The North Face Presents: Earthside
2022 · 33 min · Big Wall, Alpine, Documentary · The North Face
In the spring of 2022, four North Face athletes went to Baffin Island to climb and ski first descents in the Canadian Arctic: Emily Harrington, Brette Harrington, Christina Lusti and Hilaree Nelson. Directed by Kaki Orr and Rob Wassmer, the film follows the expedition through big Arctic walls and untouched ski lines, and closes as a dedication to Nelson, who died later that year. It is a trip film that became something else in the edit. The climbing and skiing are the frame, but the weight sits in the friendship between four women a long way from anywhere, filmed by a crew that clearly cared about the place. Watch it for the Baffin landscape and for the record of a group at full strength, in memory of Hilaree Nelson, 1972 to 2022.
Review
A trip film that became a memorial in the edit, and it carries that weight without turning into a eulogy. Four North Face athletes, Emily Harrington, Brette Harrington, Christina Lusti and Hilaree Nelson, go to Baffin Island in spring 2022 to climb big Arctic walls and ski first descents. Nelson died later that year, and the film closes as a dedication to her.
This is for people who want the Baffin landscape and a record of a group at full strength. Kaki Orr and Rob Wassmer directed it, and the crew clearly cared about the place. It is also a good film for anyone who thinks expedition films are only about men. Skip it if you want a hard climbing objective. The climbing and skiing are the frame, and the weight sits in the friendship.
What works is the four-way dynamic. The film gives each of the four a voice rather than a slot, and the friendship reads as real rather than assembled for a brand. What it leaves out is route detail. No names, no grades, no clear picture of what was climbed or descended.
Compare it with Arc'teryx Presents: Baffin, where Marc-Andre Leclerc and Brette Harrington make two first ascents on Great Sail Peak and the film now carries a dedication to him. Same island, same climber, two losses. Watched together they are hard to take, and worth it.
