The Hornbein Couloir is a narrow and steep couloir high to the west on the north face of Mount Everest in Tibet , that extends from about 8,000 to 8,500 m (26,200 to 27,900 ft) elevation, 350 metres (1,150 feet) below the summit.
8-412: For the first 400 m (1,300 ft) vertical, the couloir inclines at about 47°, and the last 100 m (330 ft) is narrower and steeper with about a 60° average incline. To the east on the north face with less angle is the much larger Norton Couloir . The couloir was named after a member of the 1963 U.S.A. Everest Expedition, Thomas Hornbein , who was on the first ascent. The first ascent of
16-504: A solo climber, was a dangerous ridge - especially its crux, the "Second Step" - and ascended to the summit, alone and without using supplemental oxygen. The most successful climb to that point by F. Edward Norton in 1924, was Messner's inspiration for this attempt: Norton had also used no oxygen. In 1984 an Australian expedition succeeded in climbing a new route. From the main branch of the Rongbuk Glacier they went directly onto
24-556: The South Col , then up the southeast ridge to the peak. Hornbein and Unsoeld, however, took a more challenging, different and unknown route up the west ridge from Camp 2 in the Western Cwm, traversing over the north face to ascend the steep and narrow couloir. After summiting, they descended the southeast ridge, bivouacking high up. Since the initial ascent, there have only been another nine summiters with five expeditions through
32-564: The Hornbein Couloir, the last one in 1991. In 2001, French snowboarder Marco Siffredi from Chamonix made the first snowboard descent of Everest by using the Norton Couloir . In 2002 he attempted a new descent via the Hornbein Couloir, but disappeared in the attempt; his body has never been found. The couloir has never seen a ski descent. A team composed of Jimmy Chin , Conrad Anker and Jim Morrison planned to ski down
40-582: The couloir was made on 22 May 1963, by Tom Hornbein and his partner, Willi Unsoeld , who were with the 1963 U.S.A. expedition attempting to reach the Everest summit from the Nepalese southern side by two routes. The majority of expedition members used the same route climbed ten years earlier by Tenzing Norgay and Edmund Hillary . This entailed negotiating the Western Cwm and the flank of Lhotse to
48-516: The mountain in 2023 but retreated due to bad weather and permit issues. Norton Couloir The Norton Couloir or Great Couloir is a steep gully high on the north face of Mount Everest in Tibet which lies east of the pyramidal peak and extends to within 150 m below the summit. Its companion to the west of the summit is the Hornbein Couloir . The steep couloir (gully)
56-490: The north face and established their third high-altitude camp at the entrance of the couloir at 7,500 metres. From another camp at 8,150 m Tim Macartney-Snape and Greg Mortimer reached the summit on 2 October without bottled oxygen, the first Australians to reach the top of Everest. In 2001, French snowboarder Marco Siffredi succeeded in the first snowboard descent of Everest by using the Norton Couloir. He died
64-506: Was named after the lead member of the 1924 British expedition , Edward F. Norton , who reached a height of about 8,570 metres (28,120 ft) in this gully during an unsuccessful summit attempt on 4 June 1924. He avoided the dangerous windswept ridge and, by traversing the north face, ascended into the couloir, which has since borne his name. The Norton Couloir was the scene of one of the greatest mountaineering achievements when, in 1980, Reinhold Messner entered this gully to avoid what, for
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