An American climber has been found dead after falling from Nepal’s eighth highest peak.
Helicopters located the body of Hilaree Nelson on the south face of Mount Manaslu on Wednesday morning, her tour operator Shangri-La Nepal Trek confirmed.
The 49-year-old skier descended the 26,775ft (8,163m) summit with her partner Jim Morrison on Monday when she fell.
Rescuers tried unsuccessfully to locate her with searches on Monday and Tuesday.
According to the trekking company, Ms Nelson’s body has been taken back to base camp and is being transferred to a hospital in Kathmandu where a post-mortem examination can take place.
Ms Nelson was an extreme skier who, alongside her partner, climbed Mount Lhotse, the world’s fourth highest peak, in 2018.
Earlier Monday, a low-level avalanche on Mount Manaslu killed a Nepalese guide and injured several other climbers.
All of the climbers caught in the incident were found, and some of the injured were airlifted to Kathmandu for treatment for their injuries.
After landing from the helicopter, one of the avalanche survivors, Phurte Sherpa, said: “I’m not sure where the missing climber is, but her husband was with us on the trip. search today. We made two helicopter rescue attempts but were unable to find her.”
Mountain “tested its resilience in new ways”
In her latest Instagram post last week, Ms Nelson described struggling and not feeling “as confident on Manaslu as she had on her past adventures in the thin atmosphere of the high Himalayas”.
“The past few weeks have tested my resilience in new ways,” she wrote.
“The constant monsoon with its relentless rain and humidity has left me desperately homesick. I am challenged to find the peace and inspiration of the mountain while it is constantly shrouded in mist.”
Hundreds of climbers and their local guides are on Manaslu trying to reach the summit during Nepal’s autumn climbing season.
The government has issued permits to 504 climbers to attempt to scale high mountain peaks during the fall season. Most of them are on Mount Manaslu.