American skier completes historic Hornbein Couloir descent in tribute to late partner Hilaree Nelson
KATHMANDU, OCTOBER 16
American ski mountaineer Jim Morrison has made history by becoming the first person to ski down Mount Everest's North Face via the Hornbein Couloir, one of the most dangerous and coveted lines in the world of high-altitude skiing.
According to National Geographic, the 50-year-old from Lake Tahoe, California, summited the 8,848.86-meter peak at 12:45 p.m. local time on Wednesday before completing a daring four-hour descent that dropped nearly 9,000 vertical feet to the Rongbuk Glacier on the Tibetan side.
The feat, long considered one of the last great challenges in extreme skiing, was documented by Oscar-winning filmmakers Jimmy Chin and Chai Vasarhelyi for an upcoming National Geographic feature film.
Morrison was supported by a team of 11 climbers, including renowned IFMGA-certified Nepali mountain guides Pemba Gyalje Sherpa, Pemba Wongchu Sherpa, Yukta Gurung, and photographer Pemba Sherpa, along with several Tibetan guides and high-altitude workers. According to the sources, at least 10 Nepali high altitude workers including experienced guides were in the team.
The expedition, logistically managed by Alpenglow Expeditions and coordinated by its founder Adrian Ballinger, entered Tibet on August 25 and is expected to exit on October 19.
It is also reported that renowned Chinese filmmaker Gong Bin helped the team to secure all filming permits as well as chopper services in Tibet.
The ski descent, which Morrison dedicated to his late partner Hilaree Nelson, marked the culmination of a deeply personal quest. Nelson, a pioneering ski mountaineer, died in 2022 during a ski descent on Manaslu, a project the couple had been pursuing together. "I had a little conversation with her and felt like I could dedicate the whole day to her," Morrison told National Geographic.
The Hornbein Couloir, a steep, narrow snow gully first climbed in 1963 by Americans Tom Hornbein and Willi Unsoeld, had never been skied until now. The route plunges directly down Everest's north face and is notorious for its exposure, altitude, and unpredictable conditions, elements that have deterred even the most accomplished ski mountaineers for decades.
Morrison was not the first to attempt skiing Everest's North Face. In 2001, French snowboarder Marco Siffredi made history as the first person to ride down the North Face, carving his way through the Norton Couloir. The following year, he returned to pursue the steeper and deadlier Hornbein Couloir, setting off alone after summiting via the North Col Route in September 2002. Siffredi disappeared during the descent and was never found, his body still missing to this day.
"It's super steep and unrelenting from top to bottom," Morrison said to the National Geographic, "It's more than a mile long and just massive, dark, and beautiful in scale."
This was Morrison's third attempt to ski the line. His 2023 expedition was thwarted by permit delays in China, forcing the team to arrive too late for a summit push. In 2024, he reached about 22,966 feet before disaster struck, a small avalanche injured teammate Yukta Gurung, breaking his femur and forcing a complex rescue and evacuation to Kathmandu. Gurung later made a full recovery.
After two failed seasons, Morrison's successful descent this autumn is being hailed as a milestone in both skiing and Himalayan exploration, blending endurance, precision, and emotional resilience.
Jim Morrison has played a leading role in shaping modern Himalayan ski mountaineering. He skied major lines from the summit of Cho Oyu in 2018 and Great Trango Tower in Pakistan in 2021. Together with Hilaree Nelson, he became the first to ski Lhotse (8,516m) in 2018 and Papsura Peak in 2017. Now, with his descent of Everest's Hornbein Couloir, Morrison has completed a journey that marks a defining chapter for a new generation of mountain athletes.
The multi-million-dollar National Geographic / The North Face project will premiere as part of an upcoming documentary directed by Chin and Vasarhelyi.
