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American skier and mountaineer Jim Morrison made history this week by becoming the first person to successfully ski the north face of Mount Everest by taking the most difficult and elusive path in the mountain.
Morrison, 50, accomplished the incredible feat Wednesday in four hours and five minutes, descending the 29,032-foot summit with a near-vertical drop down a 9,000-foot slope below to the Rongbuk Glacier, according to National geographic, who accompanied Morrision on his journey for an upcoming documentary.
Morrison completed his descent in four hours and five minutes. (Reuters/David Gray)
Its descent via the Hornbein and Japanese corridors was a historic first due to the difficulty of the course. The Hornbein and Japanese corridors are characterized by their steep, icy and narrow conditions as well as the high risk of avalanches.
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Morrison told the outlet he dedicated his achievement to his partner and famous mountaineer Hilaree Nelson, who tragically died in 2022 following a fall near the summit of Manaslu in 2022. Nepal.
Ski mountaineers Hilaree Nelson and her partner Jim Morrison pose for a portrait in a meadow near Lake Tahoe in Squaw Valley, California, October 19, 2015. (Jason Bean/USA TODAY NETWORK)
“I had a little chat with her and I 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 was like a tribute to Hilaree, something she would be proud of. I really felt her there with me, encouraging me.”
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According to National Geographic, Morrison had attempted the feat two other times, but permitting issues and dangerous weather conditions derailed his attempts. This week, on the last day of his license, Morrison passed.
As for the trip, Morrison told National Geographic it was “a mix of survival skiing and real shredding.”
Jim Morrison, partner of American ski mountaineer Hilaree Nelson, reacts during the funeral pyre before her cremation in Kathmandu, October 2, 2022. A search team recovered the body of the great American ski mountaineer Nelson in the Himalayas on September 28, two days after she disappeared on the slopes of Nepal’s Manaslu peak. (PRAKASH MATHEMA/AFP via Getty Images)
Morrison’s historic ski slope comes weeks after Polish skier Andrzej Bargiel became the first to ski down. Mount Everest without the use of supplemental oxygen.
