalanches have always been part of mountaineering. What is changing, however, is the mountain environment in which those avalanches occur and, increasingly, the predictability of that environment.

For mountaineers who have spent years travelling through the Karakorams, the changes are becoming impossible to ignore.

Sajid Sadpara has spent nearly a decade climbing major peaks in the Himalayas and Karakorams. He says one of the most obvious changes has been the formation of new glacial lakes and the changing nature of established........

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