Hilaree Nelson (December 13, 1972 – September 26, 2022) was an American

ski mountaineer Ski mountaineering (abbreviated to skimo) is a skiing discipline that involves climbing mountains either on skis or carrying them, depending on the steepness of the ascent, and then descending on skis. There are two major categories of equipment ...

. She became the first woman to summit two 8000-meter peaks (

Everest Mount Everest (), known locally as Sagarmatha in Nepal and Qomolangma in Tibet, is Earth's highest mountain above sea level. It lies in the Mahalangur Himal sub-range of the Himalayas and marks part of the China–Nepal border at its ...

and

Lhotse Lhotse ( ; ; ) is the List of highest mountains#List, fourth-highest mountain on Earth, after Mount Everest, K2, and Kangchenjunga. At an elevation of above sea level, the main summit is on the border between Tibet Autonomous Region of Chin ...

) in one 24-hour push on May 25, 2012.Klingsporn, Katie (June 14, 2012)
"On top of the world, and then back again; Telluride athlete Hilaree O'Neill summits Everest Lhotse in 24 hours"
. ''Telluride Daily Planet''. On September 30, 2018, Nelson and partner Jim Morrison made the first ski descent of the "Dream Line", the Lhotse Couloir from the summit.Quarrier, Sadie (October 12, 2018
"Interview: First ski descent of the world's fourth tallest peak"
. ''National Geographic''.Brown, Julie
"How Hilaree Nelson and Jim Morrison Skied Lhotse"
. Outsideonline.com Lhotse is the 4th-highest mountain in the world and shares a

saddle A saddle is a supportive structure for a rider of an animal, fastened to an animal's back by a girth. The most common type is equestrian. However, specialized saddles have been created for oxen, camels and other animals. It is not know ...

with Mount Everest. Nelson was named one of "The 25 Most Adventurous Women of the Past 25 Years" by ''

Men's Journal ''Men's Journal'' was an American men's lifestyle magazine focused on outdoor recreation and comprising editorials on the outdoors, environmental issues, health and fitness, style and fashion, and gear. It was founded in 1992 by Jann Wenner of ...

'',Potts, Mary Anne
The 25 most adventurous women of the past 25 years
' '' Men's Journal as well as being named as one of ''

National Geographic ''National Geographic'' (formerly ''The National Geographic Magazine'', sometimes branded as ''Nat Geo'') is an American monthly magazine published by National Geographic Partners. The magazine was founded in 1888 as a scholarly journal, nine ...

''s 2018 Adventurers of the Year.National Geographic's 2018 Adventurers of the Year
nationalgeographic.com.

Career

Nelson was born on December 13, 1972, in Seattle, where she grew up and started skiing at

Stevens Pass Stevens Pass (elevation ) is a mountain pass through the Cascade Mountains located at the border of King County and Chelan County in Washington, United States. U.S. Route 2 travels over the pass, reaching a maximum elevation of . The Pacific ...

at the age of three. She was a mother of two sons, and resided in

Telluride, Colorado Telluride is the county seat and most populous town of San Miguel County, Colorado, San Miguel County in the southwestern portion of the U.S. state of Colorado. The town is a former silver mining camp on the San Miguel River (Colorado), San M ...

. She served as

The North Face The North Face is an American outdoor recreation products company. The North Face produces outdoor clothing, footwear, and related equipment. Founded in 1968 to supply climbers, the company's logo draws inspiration from Half Dome, a distinct ...

global athletic team captain. She was a team member on the 2012

Montana State University Montana State University (MSU) is a public land-grant research university in Bozeman, Montana, United States. It enrolls more students than any other college or university in the state. MSU offers baccalaureate degrees in 60 fields, master's d ...

Everest Education Expedition. Nelson was a

National Geographic Explorer ''National Geographic Explorer'' (or simply ''Explorer'') is an American documentary television series that originally premiered on Nickelodeon on April 7, 1985, after having been produced as a less costly and intensive alternative to PBS's '' ...

s grant recipient, a member of over 40 expeditions, and had first ski descents on Baffin and

South Georgia Islands South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands (SGSSI) is a British Overseas Territory in the southern Atlantic Ocean. It is a remote and inhospitable collection of islands, consisting of South Georgia and a chain of smaller islands known as the S ...

, Argentina,

Kamchatka The Kamchatka Peninsula (, ) is a peninsula in the Russian Far East, with an area of about . The Pacific Ocean and the Sea of Okhotsk make up the peninsula's eastern and western coastlines, respectively. Immediately offshore along the Pacific ...

, Russia, and the

Tetons The Teton Range is a mountain range of the Rocky Mountains in North America. It extends for approximately in a north–south direction through the U.S. state of Wyoming, east of the Idaho state line. It is south of Yellowstone National Park, ...

. 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 ski descent of Papsura, India, 2017Bisharat, Andrew (2018).
This Ski Mountaineer Found Redemption on India's Peak of Evil
. * First female descent of Makalu La Couloir, Nepal, 2015 * First to ski all five "Holy Peaks",

Mongolian Altai The Altai Mountains (), also spelled Altay Mountains, are a mountain range in Central and East Asia, where Russia, China, Mongolia, and Kazakhstan converge, and where the rivers Irtysh and Ob River, Ob have their headwaters. The massif merge ...

* First female to climb Everest and Lhotse in 24 hours, Nepal, May 25, 2012 * Skied from the summit of

Cho Oyu Cho Oyu ( Nepali: चोयु; ; ) is the sixth-highest mountain in the world at above sea level. Cho Oyu means " Turquoise Goddess" in Tibetan. The mountain is the westernmost major peak of the '' Khumbu'' sub-section of the Mahalangur Him ...

, Tibet, September 22, 2005 * Skied from the summit of

Denali Denali (), federally designated as Mount McKinley, is the highest mountain peak in North America, with a summit elevation of above sea level. It is the tallest mountain in the world from base to peak on land, measuring . On p. 20 of Helm ...

, Messner Couloir, USA, June 16, 2011Brown, Julie (February 16, 2018).
The mountains are calling, and Hilaree O'Neill must go
. . * First female descent of Bubble Fun Couloir, Tetons, USA * European Women's Extreme Skiing Champion, 1996

Advocacy

* Part of the "She Moves Mountains" campaign between The North Face and

Girl Scouts of the USA Girl Scouts of the United States of America (GSUSA), commonly referred to as Girl Scouts, is a youth organization for girls in the United States and American girls living abroad. It was founded by Juliette Gordon Low in 1912, a year after she ...

Death

On September 26, 2022, while skiing with Morrison, Nelson was caught by a small avalanche, leading to a fall of more than from the summit of

Manaslu Manaslu (; , also known as Kutang) is the List of highest mountains#List, eighth-highest mountain in the world at above sea level. It is in the Mansiri Himal, part of the Nepalese Himalayas, in west-central Nepal. Manaslu means "mountain of the ...

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 Kathmandu () is the capital and largest city of Nepal, situated in the central part of the country within the Kathmandu Valley. As per the 2021 Nepal census, it has a population of 845,767 residing in 105,649 households, with approximately 4 mi ...

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 Jimmy Chin (born October 12, 1973) is an American professional mountain athlete, photographer, skier, film director, and author. Chin has been a professional climber and skier on The North Face Athlete team for over 20 years. In 2006, Chin achi ...

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 Geographic''s 2018 Adventurers of the Year

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Nelson, Hilaree 1972 births 2022 deaths American female ski mountaineers Colorado College alumni Mountaineering deaths in Nepal People from Telluride, Colorado Sportspeople from Seattle Deaths on Manaslu