Hilaree Nelson

Hilaree Nelson appears in a single catalog film that reframes a ski‑and‑climbing expedition as an elegy and a record: The North Face Presents: Earthside follows Nelson with Brette Harrington, Emily Harrington and Christina Lusti on Baffin Island in spring 2022. The film tracks first-descents of ski lines and big Arctic walls and folds the day-to-day of expedition life into a portrait of four women traveling and climbing together.

Nelson’s presence in the film is both practical—she is one of the athletes on the ropes and skis—and archival, because the edit closes as a dedication after her death later that year. The catalog record and the film’s narration place the climbing and skiing as the expedition’s frame while letting the interpersonal dynamics take center stage: shared route-finding, partner tactics on remote walls, and the quiet logistics of moving a small team through a place with long approaches and complex weather. Nelson’s wider achievements are noted in her verified facts: she was an American ski mountaineer with several high-altitude milestones, including a 2012 double summit push on two 8000‑metre peaks and a first ski descent of the Lhotse Couloir with Jim Morrison in 2018, details that help situate the film within a career defined by big mountains and technical ski descents.