Nelson began skiing down this Himalayan mountain after successfully climbing the 8,163-meter Manaslu Mountain, which makes this mountain the eighth highest in the world, with his companion Jim Morrison on Monday.
“She had an accident yesterday on the way down, just after her ascent. We’re trying to shed some light on what happened,” said Jiban Ghimire of Shangri-La Nepal Treks, who organized the expedition. On the same day, an avalanche hit Manaslu, killing a Nepalese climber and injuring a dozen people, according to the government’s tourism department.
Nelson’s sponsor, The North Face, has confirmed his disappearance. “We are in touch with Hilaree’s family and are supporting the search and rescue effort in any way we can,” the company said in an Instagram post on Tuesday.
Bad weather conditions
The poor weather conditions – constant snow and rain – presented a challenge to the climbers involved in the ascent of this peak. But also for the rescuers who couldn’t fly their helicopters to locate the victims. Mr Ghimire said conditions improved on Tuesday and a helicopter was en route to the crash site where Hilaree Nelson disappeared.
“I’ve never felt as safe on Manaslu as I have on my past adventures in the tenuous atmosphere of the high Himalayas,” she said in an Instagram post on Thursday. “The past few weeks have tested my resilience in an unprecedented way.”
The 49-year-old mountaineer’s career has spanned two decades and she has been described by North Face as “the most prolific ski mountaineer of her generation”. In 2012, she became the first woman to reach the summit of Everest, the world’s highest mountain, and neighboring mountain Lhotse within 24 hours.