Jimmy Chin
Jimmy Chin
Jim Morrison is first to ski down Everest
Mt Everest, Phortse, Nepal
There and Back Deluxe Edition
On October 15, 2025, @jimwmorrison completed the first ski descent of the Hornbein Couloir via the Super Direct route on Everest’s north face.
Reinhold Messner called this line “the most beautiful route on Everest”an elegant plumb line connecting the Japanese and Hornbein Couloirs, starting at 20,000 feet and climbing 9000ft to the summit. A climb and ski line that has captured imaginations for decades. A line that has never let anyone descend it.
My journey with this route began in 2003 with @stephen_koch. After two months contemplating those 9,000 vertical feet, we turned back at 7,000m. Attempting the north face of Everest changed me and left a deep impression. After years of consideration, I decided a decade ago that it wasn’t going to happen for me in this lifetime. When Jim and Hilaree approached me in 2020, ready to attempt what I’d thought impossible, I felt both dread and inevitability.
What Jim accomplished that day defies words. The stakes couldn’t have been higher - zero margin for error in the infinite calculus of decisions and each perfect turn after another. But this was never a solo effort—it was a masterclass in leadership and teamwork. Jim’s vision, resilience, and fortitude inspired everyone to rise to the challenge.
12 of us summited on the last day of our permit via a route that hadn’t been climbed in 30 years. Several previous attempts to climb, ski or snowboard the line
49Shop prints at link in bio. @thenorthface
49
A dream realized…
On October 15, 2025, @jimwmorrison completed the first ski descent of the Hornbein Couloir via the Super Direct route on Everest’s north face.
Reinhold Messner called this line “the most beautiful route on Everest”an elegant plumb line connecting the Japanese and Hornbein Couloirs, starting at 20,000 feet and climbing 9000ft to the summit. A climb and ski line that has captured imaginations for decades. A line that has never let anyone descend it.
My journey with this route began in 2003 with @stephen_koch. After two months contemplating those 9,000 vertical feet, we turned back at 7,000m. Attempting the north face of Everest changed me and left a deep impression. After years of consideration, I decided a decade ago that it wasn’t going to happen for me in this lifetime. When Jim and Hilaree approached me in 2020, ready to attempt what I’d thought impossible, I felt both dread and inevitability.
What Jim accomplished that day defies words. The stakes couldn’t have been higher - zero margin for error in the infinite calculus of decisions and each perfect turn after another. But this was never a solo effort—it was a masterclass in leadership and teamwork. Jim’s vision, resilience, and fortitude inspired everyone to rise to the challenge.
12 of us summited on the last day of our permit via a route that hadn’t been climbed in 30 years. Several previous attempts to climb, ski or snowboard the line
7 months ago
It’s about your point of view. @conrad_anker has a good one. Bugaboo Provincial Park, British Columbia, Canada.
Shop prints at link in bio.
@thenorthface
7 months ago
