The North Face Athletes Make First Ski Descent of Great Trango Tower in Pakistan

Three North Face athletes recently completed a ski line that you couldn’t make up in your wildest dreams. The athletes climbed and skied the Great Trango Tower in the Karakoram Range in Northern Pakistan.

Tahoe mountaineering legend Jim Morrison , Christina ‘Lusti’ Lustenberger , and Chantel Astorga conjured up a mythical line that traverses a ribbon of snow, crosses no fall zones, and navigates steep couloirs.

This line was attempted in 2023 by Morrison, Lustenberger, and Nick McNutt, but the three were stopped short of their goal by the crevasse near the peak of the tower. This time was a different story. A combination of good weather, impeccable planning, and sheer determination got them to their goal.

After looking at the line they skied you may think, why even bother with that? But Lustenberger summed it up pretty well in an interview with Gear Junkie .

“I mean, it’s the Trango Tower. Look at it. Why wouldn’t you want to ski it? Some wild terrain just draws you in with such immense curiosity,” said Lustenberger.

This immense curiosity was rewarded with elation at the top as Morrison describes.

“The most exciting moment for me was when we climbed toward the summit, and I realized we were going to pull it off,” said Morrison. “It had been such a long time in both planning and training mixed with so many failed attempts that the success of making it to the top felt really sweet.”

For the 2018 Nat Geo Adventurer of the year, Jim Morrison, this was more than ‘conquering’ a mountain and skiing down it. It took years of planning, a failed attempt, and an emotional breakthrough as it was his “first significant goal since Manaslu.”

He also pays homage in this post to his climbing and life partner Hilaree Nelson, who tragically lost her life last year skiing in the Himalayas.

She has always been an inspiration to Morrison and the two women who made this successful climb and descent.

“It was really special, I think, for him to have that and to hold Hilaree’s spirit with him up there,” Lustenberger said.