How Unthinkable Loss Led Me to the Top of Mount Everest

After tremendous loss and heartbreak, Jim Morrison didn’t feel he had anything left to lose. Then he went for a walk. Next, a hike. Soon, he was running. He found challenging himself in nature helped him work through his grief, and before long he was seeking out increasingly difficult feats.

In 2025 he became the first person to successfully climb up the North Face of Mount Everest and then ski down. A new documentary, “Everest: The Other Side,” chronicles Morrison’s journey to Everest and tells the story of his great loves and devastating tragedies.

On this episode of “Modern Love,” Morrison talks about how he survived the darkest times in his life and how coming right up to the edge of what’s humanly possible keeps him close to the people he’s lost.

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