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American skier and mountaineer Jim Morrison made history this week when he became the first person to ski down the north face of Mount Everest using the mountain’s most challenging and elusive trail.
Morrison, 50, accomplished the incredible feat in four hours and five minutes on Wednesday, descending from the 29,032-foot summit with a near-vertical drop down a slope 9,000 feet below to the Rongbuk Glacier, according to National Geographic, which followed Morrision on the journey for an upcoming documentary.
Morrison completed his descent in four hours and five minutes. (REUTERS/David Gray)
His descent using the Hornbein and Japanese Couloirs was a historic first due to the difficulty of the route. Hornbein and Japanese Couloirs are defined by their steep, icy and narrow conditions and the high risk of avalanches.
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Morrison told the outlet that he dedicated his feat to his partner and renowned mountaineer Hilaree Nelson, who tragically died in 2022 after a fall near the summit of Manaslu in Nepal.
Ski mountaineers Hilaree Nelson and her partner Jim Morrison pose for a portrait in a meadow near Lake Tahoe in Squaw Valley, California, on October 19, 2015. (Jason Bean/USA TODAY NETWORK)
“I had a little conversation with her and felt like I could dedicate the whole day to her,” he said.
“When I finally crossed the bergschrund, I cried. I had risked so much, but I was alive. It felt like a tribute to Hilaree – something she would be proud of. I really felt like she was with me, cheering me on.”
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According to National Geographic, Morrison had attempted the feat on two other occasions, but permitting problems and dangerous weather conditions derailed his attempt. This week, on the last day of his permit, Morrison succeeded.
As for the journey, Morrison told National Geographic that it was “a mix of survival skiing and actual shredding.”
Jim Morrison, partner of American ski mountaineer Hilaree Nelson, reacts during the funeral pyre ahead of her cremation in Kathmandu on October 2, 2022. A search team retrieved the body of American ski mountaineer Nelson from the Himalayas on September 28, two days after she disappeared on the slopes of Nepal’s Mount Manaslu. (PRAKASH MATHEMA/AFP via Getty Images)
Morrison’s historic ski run comes weeks after Polish skier Andrzej Bargiel became the first person to ski down Mount Everest without the use of supplemental oxygen.
