For most climbers, summiting Everest is an unfathomable accomplishment, marking the peak of mountain climbing success.
For American climber Jim Morrison, the trek to the top of Mount Everest’s north face was only the beginning of his historic journey: On Oct. 15, Morrison became the first person to ski down Everest’s most challenging route, the Hornbein Couloir, a narrow and steep gully just over 1,100 feet below the mountain’s summit.
“It’s very steep, unrelenting, and technically just really challenging the whole way on the way up, so only five people have ever made it up this route,” Morrison said in a live interview with Good Morning America on Monday.
The feat is the subject of an upcoming National Geographic documentary that is currently in production.
Morrison took on the challenge with renowned filmmaker and mountaineer Jimmy Chin, director of 2018’s Free Solo, which won an Oscar for documenting rock climber Alex Honnold‘s free solo climb of El Capitan in California’s Yosemite National Park.
“We trained for literally years … but we also have a lifetime of experience in the mountains, which this kind of route you can’t just train for,” Chin said of his and Morrison’s Everest quest. “You need to really bring all of your experience with risk assessment and understanding the risks and stakes.”
Chin said the pair started the project five years ago, and the climb took three separate attempts to complete.
Morrison, 50, accomplished the feat at 7:45 p.m. local time after spending over six weeks on the mountain, according to National Geographic.
The route, a combination of the Hornbein and Japanese Couloirs, began at a height of 29,032 feet.
Morrison said the descent took about four hours.