Jim Morrison Sets Record by Skiing Down Everest’s Most Dangerous North Face, Watch Video

Kathmandu: American mountaineer Jim Morrison has made history by becoming the first person to ski down the fearsome Hornbein Couloir on the north face of Mount Everest, a route regarded as the mountain’s most difficult.

Morrison completed the historic descent on October 16, with his achievement made public on October 27. The terrain features a terrifying 50-degree slope and a direct vertical drop of 9,000 feet. He finished the descent in four hours and five minutes.

The north face of Everest has long been a dream for ski mountaineers. The Hornbein Couloir, in particular, was considered one of the last great unsolved challenges. Several previous attempts to ski or snowboard down it had ended in tragedy, resulting in serious injuries and deaths.

Speaking to National Geographic, Morrison said the descent was “very steep and continuous from top to bottom,” passing through a narrow, strikingly beautiful couloir. He described it as a “huge, dark, and beautiful scale” stretching more than a mile long.

 

According to Morrison, the slope conditions were extremely difficult due to strong winds that had blown for a week. “But I managed to make a really great turn and a very scary, very beautiful descent,” he said, calling it “the best run on planet Earth.”

He said the weather that day was perfectly clear, with sunshine throughout, a few clouds below, and almost no wind,  “a perfect Himalayan day to climb the world’s highest peak.”

Morrison dedicated his historic descent to his late partner and National Geographic explorer Hillary Nelson, who died three years ago after falling from Manaslu, the world’s eighth-highest mountain.

He said he broke down in tears after crossing the bergschrund. “I had taken so many risks, but I was alive,” Morrison said. “It felt like a tribute to Hillary, something she would have been proud of. I really felt she was there with me, cheering me on.”

After the descent, he expressed his deep emotion and gratitude, saying, “I’m happy. I’m tired. I’m emotional. I’m so proud of my team and thrilled to have completed this great mission.”

Jim Morrison is a renowned ski mountaineer, best known for the first-ever ski descent of Lhotse in 2018, a feat that earned him the title of National Geographic Adventurer of the Year.

His record-breaking Everest descent was filmed by Oscar-winning National Geographic explorer Jimmy Chin, who, along with Chai Vasarhelyi, is directing a documentary about Morrison’s daring, life-threatening achievement.

 

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