Hilaree Nelson Missing on Manaslu

[Core2]

I was a fan of hers for a long time as she was one of the few women doing big mountain climbing and skiing right along with all the men. She seemed like a great person and mother, someone you want inspiring your kids. Bummer for sure.

 

[locknload]

May she RIP. What a life..what an inspiration. Heartbreaking news.

 

[crgildart]

 

[James]

Sad to hear of the outcome. Some articles said she had fallen on a crevasse, but on the articles linked above, it mentions she went missing just below the summit of 8,163m and her body was recovered at 6,000m? So a 2,100 meter (almost 7k') drop?

I guess it’s like the Kanshung face on Everest. Fall off the South Ridge and it’s a long way, 3,300m down into Tibet.


I find it difficult to process these 8000m mountains from such animation. The brain tends to fit them into more normal scales of the Rockies, Cascades, Alps, etc.

Manaslu. Jackson Groves drone photos.

The true summit is that last peak to the right. Seems many, recently have stopped at the peak before. If done in the spring, that last section is likely to be rocks and more easily done. Some of these guys ^ climbed down, over, and up. A really technical and dangerous route.

Climbing Manaslu Mountain (8163M): The Complete Guide

Mount Manaslu, is the world's eighth-highest mountain, reaching a remarkable height of 8,163m. Located in west-central Nepal, this mighty peak in the Himalayas is well-known as the introductory 8000m peak among the fourteen throughout the world. Manaslu

www.journeyera.com

From Jim Morrison’s Instagram post-
—————————
On September 26th at 10:42 am we reached the true summit of Manaslu in tough conditions. We quickly transitioned from climbing to skiing in cold and wind with a plan to ski around the corner and regroup with our Sherpa team. I skied first and after a few turns Hilaree followed and started a small avalanche. She was swept off her feet and carried down a narrow snow slope down the south side (opposite from climbing route) of the mountain over 5000’. I did everything I could to locate her but was unable to go down the face as I hoped to find her alive and live my life with her…
—————
So they reached the true summit. Very impressive. Hard to know exactly what it looked like with so much recent snow.

Just a very sad ending to a great accomplishment and life lived.

 

[cantunamunch]

Sidebar: anyone else find it remarkable that drones can operate, seemingly well, at these altitudes where helicopters have problems sustaining flight?

 

[scott43]

Sidebar: anyone else find it remarkable that drones can operate, seemingly well, at these altitudes where helicopters have problems sustaining flight?

I did think about that a bit. Just assumed the power/aerofoil profile is much better based on scale and flight time. I wonder what drones they are?

 

[cantunamunch]

Just assumed the power/aerofoil profile is much better based on scale and flight time. I wonder what drones they are?

I was looking at the bottom photo in @James ' post and assumed any wind was a combination of upslope and right-to-left looking at the photo.

OFC, that was a relatively calm day/hour but flying a drone in those conditions, after having climbed to a launch spot for a super short flight time, is more than a bit freaky. Of a similar order of freaky as scuba diving under glaciers on Mont Blanc.

 

[Tricia]

Quote from her partner Jim Morrison

Nelson was on the eighth highest peak in the world along with her partner, Jim Morrison, when she went missing Monday just below the summit, North Face, her sponsor, confirmed.

"There are no words to describe the love for this woman, my life partner, my lover, my best friend, and my mountain partner," Morrison wrote on social media Wednesday.

Morrison detailed that the pair reached the true summit late Monday morning "in tough conditions." They then moved to ski down, starting with a plan to go around a corner to meet up with a team of Sherpas.

"I skied first and after a few turns Hilaree followed and started a small avalanche," he wrote. "She was swept off her feet and carried down a narrow snow slope down the south side (opposite from climbing route) of the mountain over 5000'. I did everything I could to locate her but was unable to go down the face as I hoped to find her alive and live my life with her."

Missing mountaineer Hilaree Nelson's body found on Manaslu

U.S. mountaineer Hilaree Nelson has been found dead after attempting to ski down Manaslu in Nepal.

abcnews.go.com

 

[locknload]

I guess it’s like the Kanshung face on Everest. Fall off the South Ridge and it’s a long way, 3,300m down into Tibet.


