Famed mountaineer Nirmal Purja, who set the record for the fastest ascent of the world's 14 highest peaks, died in an avalanche on Broad Peak, the world's 12th-highest mountain, in Pakistan, his expedition company confirmed on Saturday.“Today it is with profound sadness and immense ⁠heartbreak that we ‌confirm that Nirmal 'Nimsdai' Purja , tragically lost his ⁠life following the avalanche on Broad Peak,” his expedition organising company Elite Exped said in an Instagram post.The tragedy unfolded after several experienced climbers had already abandoned Broad Peak due to worsening weather and heightened avalanche risk. According to National Geographic, veteran Hungarian climber David Klein and American climber Ian Overton chose to leave the mountain after heavy snowfall from around July 22 significantly increased the danger of avalanches.Klein said fresh snow on steep Himalayan slopes typically requires several days of stable weather to either settle or slide off naturally before climbing conditions become safe again. By July 25, most expeditions had left the mountain, but Purja's Elite Exped team remained.GPS tracker briefly raised hopesAt around 9 am local time on Thursday, an avalanche tore through Broad Peak's main west-facing gully, sweeping all 10 climbers hundreds of metres downhill.For several hours after the avalanche, Purja's Garmin GPS tracking device continued transmitting, briefly raising hopes that he had survived. According to National Geographic, the tracker showed the team ascending from Camp 2 before suddenly dropping more than 2,000 feet in about 30 minutes shortly before 9 am.Elite Exped co-founder Mingma Gyabu Sherpa initially said Purja's GPS location appeared to be moving, offering rescuers a glimmer of hope. However, climbing experts later cautioned that GPS devices buried under snow or trapped in steep terrain can continue transmitting inaccurate location data, making any apparent movement difficult to interpret.The Broad Peak expedition marked the end of Purja's illustrious mountaineering career. It is the world's 12th-highest mountain and is considered one of the most challenging peaks to climb.Purja had successfully climbed all 14 peaks above 8,000 metres around the world in just six months and six days, setting a new record in 2019. He was about to complete his mission of climbing all 14 eight-thousanders twice after completing the Broad Peak.Beginning in 2003, Purja had a distinguished 16-year military career, of which he spent six years as a Gurkha and 10 years with the UK Special Forces.Purja was appointed Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) in 2018.The avalanche struck the mountain at an altitude of around 7,000 metres on Thursday, sweeping away the 10-member climbing team that had begun its summit push, according to the Alpine Club of Pakistan (ACP).The climbers -- six from Nepal, one Pakistani, one Omani, one American and one Chinese -- went missing at around 9 am on Thursday following the avalanche.