Mountaineer Jim Morrison made the first ski descent in history along the most dangerous route “Everest Super Direct”! He also became the only person to ski down the entire north face of Everest.
After years of planning, 50-year-old American Jim Morrison succeeded on October 15, 2025, in doing what no one had done before: ski down the north face of Mount Everest (8,849 m) via the Everest Superdirect. The route runs along the very steep slopes of the Hornbein Couloir. The Hornbein Couloir was long considered “impassable on skis” due to the steepness of the ice and the avalanche danger. This is the first time this steep and avalanche-prone route has been descended on skis or snowboards.
Jim Morrison covered the distance from the summit (8,849 m) to Camp I (6,088 m) in just over four hours.
American Morrison is not the first to attempt the Everest Superdirect. Considered the most technically challenging route on Everest’s north face, the route gained notoriety in 2002. French extreme snowboarder Marco Siffredi died during the ascent. It remains unknown whether Siffredi died in the Hornbein Couloir or at another point along the descent, as his body was never found. Since then, several ski descents have been made from the top of the world, but never via the Everest Superdirection.
The Hornbein Couloir is the steepest and most direct route down Everest. It has a 45-50 degree slope and more than 3,600 meters of nearly vertical descent, posing an extreme risk of falls and avalanches.
According to National Geographic, the team left Camp 4, set up at an undisclosed point on the north face, at 6:00 a.m. and reached the summit at 12:45 p.m. All team members reportedly used supplemental oxygen. There is no information on whether Morrison used it.
Morrison summited with 11 other climbers. There, he scattered the ashes of his wife and climbing partner, Hilary Nelson, who died on Manaslu in 2022 while attempting to ski down. In September 2022, Morrison and Nelson summited Manaslu in challenging conditions, planning to ski down the mountain. Shortly after beginning their descent, Nelson triggered a small avalanche and died. It was in her memory that Morrison promised to ski down the north face of Everest, and he kept his word.
Morrison was accompanied by a strong team of climbers. Among them were Yukta Sherpa, who was injured in an avalanche in 2024, filmmaker Jimmy Chin, Topo Mena from Ecuador, and his friend Tico Morales, who helped fix ropes in the Hornbein Couloir.
Morrison put on his skis and began his descent just before 2 p.m. The next four hours and five minutes were spent descending. An impressive 3,650 meters to the Rongbuk Glacier along a slope with a 50-degree inclination.
Conditions were appalling, Morrison noted. The most difficult section of the couloir was bare rock. There he had to remove his skis. He walked down the 200-meter slope. He passed yellow oxygen tanks left behind by Tom Hornbein and Willi Unsold back in 1963.
Some sections of the snow slope were pockmarked with extreme sastrugi—ridges and pits with elevation changes of a meter, like frozen waves. This is the result of snow erosion by wind.
Sastrugi are a type of snow relief—a stationary, narrow, hard ridge of snow stretching along the wind, up to several meters long and sometimes up to 1.5 meters high.
Morrison took a short break at Camp III. Then he continued his descent in more favorable snow conditions. When he finally reached the glacier at the foot of Everest, he couldn’t contain his emotions and burst into tears.
“I took such a risk, but I’m alive. It was a tribute to Hilary—something she would have been proud of.” “I really felt like she was there, encouraging me,” he said.
The rest of the team descended the fixed ropes.
Hornbein Couloir is one of the most iconic and dangerous routes on Mount Everest. This is a narrow, ice-rock trench that cuts through the northwest face of the summit, on the Tibetan side, and descends from an altitude of approximately 8,750 meters to the Western Cwm.
Geography and Location:
- Located between the Northwest Ridge and the North Face of Everest.
- The couloir is approximately 800 meters long, with an elevation difference of approximately 700–800 m.
- The average slope is 50–55°, with some sections reaching 60°.
- The couloir narrows in places to 1.5–2 meters wide.
- The lower part ends with an ice wall and access to the North Col.
History Passage:
First passed in 1963 by an American expedition led by Norman Dyrenforth. Tom Hornbein and Willi Unsoeld made the first ascent of this couloir, summiting from the Tibetan side and descending via the southern route into Nepal, thus completing the first-ever traverse of Everest.
Their overnight stay without tent or oxygen at 8,600 m became legendary – both barely survived, with Unsoeld later losing several fingers to frostbite.
⚠️ Dangers
- Constant rockfall and icefall from the upper part of the wall.
- Unstable firn and bare ice, especially in the lower part couloir.
- Extremely low oxygen levels (about 33% of normal).
- No escape route—if you fall, the descent will be fatal.
Meaning:
Hornbein Couloirais considered one of the most aesthetic and “clean” climbing routes on Everest. Unlike the commercial routes (southern and northern), it remains a symbol of technical and ethical mountaineering at the highest level.
The “Everest Superdirect” route is one of the most technically difficult and little-known routes up Everest, running along the North Face of the mountain, in its central part, between the Hornbein and Japan Couloir.
It got its name from the nature of the line — “Superdirect”: the route goes almost directly from the base of the north face to the very summit, without detours or ridges, along the most logical, but extremely dangerous line.
General characteristics:
- Side: North (Tibet, route from Rongbuk).
- Terrain type: ice-rock-mixed, With complex walls and couloirs.
- Elevation difference: ~3,000 m from the base of the north face to the summit (from ~6,500 m to 8,848 m).
- Average slope angle: 55–65°, individual sections up to 75°.
Altitude zones:
- Lower — icefall and firn fields.
- Middle — mixed and narrow couloirs.
- Upper — access to the ice-rock dome under the summit, directly below the Norton Triangle.
Climbing History:
The Everest Superdirect route was first climbed in 1980 by a Japanese expedition led by Kenji Nakai. The name “Everest Superdirect” was coined because it runs super straight from the base of the wall to the summit without intersecting with other routes.
This was one of the first technical ascents of Everest without mass support—the participants used fixed ropes only for part of the route. The expedition faced extremely difficult conditions: avalanches, winds up to 150 km/h, and extreme exposure.
Route features and dangers:
- Constant rockfalls and icefalls, especially in the middle part of the route, where several couloirs converge.
- A very steep wall (up to 65–70°) with poor protection and rare natural points.
- Difficult acclimatization: it is impossible to set up a safe camp above 8,000 m on the direct route line.
- Highest technical difficulty: according to current estimates – ED+ / WI5 / M6 (extreme class).
Modern Value:
- Today, the route is rarely used due to its extremely high risk and logistical complexity.
- Only a few climbers attempted to repeat the Superdirect in the 2000s and 2010s, but without success.
- It remains a symbol of “pure mountaineering” in the Death Zone, an example of a technical line accessible to only a few.
Everest North Face Routes:
1. (1) Integral N.E. Ridge – 1995 Japanese team
2. (L) Russian Couloir – 2004 Russian
3. (K) The Complete NE Ridge, N-NE
4. (M) South Pillar, NE Ridge-N Face-Norton Couloir I – Messner SoloRoute 1980 Messner Italian
5. (N) American Direct – 1984 American
6. (0) The Great Couloir aka Norton Couloir (White Limbo) – 1984 Australian
7. (P) Russian Direct – 2004 Russian
8. (Q) Japanese Supercouloir – 1980 Japanese
9. (A) West Ridge Direct – 1979 Yugoslavian
10. (R) Canadian Variation – 1986 Canadian
Article source: alp.org.ua