Everest has been skied and snowboarded, but past attempts have always been on the southern slope. On Oct. 15, world-renowned skier Jim Morrison flipped the script, though.
Instead of going the same route as everyone before him, Morrison decided to ski the infamously dangerous north face of the mountain. In the process, he bagged a first descent and entered the history books.
Morrison took Hornbein Couloir, which has been considered the “most elusive and challenging route in ski mountaineering ” for years. Naturally, with a reputation like that, it was going to attract Morrison’s attention. The extreme skier climbed the couloir with 10 other mountaineers, including Jimmy Chin, who filmed the ordeal.
The run started at 29,000 feet, above the “death zone,” and required every ounce of Morrison’s focus and attention. One slip on this deadly couloir and you’re falling down 9,000 vertical feet of rock and ice.
As Morrison told the Associated Press, “It was a spectacular four hours of skiing down a horrific snow pack.”
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