I find it difficult to process these 8000m mountains from such animation. The brain tends to fit them into more normal scales of the Rockies, Cascades, Alps, etc.

View attachment 179323
Manaslu. Jackson Groves drone photos.

View attachment 179321

View attachment 179322
The true summit is that last peak to the right. Seems many, recently have stopped at the peak before. If done in the spring, that last section is likely to be rocks and more easily done. Some of these guys ^ climbed down, over, and up. A really technical and dangerous route.

Climbing Manaslu Mountain (8163M): The Complete Guide

Mount Manaslu, is the world's eighth-highest mountain, reaching a remarkable height of 8,163m. Located in west-central Nepal, this mighty peak in the Himalayas is well-known as the introductory 8000m peak among the fourteen throughout the world. Manaslu

www.journeyera.com

From Jim Morrison’s Instagram post-
—————————
On September 26th at 10:42 am we reached the true summit of Manaslu in tough conditions. We quickly transitioned from climbing to skiing in cold and wind with a plan to ski around the corner and regroup with our Sherpa team. I skied first and after a few turns Hilaree followed and started a small avalanche. She was swept off her feet and carried down a narrow snow slope down the south side (opposite from climbing route) of the mountain over 5000’. I did everything I could to locate her but was unable to go down the face as I hoped to find her alive and live my life with her…
—————
So they reached the true summit. Very impressive. Hard to know exactly what it looked like with so much recent snow.

Just a very sad ending to a great accomplishment and life lived.

So from the information available...the fall occurred on the back side of the picture immediately above?

 

[Willy]

Another aspect of the tragedy of this situation is that Jim's first wife and two young kids died in 2011 in a plane crash. Hard to imagine the dark places his mind may wander to. My best hopes for his mental state after having been bit twice in a lifetime with tragedy so close to his heart. RIP Hilaree. All the best to Jim in his current situation and condolences to all who knew Hilaree and her family. What a tough story to fathom.

 

[fatbob]

Not to be disrespectful but surely they both knew what they were getting into on each trip and had talked through outcomes? I'd say Jim would likely be better fortified than many civvies who have a partner suddenly perish in a RTA etc.

The loss isn't any less but the consequences are surely clearer in a high stakes game?

 

[cantunamunch]

Not to be disrespectful but surely they both knew what they were getting into on each trip and had talked through outcomes? I'd say Jim would likely be better fortified than many civvies who have a partner suddenly perish in a RTA etc.

The loss isn't any less but the consequences are surely clearer in a high stakes game?

As I've been pointing out offline to just about everybody reading WaPo/NYT, they had a perfectly good handle on their risks and their consequences.

But here's the thing: the general public didn't. The consumers of the presented narrative didn't internalise the ever-present risks ... and we're seeing shock as much as grief or empathy.

IMO the public that are reliant on mass media sources will never internalise any of it, not the risks, not the costs, not the motivation and probably not the successes or triumphs.

And there's nothing disrespectful in noticing that.

 

[locknload]

As I've been pointing out offline to just about everybody reading WaPo/NYT, they had a perfectly good handle on their risks and their consequences.

But here's the thing: the general public didn't. The consumers of the presented narrative didn't internalise the ever-present risks ... and we're seeing shock as much as grief or empathy.

IMO the public that are reliant on mass media sources will never internalise any of it, not the risks, not the costs, not the motivation and probably not the successes or triumphs.

And there's nothing disrespectful in noticing that.

Truthfully...any of us who don't engage in such high stakes activity will never be able to fully understand. Only those that are in that arena. I watch some of the footage of these peaks and see them climbing straight up 50 degree faces and my palms get sweaty. The amount of courage, planning, focus and ability to compartmentalize the risk is remarkable and nearly superhuman. Beating the odds is a numbers game and you don't always win. It makes it extra sad when someone so accomplished does succumb to the odds. She clearly knew what she was doing and accepted those risks. Her accomplishments are remarkable.

 

[Crank]

IMO the people who do this are living on borrowed time. It's about as risky an activity as there is. I admire her skill and courage and I also think that she had kids at home. She had kids at home yet spent a lot of time away from them risking her life.

