Jim Morrison, making magic in the Himalayas. Photo: Jimmy Chin//The North Face
Just last month, Red Bull athlete Andrzej Bargiel made history as the first person to climb Mount Everest without oxygen and then ski down to Everest Base Camp. Another historic first was recorded this week as 50-year-old ski mountaineer Jim Morrison made the first successful ski descent down Everest’s Hornbein Couloir. The feat took place from the summit on a North-facing route through Hornbein and down to Camp 1, an amazing 12,000 vertical feet.
As is the case with most things on Everest, Hornbein Couloir is treacherous. In 2002, snowboarder Marco Siffredi famously attempted to ride down the couloir and was never seen again. More than two decades have passed and Siffredi’s body has never been found. That one story will only add to the lore of Morrison’s accomplishment now, which was documented by award-winning Free Solo filmmaker and climber Jimmy Chin. His descent reportedly took over four hours and included one impassable section of about 650 feet that had to be rappelled.
While the achievement is historic, Morrison didn’t use the moment for his own glory, instead honoring his partner who had died near the summit of Nepal’s Manaslu. In 2022, Hilaree Nelson tragically fell to her death only 15 minutes after reaching the summit of Manaslu. Just a few years earlier, in 2018, her and Morrison became the first people to ski down Mount Lhotse in Nepal, the world’s fourth-highest peak.
After photos were taken at the summit, Morrison spread Nelson’s ashes, saying, “I had a little conversation with her and felt like I could dedicate the whole day to her.”
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