Famous American ski mountaineer Hilaree Nelson missing in Nepal

KATHMANDU, Nepal — Helicopter rescuers searched the world’s eighth-highest mountain on Tuesday for a famous American climber a day after she fell from the mountain near the summit.

Also on Monday, a low-level avalanche on Mount Manaslu swept away several climbers, killing a Nepalese guide and injuring other climbers.

Hilaree Nelson, 49, was skiing down the 26,775ft summit with her partner Jim Morrison when she fell off the mountain, according to Jiban Ghimire of Kathmandu-based Shangri-La Nepal Trek who organized and outfitted the expedition.

Bad weather hampered relief efforts on Monday. But visibility was good in improved weather on Tuesday as a helicopter hovered over the mountain to see any sign of the missing climber, Ghimire said.

Hundreds of climbers and their local guides are on the mountain trying to reach the summit during Nepal’s autumn climbing season.

All climbers caught in Monday’s avalanche have been found. Some of the injured were airlifted to Kathmandu and are being treated in hospitals for their injuries.

Nelson, of Telluride, Colorado, and Morrison, of Tahoe, Calif., are extreme skiers who summited Mount Lhotse, the fourth highest peak in the world, in 2018.

The Nepalese government has issued permits to 504 climbers to attempt to climb the high mountain peaks during the autumn season. Most of them are on Mount Manaslu.