History-making Czech mountaineer Klára Kolouchová has tragically died on Nanga Parbat, one of the Himalayas highest and most coveted peaks. Kolouchová, the first Czech woman to climb all three of the world's highest mountains – Everest, K2 and Kanchenjunga – had been attempting to summit Nanga Parbat, having turned back in 2024.
The incident is thought to have taken place on Thursday July 3, though the exact details of what occurred remain unclear. Reports from Pakistan Tourism News and the Pamir Times suggest an oxygen gas cylinder exploded, leading to a fatal fall from the mountain somewhere between Camp I and Camp II.
However, according to reports in Sport.cz, mountaineer Jan Travnicek refutes than an oxygen cylinder explosion caused the fall. According to this report, the 46-year-old was climbing to Camp III before deciding to turn back due to "health problems", accompanied by a Nepalese Sherpa. Both accounts agree that she suffered a fatal fall somewhere near Camp II.
Her body remains at the site of her fall, though authorities are working to retrieve it using a Pakistani Army helicopter.
The vice-president of the Pakistan Mountaineering Club paid tribute, saying that she was "an inspiration to female climbers. Her death has left a void among mountaineers".
Kolouchová, her husband and five other team members had reached Base Camp on June 17. Reports on Explorersweb suggest that conditions on the mountain were difficult this year, due to higher than usual temperatures. The lack of snow up to Camp III has meant that climbers have had to negotiate challenging rock sections, as well as difficult front-pointing on naked ice.
Who was Klára Kolouchová?
Klára Kolouchová, was a pioneering Czech mountaineer who had a string of impressive achievements to her name. As well as being the first Czech woman to climb all three of Everest, K2 and Kanchenjunga, she'd also completed the Seven Summits between 2003 and 2015.
In total, she had five of the world's fourteen 8,000ers under her belt, having climbed Cho Oyu in 2006, Everest in 2007, K2 and Kanchenjunga in 2019 and Annapurna I in 2024. She'd been the first Czech woman to climb K2, Kanchenjunga and Annapurna I.
She attempted Nanga Parbat in 2024, passing the Kinshofer Wall and reaching 20,000ft (6,100m). However, she decided to turn back having evaluated the snow conditions and weather forecast. In May 2024, she'd attempted Dhaulagiri, the world's 7th highest mountain, before turning her attention to Nanga Parbat once again for summer 2025.
Nanga Parbat
At 26,660ft (8,126m), Nanga Parbat is the 9th highest mountain in the world. It's considered alongside K2 and Annapurna among the most deadly of the world's highest mountains, earning it the nickname Killer Mountain. Its Rupal Face is thought of as the highest mountain wall in the world, rising from the Rupal Valley at around 11,500ft (3,500m) to the summit and comprising around 15,000ft (4,600m) of steep buttresses and icefields.
The mountain has played an important role in mountaineering history and has been the scene of several tragedies. Interestingly, according to the Guinness World Records, it's also the fastest growing mountain on the planet, growing by around 0.27in (7mm) every year.
Its first ascent was claimed by the great Austrian mountaineer Hermann Buhl in 1953, who climbed the final 4,300ft (1,300m) alone and without oxygen, before enduring an incredible epic during the descent. Having reached the summit very late in the day, he then lost a crampon and was forced to bivouac while standing on a tiny ledge. He returned to the high camp the next day after spending 40 hours high on the mountain.
Buhl was a hero for the young Reinhold Messner, who'd go on to be regarded by many as the greatest mountaineer of all time. He and his brother Günther's remarkable first ascent of Nanga Parbat's Rupal Face in 1970 would prove fatal for Günther, who was killed by an avalanche while descending the mountain's Diamir Face.
There have been many other momentous successes and tragic deaths on the mountains in the years that followed. Notably, Steve House and Vince Anderson pulled of a fast and light, alpinist style ascent of the Rupal Face's Central Pillar in 2005, one of the masterpieces of modern mountaineering.
