SEATTLE — Crews are still searching for a mountaineer skier who went missing in the Himalayas in Nepal.
Hilaree Nelson grew up in Seattle and was reported missing on Monday. It happened after she and her partner were coming down a mountain after reaching the summit.
"For us, we need to be in these spaces to feel alive," said Jason Martin, the executive director of Bellingham based American Alpine Institute.
And 49-year-old mountaineer Hilaree Nelson has been living life at unbelievable heights.
According to her website, for more than two decades her expedition career has led her to many "firsts" in the world of ski mountaineering. On Monday, Nelson reached the summit of the eighth-highest mountain in the world, Mount Manaslu and was skiing down from the 26,775-foot summit with her partner Jim Morrison, when she reportedly fell off the mountain. Some reports said she went into a crevasse.
"She's been through a lot of this stuff and has come out the other side and yeah, it's not the type of thing you expect to hear and it's incredibly sad," Martin said.
On Monday, an avalanche at a lower elevation on Mount Manaslu swept several climbers, killing a Nepali guide and injuring others.
Martin said these are the risks their mountaineering community lives with nearly every day.
"Even if you make all the right choices, we have subjective risks and objective risk. Objective is always there, it's a crevasse or weather, what have you. Subjective risks that we bring the desire to summit the mountain,” Martin said.
As of Tuesday evening, Nelson has not been located. Crews are continuing to search for her.
Martin said he feels for her family. According to Nelson's website, she has two sons.
"The entire mountaineering community, ski mountaineering, backcountry skiing, climbing community, we're all thinking about you, we're hoping for the best," Martin said.
The North Face, which sponsors Nelson, tweeted a statement that said, "We are in touch with Hilaree's family and are supporting search and rescue efforts every way we can."