This is the last photo that Hilaree Nelson (49) posted on her Instagram account. She released it two days before she disappeared.

DLNews Staff:

Death drama in the highest mountains in the world!

The famous US ski mountaineer Hilaree Nelson († 49) had an accident in the Himalayas – and died.

After a two-day search, her body was found on Mount Manaslu, tour organizer Jiban Ghimire from Shangri-La Nepal Trek said on Wednesday.

Nelson's body was taken to the base camp and will be flown from there to Nepal's capital, Kathmandu.

Nelson's partner Jim Morrison led the search operation and even carried her body bag out of the helicopter after it was recovered.

After a successful ascent of Manaslu, Nelson had an accident on the descent on Monday.

On the day of the accident, bad weather conditions prevented helicopters from taking off to search for Nelson. So instead, the search operation was led by Nelson's partner Jim Morrison, who had climbed the 8,163-meter-high Manaslu with her.

On Instagram, he said goodbye with emotional words: "There are no words to describe the love for this woman, my life partner, my lover, my best friend, and my mountain partner. She was the lighthouse in my life day in and day out."

Her partner wrote that Nelson was hit by an avalanche on the ski descent.

"I didn't feel as safe on Manaslu as I have on other thin-air Himalayan adventures," she wrote. "These last few weeks have tested my resilience in a whole new way."

Nelson is the second fatality of the current autumn climbing season in Nepal. On the day of her accident, a Nepalese mountaineer died in an avalanche between Camps 3 and 4 of Manaslu. Around twelve other people were injured, according to the Ministry of Tourism. Nepal has 8 of the 14 highest peaks in the world. They attract numerous mountaineers from all over the world. Because of the corona pandemic, mountaineering in the Himalayas had practically reached a standstill in 2020. Last year, however, the base camps in the mountains were reopened.