'My loss is indescribable': Hilaree Nelson’s boyfriend reveals how she was swept away by deadly avalanche
TELLURIDE, COLORADO: Famous US mountaineer and extreme skier Hilaree Nelson lost her life after she slipped while skiing down the world's eighth-highest mountain in Nepal. Nelson, 49, had just reached the summit of Manaslu peak with her partner Jim Morrison on Monday, September 26. Her body was recovered on Wednesday by a search and rescue team in the Himalayas. Morrison was pictured carrying Nelson's bodybag from a helicopter after helping to recover her body.
He paid tribute to her on Instagram. "There are no words to describe the love for this woman, my life partner, my lover, my best friend, and my mountain partner," he said. "She has been the beacon of light in my life day in and day out." While recounting the events of the fateful day, Morrison said, "I skied first and after a few turns Hilaree followed and started a small avalanche. She was swept off her feet and carried down a narrow snow slope down the south side (opposite from climbing route) of the mountain over 5,000'."
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He added that he was unable to get down the steep slope when he tried to find her. "I found her body... today at 10.30am. I'm in Kathmandu with her and her spirit," he said, according to The Sun. "My loss is indescribable and I am focused on her children and their steps forward." An avalanche swept her off a cliff onto the south face of the mountain, Sachindra Yadav, an expedition liaison officer from the Gorkha district, told the New York Times. As per NBC News, an avalanche also killed a Nepali guide on Monday and injured 13 climbers in a separate expedition.
Morrison led the search operations to find Nelson's body. In a plane crash in 2011, he tragically lost his former wife and two young children. The rescue team took over an hour to recover her body which was "badly damaged", from the snow. The 49-year-old mother of two was described as "the most prolific ski mountaineer of her generation", by her sponsor The North Face. Nelson also became the first woman to reach the summits of both Mount Everest and the adjacent Lhotse peak within the space of 24 hours, almost 10 years ago.
She admitted that it had been a more challenging climb than last time in her final Instagram post last week. She also said that she had faced dangerous conditions due to the "incessant rain". "I haven't felt as sure-footed on Manaslu as I have on past adventure of the high Himalaya", she wrote. "These past weeks have tested my resilience in new ways." She is survived by her sons Quinn, 15, and 13-year-old Graydon. The boys were living with Nelson's ex-husband while she was away.
Morrison previously stated in an interview with The Sports Illustrated that he considered taking out his life after the death of his children and wife, but he managed to change his life after he threw himself into mountaineering. He met Nelson on a 2013 expedition to climb Makalu peak in Nepal, where they bonded over his trauma. Nelson and Morrison climbed their first mountain as a couple in 2017, after the former's marriage fell apart.
"Jim let me have that space where it was like, 'This is what I want to do. I'm ready. He was really supportive in me chasing my dream", Nelson said while speaking about their bond.