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Nelson And Morrison Make First Descent Of The Dream Line On 8,156-Meter Lhotse

October 1, 2018

Lhotse – On September 30, 2018 ski mountaineers Hilaree Nelson and Jim Morrison climbed to the summit of 8,156-meter (27,940-foot) Lhotse in the Himalaya and made the first ski descent of the Lhotse Couloir – a line dubbed the “Dream Line” off of the 4th highest mountain in the world.

Nelson and Morrison climbed Lhotse with Dutch Simpson and Nick Kalisz and two Sherpa guides. The group summited about 13:27. The ski descent of the “Dream Line” was around 7,000 vertical feet from the summit to Camp II. Their ski descent included the Lhotse Couloir and the Lhotse Face.

According to ExplorersWeb.com, approximately 25 people have skied the Lhotse Face from Camp 4 to Camp 3 and below, but no one has successfully skied the Lhotse Couloir prior to this. The Lhotse Couloir “runs from the summit of Lhotse for 700 meters before opening onto the face.” Congrats!

Perhaps Instagram tells the story best…

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THEY DID IT!!!!! Lhotse summit and ski! Mind blown. The Dream Line has been skied. This is what Jim just texted about the ski: “Crazy. Scary, good, bad, really bad and awesome” . . Congratulations @hilareenelson @jimwmorrison! I can’t wait to hear and see everything. ⛷⛷⛷💥💥💥#LhotseSki #Lhotse

A post shared by Adrian Ballinger (@adrianballinger) on Sep 30, 2018 at 7:18am PDT

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If all the cards fall just right, then as I write this @jimwmorrison and @hilareenelson are nearing the top of this dream line, and preparing to become the first to ski it from its summit. Don’t worry, it has a lot more snow in it this season than the last time I showed up at its base with skis and took this photo (and didn’t even try to ski 😬). Waiting by the phone for a satellite phone number to show up on my screen. Come on friends…you can do it! #LhotseSki #Lhotse

A post shared by Adrian Ballinger (@adrianballinger) on Sep 29, 2018 at 5:04pm PDT

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This morning, @hilareenelson and @jimwmorrison became the first humans in history to ski the Lhotse Couloir. After summiting Lhotse, the fourth highest mountain on earth, Hilaree and Jim made a 7000 ft descent. We couldn’t be more proud. The crew is back at Camp 2 getting some much needed sleep after a 17 hour push to the summit and the ski descent. More photos to share when they’re back at base camp. A huge thank you to the team from the @khumbuclimbingcenter for being a part of this expedition. Photos by @dutchsimpson and @nickkalisz. #LhotseSki2018 #neverstopexploring

A post shared by The North Face (@thenorthface) on Sep 30, 2018 at 10:24am PDT

We will try to update this post when more information is available.

Read more about the first ski descent of the Dream Line on Lhotse from the following sources: