Morrison and Nelson met in 2015 on an expedition to Makalu, the world’s fifth-highest mountain, in the Mahalangur Himalayas. The pair developed a friendship before beginning a romantic relationship in 2017, bonding over their shared sense of adventure. “There’s a connection I don’t feel anywhere else…I love how it makes me feel alive,” Nelson says about ski mountaineering in the new film, which hit theaters on Oct. 30 following its premiere at the Venice Film Festival. Together, Morrison and Nelson conceived a plan: They would climb to the top of Everest’s north face, and once they’d reached the summit, become the first to ski down it. It was the ultimate proposal for a pair of adventurous thrill-seekers, but one wrong move could result in disaster. They never got the chance to take the risk together, though: Disaster struck before they embarked on the journey, a tragedy the directors capture in devastating detail in the new film.
Though most people don’t participate in extreme sports, Vasarhelyi believes there’s something inherently relatable about these feats. “I think it’s fundamental to the human paradox, which is this ability to dream audaciously, and then the mentality, psychology, mania—whatever you want to call it—to actually have the grit, determination, and diligence to get it done. I think everyone can identify with that,” she tells TIME.
Hilaree Nelson, a National Geographic Explorer and the 2018 National Geographic Adventurer of the Year —Cavan Images / Alamy Stock Photo
Morrison had experienced tragic loss before. In 2011, he lost his wife Katie and their two children in a plane crash. “I knew about Jim’s history and the loss that he’d been through, and how he had moved through that loss and found the strength and courage to fall in love again with Hilaree. That was extremely moving to me,” says Chin. “When we lost Hilaree, we saw that again in real time. We were living it with him.”
“Jimmy and I fundamentally see this differently," says Vasarhelyi of whether they would continue making the film. “It was such a tragedy when Hilaree passed, and real life has to be lived in that moment. With the decision of Jimmy stepping in as Jim’s only climbing partner, my professional interest came into direct conflict with my personal responsibilities.” At the time of filming, Vasarhelyi and Chin were married with two children. The couple divorced in 2025.
Ultimately, it was Morrison who made the decision to continue filming. “In the beginning, I didn’t want to keep going to the mountains. I was devastated by the loss of Hilaree,” he says. Initially, it looked like the quest to ski mountaineer the north face of Everest was over, and there was a seven-month break in filming. “Over time,” Morrison explains, “the inner fire and the passion for this project Hilaree and I shared together became a driving force in my life. I began to call [Chai and Jimmy] to say, ‘I’m going to go back into the mountains. I’m going to go on another expedition and push myself to complete this goal for us and for her legacy and her story.”
The two expeditions
World-renowned ski mountaineer Jim Morrison, left, and filmmaker and climber Jimmy Chin —Savannah CumminsThe expedition on Everest’s north face occurred in 2024. Chin explains why the north side of Everest, the more challenging route up the mountain and an extremely steep, 9,000-ft. face, holds such appeal. “In terms of pure technical difficulty, it’s really challenging. Because of those challenges and because it’s a direct line, it’s really appealing to climbers.” He continues: “When you’ve spent a lifetime in the mountains, you build experience to take on more and more difficult climbs, and as a ski mountaineer, more challenging ski descents. This is the ultimate line on the tallest mountain on Earth that literally splits the biggest face on Everest.”
To accomplish such a challenging climb, the climbers would do rotations, going up the mountain and back down, in an effort to build up red blood cells and acclimatize themselves to the changes in altitude as well as to bring equipment up the mountain. The process involves pushing the body to its limits, over and over again, before returning to base camp and going again. “It’s hard to sleep at 18,000 ft., so it becomes this game of acclimatizing and getting all your equipment, the rope and all the oxygen cylinders and the sherpa up the mountain,” says Morrison.
Jim Morrison, Jimmy Chin, Mark Fisher, and Erich Roepke depart from Camp One, officially beginning their summit push —Savannah Cummins“We got to the summit about 2 p.m.,” recalls Morrison. “We spent about 45 minutes on top. I connected with Hilaree and spread some of her ashes. There were a lot of hugs and a lot of tears. Then I started transitioning to skiing, which might take five to 10 minutes normally, but takes a lot longer on top of a mountain. Just buckling your boots at 29,000 ft. Every couple of buckles, you have to stand up and take a break to get hold of your breath. Everything becomes laborious. Then I looked over at Jimmy and my other teammates on the summit and said ‘OK, here we go.’” Any mistake, Morrison reminded his teammates, and himself, could prove catastrophic.
The epic descent
Jim Morrison climbs the north face of Everest —Jimmy ChinMorrison explains his feelings as he reached safety as “a tidal wave of emotions.” He recalls: “I just totally broke down. I’m crying and yelling at the sky. I’m all by myself in this glacier, and it was just a tremendous overwhelming feeling that we did it,” referring to himself and Hilaree. “I felt like we did it together, and we accomplished it. It starts with Hilaree and I, but it reverberates to the other 11 people that were on the summit with me, everyone that’s below me in base camp or in camp one, and everyone across the planet pushing their energy for us to accomplish and achieve it.”
He looks back on the scale and scope of what they all accomplished together. “I felt like it was a tremendous team effort and something that humanity helped me do.”
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