Tuesday 27 September 2022 02:05 AM Colorado mom-of-two is missing after reaching summit of Mount Manaslu trends now
A celebrated American mountaineer is missing after summiting a Himalayan mountain, and falling into a crevasse 15 minutes later as she skied down.
Hilaree Nelson, 49, disappeared on Monday morning while skiing down Mount Manaslu with her boyfriend, Jim Morrison. He continued to the base camp to report her missing, but rescue attempts have been hampered by poor weather, meaning helicopters cannot access the remote and extremely high site.
Elsewhere on the mountain, at least one person was killed in an avalanche on Monday, and 12 people trapped - four of them critically injured, according to reports.
One eyewitness to Nelson's descent told The Himalaya Times that she fell around 80 feet into a a vertical crevasse, which was 2,000ft deep. It was not known if she survived the initial fall.
Nelson, based in Telluride, Colorado, lives with her sons Quinn, 15, and 13-year-old Graydon - the boys live with Nelson's ex-husband while she is away.
She was the first woman to climb two 8,000-meter peaks - Everest and Lhotse - in one 24-hour push.
Hillaree Nelson, 49, is pictured with her boyfriend Jim Morrison. The pair reached the summit of Mount Manaslu on Monday morning, but she reportedly fell into a crevasse while skiing down
Nelson posted a photo on Friday of their failed attempt to reach the summit, and said she was finding conditions challenging - but loved the ski back down
Morrison echoed Nelson, saying their attempt to reach the top was tough - but the return was a joy
She returned to Nepal in 2018 with Morrison, and the pair became the first to successfully ski down Lhotse, the world's fourth-highest peak at 27,940 feet.
Nelson is seen as a pioneering, trail-blazing mountaineer
They then decided to ski down another 8,000-meter peak, Manaslu, - not a record attempt, but still considered extremely challenging.
On Friday, Nelson and Morrison tried to make it to the summit, but failed.
'I haven't felt as sure-footed on Manaslu as I have on past adventure into the thin atmosphere of the high Himalaya,' Nelson posted on Instagram.
'These past weeks have tested my resilience in new ways. The constant monsoon with its incessant rain and humidity has made me hopelessly homesick. I am challenged to find the peace and inspiration from the mountain when it's been constantly shrouded in mist.
'Yesterday we ended our summit bid when we decided it was too dangerous to move from C3 to C4.
'We subsequently decided to ski down from C3 knowing that would mean carrying our skis all the way back up the mountain again if, big if here, we try again for a summit. It was the best thing we could've done.'
Nelson is pictured in the Himalayas on a previous trip
Morrison, pictured with Nelson on her 38th birthday, skied down the mountain on Monday to raise the alarm after she fell
The Colorado-based couple travel the world together seeking new mountaineering challenges
She then described the sheer joy of skiing down the mountain.
'As soon as I made the first turn in the sticky hot pow, in a total white out, all
