Missing US ski mountaineer Hilaree Nelson found dead

Famed US ski mountaineer Hilaree Nelson, who went missing below the summit of Mt Manaslu in Nepal, has been found dead, government officials said on Wednesday. They said that the body of the 49-year-old mountaineer was being retrieved.

Nelson, a mother of two, had been reported missing below the summit of the world's eighth-highest mountain after an avalanche on Monday. On Tuesday, the Nepal Police said that seven people were rescued from the avalanche-hit area of Mt Manaslu.

"Hilaree Nelson, professional ski mountaineer and Team Captain for The North Face, has gone missing below the summit of Mt. Manaslu in Nepal. We are in touch with Hilaree's family and supporting search and rescue efforts in every way we can," The North Face, one of Nelson's sponsors, had tweeted on Monday.

Nelson had been skiing and exploring the Nepali mountain on Monday when she was announced missing, CNN reported.

The Managing Director of Shangri-La Nepal Trek, Jiban Ghimire, said that his crew received a call saying Nelson had fallen, and was nowhere to be seen.

"I got a call from our staff at Base Camp that her ski blade skidded off and [she] fell off the other side of the peak," Ghimire told Outside magazine.

Nelson is a pioneer in the mountaineering community, having completed 40 expeditions across the world, the CNN report said.

Earlier in 2012, she became the first woman known to climb Everest, and the mountain Lhotse, in 24 hours.

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