Hilaree Nelson

Career Nelson was born on December 13, 1972, in Seattle, where she grew up and started skiing at Stevens Pass at the age of three. She was a mother of two sons, and resided in Telluride, Colorado. She was a team member on the 2012 Montana State University Everest Education Expedition. Nelson was a National Geographic Explorers grant recipient, a member of over 40 expeditions, and had first ski descents on Baffin and South Georgia Islands, Argentina, Kamchatka, Russia, and the Tetons.

Her writing has been featured in such publications as National Geographic Adventure, The Ski Journal, and the Outside Journal.

Notable accomplishments First ski descent of the Dream Line (from summit), Lhotse Couloir, Nepal, 2018 First female descent of Makalu La Couloir, Nepal, 2015 Skied from the summit of Denali, Messner Couloir, USA, June 16, 2011 First female descent of Bubble Fun Couloir, Tetons, USA

Death On September 26, 2022, while skiing with Morrison, Nelson caused a small avalanche, leading to a fall of more than from the summit of Manaslu in Nepal. Initial rescue efforts were hampered by bad weather, but on September 28, her body was located above the Thulagi glacier on the south face of Mount Manaslu, and was flown to Kathmandu by rescuers.

Nelson's body was cremated in Kathmandu on October 2, 2022.

Filmography Lhotse Down to Nothing The Denali Experiment (2011, 15 min, directed by Jimmy Chin and Renan Ozturk) Fine Lines (2018, 96 min) K2: The Impossible Descent (2020, 65 min)

Accolades Named one of "The 25 Most Adventurous Women of the Past 25 Years" by Men's Journal. Named one of National Geographics 2018 Adventurers of the Year