Hilaree Nelson

Life is a fine line - Hilaree Nelson and Jim Morrison have often had to experience this at first hand. But the two ski mountaineers are dreaming again of a mountain, the 8516-metre-high Lhotse, and the downhill run of their lives. Never before have they succeeded in descending the eight-thousand-metre peak on skis, although the 45 to 50 degree steep Lhotse Couloir is an absolute dream line. But at some flanks of Lhotse there is seldom snow and also the weather has to play along. So the two US-Americans don't have much time left. They put everything on one card and dare to fulfill their dream with high speed and minimal equipment.

For nearly three years, director Dina Khreino interviewed world-class mountain climbing athletes, listening to what compels them to leave behind families, friends, and everyday comforts to risk everything for a fleeting glimpse into the unknown. What she found was a tribe, a diverse group of professional adventurers and amateur philosophers forged by the ultimate test of body, mind, and spirit. In the face of shifting winds, sheer granite cliffs, and impossible odds, they climb. Each for their own reason, but every one connected by the vertical world. In this rarefied air, these athletes are fundamentally changed, not just as climbers, but as human beings.

On July 22 2018, a Polish ski mountaineer clicked into his bindings at an altitude of 8,611m to make history. Follow Andrzej Bargiel’s expedition from Poland to Pakistan, as he descends K2 on skis.

In the spring of 2022, four athletes on The North Face team, Emily Harrington, Brette​ Harrington, Christina Lusti and Hilaree Nelson embarked on the trip of a lifetime. Their expedition to climb and ski epic first descents on Baffin Island, Canada became a celebration—of their​ accomplishments, of their friendship, and of their lives.​