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American skier and mountaineer Jim Morrison made history this week when he became the first person to successfully ski down the North Face of Mount Everest using the mountain’s most challenging and elusive path.
Morrison, 50, accomplished the incredible feat on Wednesday in four hours and five minutes, descending the 29,032-foot summit with a nearly vertical drop down a slope of 9,000 feet below to the Rongbuk Glacier, according to National Geographic, which accompanied Morrision on the journey for an upcoming documentary.
Morrison completed his descent in four hours and five minutes. (REUTERS/David Gray )
His descent using the Hornbein and Japanese Couloirs was a historic first because of the difficulty of the route. The Hornbein and Japanese Couloirs are defined by their steep, icy, and narrow conditions and the high risk of avalanches.
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Morrison told the outlet that he dedicated his accomplishment to his partner and famed mountaineer Hilaree Nelson, who tragically died in 2022 following a fall near the summit of Manaslu in Nepal.
Ski mountaineers Hilaree Nelson and her partner Jim Morrison pose for a portrait in a meadow near Lake Tahoe in Squaw Valley, California, on Oct. 19, 2015. (Jason Bean/USA TODAY NETWORK)
“I had a little conversation with her and felt like I could dedicate the whole day to her,” he said.
“When I finally crossed the bergschrund, I cried. I’d risked so much, but I was alive. It felt like a tribute to Hilaree—something she’d be proud of. I really felt her with me, cheering me on.”
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According to National Geographic, Morrison had attempted the feat on two other occasions, but permitting issues and dangerous weather conditions derailed his attempts. This week, on the final day of his permit, Morrison succeeded.
As for the journey, Morrison told National Geographic that it was “a mix of survival skiing and actual shredding.”
Jim Morrison, partner of U.S. ski mountaineer Hilaree Nelson, reacts during the funeral pyre prior to her cremation in Kathmandu on Oct. 2, 2022. A search team retrieved the body of top U.S. ski mountaineer Nelson from the Himalayas on Sept. 28, two days after she disappeared on the slopes of Nepal’s Manaslu peak. (PRAKASH MATHEMA/AFP via Getty Images)
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Morrison’s historic ski run comes weeks after Polish skier Andrzej Bargiel became the first person to ski down Mount Everest without the use of supplemental oxygen.
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