Jim Morrison Skis Down Everest After Partner's Death

A man skied down the north face of Mount Everest on a day when the snow was rock hard.

The descent lasted four hours. It marked the completion of a goal that only five people in history had ever achieved on that specific side of the peak. No one had ever skied down that route before.

The journey began in 2022 with a tragedy. Jim Morrison and his partner Hilaree Nelson were waiting for weather to clear on Everest. During that wait, they summited a different mountain in Nepal. Nelson died in an avalanche after just a few turns on her skis. A sheet of snow dislodged beneath her.

The couple left behind two boys. Morrison had experienced loss before. Years earlier, he lost his wife Katie and two children, Wyatt and Hannah, in a plane crash. He described the period after that crash as a time when a simple walk down the driveway felt insurmountable. He resolved to live for those who were gone.

Filmmakers Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi and Jimmy Chin documented the process. They created the film after working on the documentary about Alex Honnold climbing El Capitan without ropes. In the new project, the risk they feared materialized. They captured the avalanche and Morrison retrieving Nelson's body two days later in IMAX. Vasarhelyi stated on screen that the worst had happened.

Chin is a climber himself. He summited and skied down the south face of Everest in 2006. He joined Morrison on the mountain in 2025. They attempted the climb once before the successful run. On that first try, some of the Sherpas expressed wariness about the risks. Morrison, equipped by North Face, pushed forward.

The filmmakers debated whether to continue filming after Nelson's death. They have two children of their own. Vasarhelyi asked Chin how many people who had eaten at their dinner table had died. The couple divorced in 2025, a fact the film does not mention.

Morrison described his goal as riding the raddest ski line in the world. The motivation was also a grieving quest. The movie follows the boys growing up without their mother. It shows the team leaving home for two-month stints on desolate peaks.

The film grows quieter as Morrison climbs higher. The families back home fall out of the narrative. The story becomes a solitary march. Morrison noted during the hike that the conditions for the descent were terrible. He had to acknowledge that the skiing might have been better at home.

Everest: The Other Side opens in theaters on Friday. Walt Disney Co. is releasing the film. The Motion Picture Association rated it PG-13 for thematic material and brief strong language. The runtime is 115 minutes. Critics gave it two and a half stars out of four.