[2][3] On September 30, 2018, Nelson and partner Jim Morrison made the first ski descent of the "Dream Line", the Lhotse Couloir from the summit.

[8] Nelson was born on December 13, 1972, in Seattle, where she grew up and started skiing at Stevens Pass at the age of three.

[13] Nelson was a National Geographic Explorers grant recipient, a member of over 40 expeditions, and had first ski descents on Baffin and South Georgia Islands, Argentina, Kamchatka, Russia, and the Tetons.

[15] On September 26, 2022, while skiing with Morrison, Nelson was caught by a small avalanche, leading to a fall of more than 1,800 meters (5,900 ft) from the summit of Manaslu in Nepal.

[22][23][24] Initial rescue efforts were hampered by bad weather, but on September 28, her body was located above the Thulagi glacier on the south face of Mount Manaslu, and was flown to Kathmandu by rescuers.