»Everest Superdirect«: first ski descent of the Hornbein Couloir

Mountaineer Jim Morrison has completed the first ski descent of the "Everest Superdirect." The 50-year-old American is now the only person to have skied down the entire north face of Mount Everest.

After years of planning, the American Jim Morrison managed to do what no one had ever done before on October 15th: ski down the north side of the Mount Everest (8.849 m) via the Everest Superdirect route. The route connects the extremely steep Hornbein Couloir, which reaches about 150 meters below the summit, with the so-called Japanese Couloir and extends to the Rongbuk GlacierMorrison covered the distance from the summit (8.849 m) to Camp I (6.088 m) in just over four hours.

Most technically demanding descent on the north side of Everest

Morrison, an American, isn't the first to attempt the "Everest Superdirect." In 2002, the route, considered the most technically challenging line on Everest's north face, gained notoriety. At that time, French extreme snowboarder Marco Siffredi died during his attempt. Whether Siffredi died in the Hornbein Couloir or at another point on the descent remains unclear, as his body was never found. Since then, there have been several ski descents on the roof of the world—but never via the "Everest Superdirect."

The Hornbein Couloir is the steepest and most direct route down Mount Everest. It drops at 45 to 50 degree inclination over more than 3.600 meters in altitude almost vertically downwards and poses an extreme risk of falls and avalanches.

Jim Morrison had been preparing for his attempt on the "Everest Superdirect" for years. As he told his sponsor, National Geographic, he had already been on Mount Everest in 2023 and 2024 to familiarize himself with the route. Last year, a first attempt to ski down parts of the route was successful – but the entire descent on skis remained a risky and complex project until this year's success.

Eleven-person team with supporters

During his attempt on October 15, 2025, Morrison reached the summit of Mount Everest at 12:45 p.m. local time, after spending six and a half weeks acclimatizing. The 50-year-old alpine expert was accompanied by a team of eleven climbers, Sherpas, and photographers and videographers. Also on hand was Jimmy Chin, whose team had already documented Alex Honnold's free solo climb of El Capitan in an Oscar-winning film.

While Morrison began the ski descent, his supporters used the fixed ropes for the regular descent. The summit success of such a large team is particularly impressive: "Before then, only five people had ever reached the summit via the Japanese Couloir via the Hornbein Couloir – we had twelve people on the summit," Morrison told National Geographic.

Morrison scatters ashes of mountaineer Hilaree Nelson

For Jim Morrison, the experience on Mount Everest was not only a milestone in his mountaineering career, but also a personal farewell. The mountaineer used the moment on the summit to scatter the ashes of his partner, Hilaree Nelson, who died in 2022.

Nelson was an experienced mountaineer herself and Morrison's frequent expedition partner. In 2018, the two achieved the first ski descent from the summit of Lhotse (8.516 m), the fourth highest mountain in the world. Almost exactly three years ago, Hilaree Nelson suffered an accident in a fall on Manaslu (8.163 m) fatal.

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Credits Cover image: Adobe Stock/CC