Morrison completes first full ski descent of Everest north face

On Oct. 15, American ski mountaineer Jim Morrison completed what his expedition called the first full ski descent of Mount Everest’s north face, skiing from the 8,849 meter (29,032 foot) summit down the Hornbein Couloir to the Rongbuk Glacier in a run that covered roughly 12,000 vertical feet. Morrison, 50, left Camp 4 in the morning, reached the summit at about 12:45 p.m., scattered the ashes of his late partner Hilaree Nelson and began his descent shortly before 2 p.m., reaching the glacier after just over four hours of skiing and technical downclimbing.

Morrison and a 12-member climbing team supported by Sherpas undertook the route, with climber-filmmaker Jimmy Chin documenting the effort. Team members Topo Mena and Tico Morales helped fix ropes up the Hornbein Couloir, and expedition members said the party had previously attempted the line in earlier seasons. The team reported using fixed ropes on sections of the descent, but Morrison skied the majority of the route, negotiating steep, icy slopes and wind-formed ridges known as sastrugi.

The descent combined extended high-altitude skiing with technical mountaineering. Morrison described portions of the face as "abominable,"...