Celebrated US ski mountaineer goes missing in Nepal's Himalayas

Renowned US ski mountaineer Hilaree Nelson has gone missing on Nepal's Manaslu mountain, on the same day that an avalanche killed a Nepali climber on the same peak, expedition organisers and officials said on Tuesday.

On Monday, Nelson was skiing down the Manaslu with her partner Jim Morrison, after having successfully summited the world's eighth-highest mountain.

"She had an accident yesterday as she was descending shortly after her summit. We are trying to get clarity on what happened," Jiban Ghimire of Shangri-La Nepal Treks, which organised the expedition, told AFP.

On the same day, an avalanche hit between Camps 3 and 4 on the 8,163-metre mountain, killing a Nepali climber and injuring a dozen others, the government's tourism department said.

The death was the first confirmed casualty of the autumn climbing season in Nepal.

Constant rain and snow have been a challenge for the 404 paying climbers attempting to reach the summit of the Manaslu this year. Bad weather was also hampering rescue efforts, with helicopters unable to fly on Monday.

Ghimire said that the weather improved on Tuesday, and a helicopter was headed to the site of Nelson's accident.

Morrison safely reached base camp and was accompanying the search and rescue team, Ghimire added.

The North Face, which sponsors Nelson, confirmed the climber was missing.

"We are in touch with Hilaree's family and supporting search and rescue efforts in every way we can," the company said in an Instagram post on Tuesday.

"I haven't felt as sure-footed on Manaslu as I have on past adventure into the thin atmosphere of the high Himalaya," Nelson said in an Instagram post on Thursday.

"These past weeks have tested my resilience in new ways."