I can both admire her courage and drive and skill and at the same time wonder wtf was she thinking.

 

[neonorchid]

Another aspect of the tragedy of this situation is that Jim's first wife and two young kids died in 2011 in a plane crash. Hard to imagine the dark places his mind may wander to. My best hopes for his mental state after having been bit twice in a lifetime with tragedy so close to his heart. RIP Hilaree. All the best to Jim in his current situation and condolences to all who knew Hilaree and her family. What a tough story to fathom.

IMO the people who do this are living on borrowed time. It's about as risky an activity as there is. I admire her skill and courage and I also think that she had kids at home. She had kids at home yet spent a lot of time away from them risking her life.

I can both admire her courage and drive and skill and at the same time wonder wtf was she thinking.

...stay tuned for the NBC Dateline with Lester Holt investigation

 

[Lauren]

I can both admire her courage and drive and skill and at the same time wonder wtf was she thinking.

Not that I can speak for her, but I'm sure she was thinking about living her life to the fullest, chasing her passion, while teaching her kids about courage, drive and skill.

 

[locknload]

IMO the people who do this are living on borrowed time. It's about as risky an activity as there is. I admire her skill and courage and I also think that she had kids at home. She had kids at home yet spent a lot of time away from them risking her life.

I can both admire her courage and drive and skill and at the same time wonder wtf was she thinking.

I totally get that thought you express. I wouldn't make the same choice with kids who rely on me, BUT she explains her rationale in the Lhotse film and its part of what she explained to her kids. I dunno...we all just have different risk thresholds and some people really NEED higher risks to feel alive. I guess that's what it takes to push boundaries of human achievement.

 

[Crank]

Yes people have been dying climbing since people have been climbing. I personally just don't really get it.

 

[James]

So from the information available...the fall occurred on the back side of the picture immediately above?

I think you’re referring to this photo?-

If so, then yes, I think so.
Morrison said they reached the “true summit”. That’s the peak all the way to the right in the photo. No idea the path they took, or where exactly they started skiing from. He said they were going around a corner. Also, he said she fell on the opposite side from climbing, which presumably would be this one-

Which is why she was 5k ft down.

Historically, it seems few reached the true summit unless they went in the spring, before monsoon season. There’s less snow, and it’s rocks to get to the true summit.

The photos were taken by Jackson Groves, flying a drone. I don’t think the summit issue was ever presented that clearly before. In the top photo, those who went the true summit went down, over and up. Where the yellow arrow points. They considered the ridge line too dangerous. It’s so narrow if it goes you’re done unless roped from back. I don’t think they’ve fixed lines for that section. If you fall off the arrow path you’re dead too.

I suspect they tried to ski from near the true summit so there were no qualifiers to the accomplishment of “skiing Manaslu”. But, there’s no information. The “safe” place to ski from would be the fore summit where all those people are stopped in the photo.

 

[neonorchid]

I think you’re referring to this photo?-

View attachment 179540
If so, then yes, I think so.
Morrison said they reached the “true summit”. That’s the peak all the way to the right in the photo. No idea the path they took, or where exactly they started skiing from. He said they were going around a corner. Also, he said she fell on the opposite side from climbing, which presumably would be this one-

View attachment 179541
Which is why she was 5k ft down.

Historically, it seems few reached the true summit unless they went in the spring, before monsoon season. There’s less snow, and it’s rocks to get to the true summit.

The photos were taken by Jackson Groves, flying a drone. I don’t think the summit issue was ever presented that clearly before. In the top photo, those who went the true summit went down, over and up. Where the yellow arrow points. They considered the ridge line too dangerous. It’s so narrow if it goes you’re done unless roped from back. I don’t think they’ve fixed lines for that section. If you fall off the arrow path you’re dead too.

I suspect they tried to ski from near the true summit so there were no qualifiers to the accomplishment of “skiing Manaslu”. But, there’s no information. The “safe” place to ski from would be the fore summit where all those people are stopped in the photo.

^ what I was thinking too but ...


(1:01sec in) "ski from the summit of the actual summit ... which has been redetermined and it is up on a very steep and sharp angled ridge"