01/08/2026
For every mountaineer, the greatest fear isn’t the cold, the altitude, or the technical climb—it’s the avalanche. In simple words, it’s a landslide of snow, but in reality, it’s one of nature’s most unstoppable forces. On mountains where slopes can reach near-vertical angles, getting caught in an avalanche is every climber’s worst nightmare. No amount of experience, strength, or preparation can completely control what nature decides.
Yesterday, Nims Dai and his team were caught in a massive avalanche on Broad Peak, Pakistan—an avalanche powerful enough to erase almost everything in its path. As mountaineers, we accept risk. We train, prepare, calculate every move, and learn to respect the mountains. But there are moments when nature reminds us that it always has the final word.
I still hold on to hope for a miracle—for Nims Dai and every climber still unaccounted for.
Nims Dai is not just another climber. He redefined what humanity believed was possible in the mountains. From climbing all 14 of the world’s 8,000-meter peaks in just over six months, to leading countless high-altitude rescues where he chose to save lives over summits, he inspired an entire generation to dream bigger and push beyond perceived limits. His story has never been about records alone—it has been about courage, resilience, selflessness, and refusing to surrender when everyone else thought it was over.
Years ago, when I was part of one of India’s top mountaineering institutes, I was deployed with an Army colleague for an avalanche rescue near the China border. Ten Mahar Regiment soldiers had been buried above 6,500 meters.
I was at the fittest point of my life. I still remember the taste of blood in my mouth while pushing myself uphill at speed, and somehow feeling satisfied because I knew every second counted. At that altitude, everything changes. The terrain is endless, the snow hides every clue, and the mountain offers no answers. Rescue becomes a race against time, endurance, and hope.
For two weeks we searched relentlessly.
We found nothing.
Months later, after the snow melted, the remains of one soldier were discovered hundreds of meters away from where the avalanche had struck. That is the unimaginable power of an avalanche—a violent force carrying snow, ice, rocks, air, and everything in its path. Once you’re inside it, human strength means very little.
Watching the rescue efforts for Nims Dai and his team today brought all those memories rushing back. I know what rescuers are going through. I know the helplessness of searching where the mountain gives no signs. Up there, beyond 8,000 meters, there comes a point where human effort alone is not enough.
Only hope remains.
And perhaps that is why I keep remembering Nims Dai’s own words:
“Giving up is not in my blood.”
Today, millions around the world are holding onto those words.
May something happen beyond our calculations.
May the mountains give back what they have taken.
May hope prove stronger than probability.
Until then, every mountaineer waits… and prays.
Note : rescue picture of army personal
Sherpa Sangay
Founder ( OFF ROAD OUTFIT )
