Norton Couloir
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/4/43/North_face_marked.png/300px-North_face_marked.png)
the red line shows the Great Couloir or Norton Couloir; in 1924 Norton crossed the north face between the light blue and the green lines; (b) marks the highest point on west face of the couloir, up to which Norton ascended in 1924;
the light blue line shows the 1980 Messner Traverse;
the green line shows the normal route, which largely corresponds to the 1924 Mallory Route, with high-altitude camps at about 7,700 and 8,300 m, although today's 8,300 m camp is somewhat more to the west (2 triangles).
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.
Origin of the name
The steep couloir (gully) 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.
Everest solo, Reinhold Messner
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 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.
Other climbs through the couloir
In 1984 an Australian expedition succeeded in climbing a new route. From the main branch of the Rongbuk Glacier they went directly onto 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.[1]
In 2001, French snowboarder Marco Siffredi succeeded in the first snowboard descent of Everest by using the Norton Couloir. He died the following year, attempting a new descent via the Hornbein Couloir.[2]
References
Further reading
- Anker, Conrad; Roberts, David (1999). Verschollen am Mount Everest : Dem Geheimnis von George Mallory auf der Spur (in German). München: Heyne. ISBN 3-453-17711-8.
- Holzel, Tom; Salkeld, Audrey (1999). In der Todeszone : Das Geheimnis um George Mallory (in German). München: Goldmann. ISBN 3-442-15076-0.
- Messner, Reinhold (2001). Everest Solo (in German). Frankfurt: Fischer. ISBN 3-596-15092-2.
- v
- t
- e
and landmarks
- Base Camp
- Geneva Spur
- Hillary Step
- Hornbein Couloir
- Kangshung Face (East Face)
- Kangshung Glacier
- Khumbu Glacier
- Khumbu Icefall
- Lhakpa La
- Lho La
- North Col
- North Face
- Norton Couloir
- Rongbuk Glacier
- South Col
- South Summit
- Three Pinnacles
- Three Steps
- Western Cwm
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/4/4b/Everest_kalapatthar_crop.jpg/75px-Everest_kalapatthar_crop.jpg)
- 1921 British reconnaissance
- 1922 British
- 1924 British (Affair of the Dancing Lamas)
- 1933 British aerial reconnaissance
- 1933 British
- 1935 British
- 1936 British
- 1938 British
- 1950–52 British–Swiss–US reconnaissance
- 1951 British
- 1952 Swiss
- 1953 British
- 1960 Chinese
- 1963 American
- 1975 British SW Face
- 1976 British–Nepalese SW Face
- 1979 Yugoslav West Ridge
- 1996 Indo-Tibetan Border Police
- 2006 Philippine
- 2007 Altitude Everest expedition
- Earth Day 20 International Peace Climb
- Mallory and Irvine Research Expedition
- Beyond the Edge
- The Climb (book)
- The Climb (2007 film)
- The Epic of Everest
- Everest (1998 film)
- Everest (2015 film)
- Everest (Indian TV series)
- Everest '82
- Everest: Beyond the Limit
- EverestMax
- Expedition Everest (roller coaster)
- Into Thin Air
- The Man Who Skied Down Everest
- Mount Everest webcam
- Paths of Glory
- Peak
- The Conquest of Everest
- The Wildest Dream
- Wings Over Everest