American mountaineer found dead after fall from Nepal’s Mount Manaslu. On Monday, Hilaree Nelson fell while descending Nepal’s Mount Manaslu. The body of pioneering American mountaineer Hilaree Nelson has been discovered on Mount Manaslu in Nepal, two days after she fell while descending the peak with her companion.
Two days after her disappearance was reported, Hilaree Nelson, 49, was discovered dead on a Himalayan peak on Wednesday. Monday morning, according to claims from eyewitnesses, she collapsed while climbing Mount Manaslu, the eighth-tallest peak in the world.
She is survived by two children and her climbing partner, James Morrison, who is also an experienced climber and reached the summit with her. Ms. Nelson, aged 49, was one of the world’s most accomplished mountaineers, having led more than 40 expeditions over the course of her two-plus decade career. On Monday at approximately 11:30 a.m. (local time), she reached the summit of the 8,163-meter-tall mountain before beginning her ski descent.
Some skiers believe she slid and fell into a large chasm just below the summit, whereas expedition outfitters say she lost a ski blade and plunged off the side of the summit.
James Morrison, her partner, was able to ski to a camp below and request assistance. Poor weather prohibited search operations from taking place that afternoon, and despite two helicopter trips on Tuesday, the climber could not be located. On Monday, shortly after her fall, an avalanche between climbing camps higher down the mountain happened, killing one and wounding more than a dozen.
The corpse of Ms. Nelson was discovered by helicopter on Wednesday morning and transported to a hospital in Kathmandu, where physicians intended to conduct an autopsy.
Prior ascent to the peak was aborted. Ms. Nelson and Mr. Morrison were unable to continue their ascent of Mount Manaslu last week due to persistent snow and rain. They were forced to ski down from Camp 3 and abandon their ascent.
Ms. Nelson wrote in an Instagram post on Thursday, “I haven’t felt as sure-footed on Manaslu as I have on previous expeditions into the thin air of the high Himalaya.
The last few weeks have challenged my resiliency in novel ways.
A doctor at the mountain’s base camp informed the Kathmandu Post that it had “constantly snowed” for 15 days prior to Monday’s events. She pushed the limits of sport as a trailblazer. Ms. Nelson was one of the most accomplished climbers of her time, residing in Telluride, Colorado’s Rocky Mountains. She and Mr. Morrison were the first individuals to ski down the world’s fourth-highest mountain, Mount Lhotse, in 2018, earning them the title of National Geographic Adventurers of the Year.
A physically fit couple with caps and backpacks raises their fists in the air. She was also the first woman to climb Mount Everest and Mount Lhotse in a single day, and she captained the North Face-sponsored athletes team.
Her ultimately disastrous attempt to climb Hkakabo Razi, an inconspicuous peak in the extreme north of Myanmar, was documented in the 2015 documentary Down to Nothing. She also leaves behind her partner, Mr. Morrison, and two children. Mr. Morrison’s wife and two young children were killed in a plane disaster in 2011.