KATHMANDU: In a stunning display of courage and precision, American mountaineer and professional skier Jim Morrison has made the first-ever ski descent of Mount Everest’s North Face, carving his way down the fabled Hornbein Couloir, a line so steep and direct that it had eluded every skier for six decades.

Morrison, 50, completed the four-hour descent on Wednesday after summiting the world’s highest mountain via the same route. He had reached the summit at 12:45 p.m. local time on Wednesday. His team included climbing Sherpas, fixers, and a National Geographic film crew led by Jimmy Chin and Chai Vasarhelyi, the Oscar-winning directors of Free Solo, according to the National Geographic.

For Morrison, the descent was deeply personal. At the summit, he released the ashes of his late partner Hilaree Nelson, a pioneering ski mountaineer who lost her life during a Manaslu expedition in 2022. 

"Jim Morrison has been a central figure in the new era of Himalayan ski mountaineering. Alongside Nelson, he became the first to ski Lhotse (8,516m) in 2018, a groundbreaking achievement that inspired a generation of high-altitude skiers. His Everest descent now completes a journey of resilience, technical mastery, and emotional closure."

The Hornbein Couloir, named after American alpinist Tom Hornbein who first climbed it in 1963, is one of Everest’s most formidable lines, a narrow snow gully plunging nearly 9,000 vertical feet straight down the North Face. It’s rarely attempted and almost never holds safe snow conditions for skiing.

This accomplishment crowns Morrison’s decades-long career as one of the world’s foremost ski mountaineers. It also marks a new chapter in Everest exploration, one that blends endurance, technical skill, and emotional resilience in equal measure.

This was Morrison’s third attempt to ski the Hornbein Couloir — a goal years in the making. His first effort in 2023 was halted by permit delays that prevented a timely summit push. In 2024, he managed to ski down to about 22,966 feet, describing the conditions as “surprisingly good.”

However, the expedition was cut short after team member Yukta Gurung was struck by a small avalanche and severely injured, prompting what Morrison called a “Herculean rescue.” Gurung was airlifted to Kathmandu and later made a full recovery, but the accident forced the team to abandon the climb.

National Geographic has confirmed that Morrison’s historic run will feature in an upcoming documentary, continuing the legacy of storytelling that connects adventurers and dreamers around the world.