An Evening with BRASS Avalanche
Featuring: Wendy Fisher and Hilaree Nelson
BRASS Avalanche was saddened to hear of the death of Hilaree Nelson, one of skiing’s greatest big mountain exploration athletes, in an accident while skiing from the Himalayan summit of Manaslu in Nepal in September, 2022. Hilaree joined friend Wendy Fisher for an impactful BRASS Avalanche educational webinar in March, 2022.
Wendy Fisher
Wendy Fisher, who was named to the 1992 Olympic Team, grew up ski racing in what is now Tahoe Palisades, then attending Burke Mountain Academy. She made the U.S. Ski Team at 15 and competed on the World Cup. When she retired from racing, she found her way into big mountain freeskiing competitions with the encouragement of her childhood friend Shane McConkey. For the next decade, she became one of the biggest names in freeskiing. Today, she’s raising a family in Crested Butte and spending as much time as possible on the mountain.
Hilaree Nelson
A Seattle native, Hilaree Nelson is a lifelong skier who left for Chamonix after college, a trip that changed her life. She is considered the foremost ski mountaineer of her generation, with over 40 major international expeditions and first descents in a long career as an athlete with The North Face. In 2012 she became the first woman to climb Everest and Lhotse in 24 hours. Today she lives in Telluride.
An Evening with BRASS Avalanche
Our March, 2022 Evening with BRASS Avalanche event with Wendy Fisher and Hilaree Nelson was exhilirating. If you missed it, catch it on video as two of the greatest big mountains skiers of all time talk about their adventures and the importance of avalanche safety.
Since its release in 2018, Off Piste: Tragedy in the Alps has been seen by over a million viewers. Produced by the Utah Avalanche Center in partnership with BRASS Avalanche, the 13-minute film documents the 2015 avalanche providing both the deep emotion of the tragedy as well as providing invaluable education to the next generation on how it could easily have been avoided.
Utah Avalanche Center Executive Director Chad Brackelsberg will provide an introduction, speaking to the value of Off Piste as a vital educational tool for avalanche safety. UAC is widely recognized as a leader in its innovative approach to avalanche safety eduation.