Written by Shanti Hastings-Kimball. Graphics by Shanti Hastings-Kimball.
The SCAD Savannah Film Festival screened “Everest: The Other Side,” directed by the creators of “Free Solo,” Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi and Jimmy Chin. This National Geographic documentary takes viewers through the immense impact of grief, testing human limits, and the return to the mountain to finish what they began.
Starting in 2018, this documentary follows elite ski mountaineers and the couple Jim Morrison and Hilaree Nelson, who are about to take on a mission of a lifetime: climb up and ski down the North Face of Mount Everest. Unlike most expedition films, viewers get an intimate look into both Jim’s personal life and Hilaree’s family life. As they begin planning, we learn Hilaree’s children Quinn and Graydon have grown up skiing mountains that demand experience scarcely found in people their age. Through interviews, her kids express the deep love they have for their mother and the fears they have as she takes on the North Face.
Of the three people who have climbed directly up via the North Face, only one successfully attempted to ski down Everest in 2006. In a revealing twist, we learn the climber who skied down Everest’s Nepal side is Jimmy Chin. Starting in the Tibet Autonomous Region of China, the North Face’s base camp sits at Rongbuk Monastery at an elevation of about 5,200 meters (17,060 feet).
What makes the North such a dangerous area is its susceptibility to avalanches. And, when the season is right, the dangers only get greater. Unlike the highly traveled side of Everest where camp can be set up as you go, the north face requires you to climb up from camp, make your tents and then travel back down to the camp you started. Once successful, the next big challenge Jim and Hilaree faced was the Hornbein Couloir. A shallow upright and narrow gorge located just before the peak. The climb up Everest’s North Face is a true test of human limits and will power.
“Everest: The Other Side” left me in awe with its incorporation of a great adventure and the interpersonal challenges that Jim and Hilaree faced. National Geographic directors Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi and Jimmy Chin have brought us yet another amazing documentary displaying their ability to give viewers an intimate look into this grand expedition.
Camryn is a junior writing major who loves writing stories that foster and inspire meaningful connections among SCAD students and the greater Savannah community. She an avid fan of sumo wrestling, a lover of anything made in the color chartreuse, and in her humble opinion, the sole authority on where to find the best matcha in the city.
