Famed American ski mountaineer Hilaree Nelson missing after fall into Nepal mountain crevasse

Hilaree Nelson, a prolific American ski mountaineer, remains missing Tuesday after falling near the peak of Mount Manaslu in Nepal.

Nelson, a 49-year-old mother of two, was skiing with her partner, Jim Morrison, Monday, when she fell into a crevasse, according to the Kathmandu-based Shangri-La Nepal Trek, which organized the expedition.

Poor weather conditions made the search difficult Monday but a helicopter was back out Tuesday morning, hoping to see through the fog.

Nelson was the first woman to climb two 8,000-meter, about 26,246 feet, peaks — Everest and Lhotse — in 24 hours and she and Morrison were the first to ski down Lhotse, the world’s fourth-highest peak, at 27,940 feet.

Mount Manaslu, the eighth-highest peak, sits at 26,775 feet.

Hilaree Nelson in 2018. (Niranjan Shrestha/)

“I haven’t felt as sure-footed on Manaslu as I have on past adventure into the thin atmosphere of the high Himalay,” Nelson wrote on Instagram Friday.

“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.”

North Face, her sponsor, said Monday that the company is in touch with her family and “supporting search and rescue efforts in every way we can.”

Farther down Mount Manaslu, an avalanche killed a Nepali guide and injured several others Monday.

With News Wire Services