Ski mountaineer Jim Morrison completes first descent of Everest's north face
The four-hour run concluded a documentary project that began with the death of his partner, Hilaree Nelson.
By Gabriela Flores ·
Ski mountaineer Jim Morrison finished the first-ever ski descent of Mount Everest's north face on Oct. 15, 2025. The four-hour, five-minute run concluded a project that started in 2022 with the death of his partner, Hilaree Nelson, and was captured in the documentary Everest: The Other Side. The film hit theaters on Oct. 30, following its premiere at the Venice Film Festival.
Morrison and Nelson met in 2015 while climbing Makalu and began a romantic relationship in 2017. Their shared goal was to reach the summit of Everest's north face and ski down the steep, 9,000-foot slope. The plan was cut short on Sept. 26, 2022, when an avalanche killed Nelson while the pair was climbing nearby Mount Manaslu. The incident forced the filmmakers, Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi and Jimmy Chin, to rethink the scope of their documentary.
Chin, a longtime friend and experienced climber, replaced Nelson as Morrison's partner for the 2024 expedition. The team established an advanced basecamp at 18,100 feet and three additional camps, with one located just below the Hornbein Couloir. Climbers performed rotations to acclimatize to the altitude and transport equipment. The initial 2024 attempt was aborted after team member Yukta Gurung broke his leg and weather conditions turned unfavorable.
Morrison, Chin, and a team of 12 climbers returned to the mountain in September 2025. The second expedition lasted seven weeks without injury or major weather delays. On Oct. 15, the group reached the summit at 29,031 feet. Morrison spent 45 minutes at the peak to scatter Nelson's ashes before transitioning into his skiing gear. The process of buckling his boots at that altitude required frequent breaks to catch his breath.
Morrison described the descent as the hardest and most dramatic ski run of his life. The route required constant attention to avoid catastrophic errors. As he descended, the air became richer in oxygen, allowing his body to recover from the extreme altitude. He reached the glacier alone, where he cried and yelled at the sky in relief. The achievement stands as the culmination of a personal quest to honor Nelson's legacy and complete the technical line on the world's highest mountain.
The documentary details the physical and emotional toll of the endeavor. Vasarhelyi noted that the project evolved from a story about a couple's athletic feat into a narrative about processing grief. Morrison initially hesitated to return to the mountains after Nelson's death but found the passion for the project drove him to push forward. The film is showing in regular and IMAX formats, highlighting the scale and danger of the north face.
Source: Time
