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Skier Dedicates Historic Everest Descent to Late Partner
16 Oct
Summary
- 50-year-old American skier Jim Morrison makes history on Mount Everest
- Becomes first to descend the gruelingly narrow North Face route
- Dedicates feat to late partner Hilaree Nelson, who died 3 years ago
On October 15, 2025, 50-year-old American skier Jim Morrison made history by becoming the first person to descend Mount Everest's gruelingly narrow North Face route. Morrison, who had previously attempted the feat twice before, described the conditions as "abominable" when he began his descent around 2 p.m. that day.
Prior to his historic descent, Morrison spread the ashes of his late partner, Hilaree Nelson, on the summit. Nelson had tragically died after falling from Nepal's Manaslu mountain, the eighth highest peak in the world, almost exactly three years earlier. Morrison told reporters that he "had a little conversation with" Nelson and felt her "spirit and energy" as a "galvanizing force" for him and his team.
Morrison's accomplishment is the culmination of years of work and an extraordinary team effort. Before his descent, only a handful of other climbers had even been able to ascend the Hornbein Couloir on Mount Everest, and the last attempt at skiing the line was in 2002 by snowboarder Marco Siffredi, whose fate remains unknown.
