Born 1973 (age 52) · Mankato, Minnesota, USA
Appears in 32 titles

Jimmy Chin (born October 12, 1973) is an American professional climber, mountaineer, skier, director and photographer. He has organized and led numerous climbing, ski-mountaineering and exploratory expeditions to China, Pakistan, Nepal, Tanzania, Chad, Mali, South Africa, Borneo, India and Argentina. His achievements include climbing and skiing Mount Everest from the summit, making first ascents of big walls and alpine towers in the Karakoram Mountains of Pakistan and the Garwhal Himalayas of Northern India, crossing the Chang Tang Plateau in north-western Tibet on foot. Chin's work documenting expeditions and climbs has been featured in numerous publications, including National Geographic, The New York Times Magazine, Vanity Fair, Outside magazine and others. In 2019, Chin was awarded the National Geographic "Photographer's Photographer Award" by his peers. His first book of photography documenting his career in the mountains, There and Back, became a New York Times Best Seller in 2021. Chin co-directs with his wife Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi. Together they directed the documentary Meru, which won numerous awards including the Audience Award at the Sundance Film Festival and was shortlisted for an Academy Award, and Free Solo, which won an Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature, a BAFTA and seven Primetime Emmys. Free Solo had the highest-grossing opening weekend in history for a documentary.

Filmography

Free Solo
7.9
Free Solo
2018
Director
Return to Space
6.5
Return to Space
2022
Director
NYAD
7.1
NYAD
2023
Director
The Rescue
8.0
The Rescue
2021
Director
Meru
7.4
Meru
2015
Director
Endurance
7.1
Endurance
2024
Director
Wild Life
7.3
Wild Life
2023
Director
Lost in the Jungle
7.4
Lost in the Jungle
2025
Director
Love+War
6.7
Love+War
2025
Director
Reel Rock 7
7.5
Reel Rock 7
2012
Director
The Shark's Fin
10.0
The Shark's Fin
2012
Director
What if He Falls?
What if He Falls?
2018
Director
Bartali
Bartali
Director
From the Edge
Director