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‘Unknown thief’ steals polish climber’s kit at 7,000 m on broad peak
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- Tanveer Abbas
- Jul 24, 2025
GILGIT: A Polish climber has reported alleged thefts of essential gear at Camp 3 on Broad Peak — a high-altitude camp located at approximately 7,000 metres.
Lukasz Supergan, a Polish climber currently on expedition in the Karakoram, shared details of the incident on social media, warning that thefts on 8000m peaks are not as rare as some might assume.
“Could you lend us some mittens or summit gloves? Our deposit has been dug up, the bag has been cut, and the gas and mittens are missing,” Supergan quoted a message from a fellow climber.
According to Supergan, such incidents are not isolated. “If you thought the 8000 metres were climbed by the perfectly honourable people alone, I have some bad news for you. Acts of theft are happening here, too.”
Two weeks earlier, crampons belonging to one of his teammates disappeared from a tent. After some investigation, they were discovered in possession of a Nepalese guide, who had allegedly been using them for ten days. The gear was eventually found inside a tent belonging to the guide’s agency.
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“Losing even a small item can mean that a year of preparation, thousands of dollars and a 1.5-month expedition will be wasted because the equipment needed on summit day will have disappeared,” he said.
The Polish climber also mentioned that climbers had previously used their team’s tents at Camp 3 without permission during a summit push despite adverse weather forecasts. “Am I being paranoid to fear for my sleeping bag and down suit based on experience?” he asked.
High-altitude camps are often left unattended for days during summit pushes, making them vulnerable. But incidents of theft — rare as they may be — can prove life-threatening, given the extreme conditions where even minor equipment loss can be catastrophic.
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While the broader mountaineering community often relies on mutual trust and support in such inhospitable environments. Broad Peak (8,051m), located on the Pakistan-China border in Gilgit-Baltistan, is the 12th highest mountain in the world and a popular destination for international climbers.
