22:49
I'm a ski mountaineer. Means I climb up difficult mountains and ski back down. As a professional ski mountaineer, the greatest thing you can do is ski things that have never been skied. Hilaree and I skied Lhotse together in 2018, a lifetime achievement for us, and shifted our sights to the North Face of Everest. The direct North Face, it's only been summited five times. And Jim Morrison and Hilaree Nelson had this outrageous dream of climbing it and then being the first people to ever ski down.
Fun and scary at the same time. The direct North Face of Everest had been rarely filmed. This was a really huge opportunity to show Everest in a way that it's never been seen before. The North Face of Everest starts at 20,000 ft and goes all the way to 29,000 ft. So, it's a 9,000 ft face. About 45° and there are parts of it that are even 60°. This is all no fall zone. It's the ultimate line on the ultimate mountain. We couldn't have done this without the right team. And it was their dream to try to get up the North Face.
The needle you have to thread to succeed at this is so minuscule. Our tent is collapsing. Oh my god. Was there part of this that was supposed to be fun? Avalanches for us are the sleeping dragons. We're at 21 and 1/2 thousand ft and right then an avalanche comes. We had just a few seconds to seek refuge. Eric, who is shooting that footage, later told me, "If this is the end, I am going to make sure that I do my job." He's struggling as the avalanche is overcoming him to make sure that he's getting the shot. The mountains have given me so much.
They've also taken a great deal from me. I don't climb ski for the risk. I do it for the presence it demands, the way life gets stripped down to this breath, this turn, this one chance. All right, cool. Well, we did it. What are we at? Are we even close to 21,000? Yeah, we're a bit over that. 2150. Hey. I'm feeling good. Stoked to be here, boys. Yeah. On the north face of Mount Everest. Woo. This is pretty sick. Oh. Oh god. Heads up. Avalanche.
Watch out. Avalanche. Oh. WATCH OUT. Knock him. Oh, we're good. All right. Watch out. I'm here. All right, let's get moving. Let's get going you guys. What happened on the front of the base? Was unacceptable. Yeah. And clearly like we could have anticipated that. That shouldn't have happened. And just being there that late in the day with that much sun, I know we all planned on it being shady, but then it wasn't shady. That could have actually been that easily could have been a broken leg or We got lucky. Let's make sure we learn from it. You don't see it happen again.
It's an experience like nowhere else. there's this connection that I don't feel anywhere else. Even if we make it to the top, I'd have to ski down the 9,000-ft face. This looks physical through here. I love you, buddy. I love you, too.
