Against inspiration

In which I rake over my fury at all the dead heroes

I knew it was going to happen. Or at least, I wasn’t at all surprised when I heard on Friday that Nirmal Purja was missing, along with the team he’d been guiding, after an avalanche on Broad Peak. And as I went about my day on Saturday, I couldn’t stop myself checking for updates on the rescue mission, even though I was in little doubt that the news would be bad.

Sure enough, the announcement came through sometime that afternoon that Purja had died, alongside all ten members of his expedition.

I don’t know if it’s sensible to write about this today, because the whole thing has really upset me. I’ve frequently found myself close to tears over the last 48 hours, as well as feeling furious about the whole thing. I’m really sad, and I’m really angry. It’s not a comfortable place to be.