Jim Morrison Everest

More success on Everest

Weeks after Polish alpinist Andrzej Bargiel completed a full ski descent of Everest’s South side without supplemental oxygen, American skier Jim Morrison (50) made history on October 15, skiing an impresive link-up of the Japanese and Hornbein couloirs off Everest’s north face (most likely with supplemental oxygen). Both skiers had a large support team with trailbreakers, rope fixers, filmers, etc.

Morrison and his support team began work on the mountain more than six weeks earlier and waited for a brief October weather window before making their summit push. At 12:45 p.m. local time on October 15 the group had 12 people standing on the summit, a rare concentration on a route that has seen very few attempts. Only about five people had previously climbed the Japanese Couloir into the Hornbein, and the last successful ascent of that combined line before this year was in 1991.

At the summit Morrison paused to scatter the ashes of his late wife and ski partner, Hilaree Nelson. He described the descent as a personal tribute to her.

From the summit Morrison skied downward in a continuous effort that National Geographic reports took 4 hours and 5 minutes and covered roughly 9,000 vertical feet to the Rongbuk Glacier. Jim was unable to ski for 650 feet, most likely due to lack of snow he was forced to rappel this section over bare rock before resuming his ski. This section passed the historic spent yellow oxygen canisters left by Tom Hornbein and Willi Unsoeld in 1963, then put his skis back on and continued.

The expedition was organized and outfitted by Alpenglow Expeditions and included lead Alpenglow guide Esteban “Topo” Mena among the fixing team. It should be noted that photographer-filmmaker Jimmy Chin and a film crew were on the mountain with National Geographic. National Geographic and the documentary team led by Chin and Chai Vasarhelyi were working on a film about the project. Several outlets note that the team used supplemental oxygen during the push (Morrison’s personal oxygen use is not clear).

The Hornbien-Japanese Couloir run is certainly wild, and we imagine would still be a test piece if it was on a 4000m peak. Sustained fall line skiing connecting two proud features on the North Face of the worlds highest peak.

This was Morrison’s third attempt on the Hornbein, and Chin’s 4th. The amount of time and effort Morrison and Chin put in shows true dedication. On Chin’s first attempt in 2003, he and Stephen Koch began what would turn into a multi decade project for Chin. During this prolific season for skiers on Everest, both Bargiel and Morrison relied on a significant amount of help and support to achieve their objectives. Both ski descents showed amazing feats, technicality and strength.