The thrilling world of adventure photographer and filmmaker Jimmy Chin.
Jimmy Chin has dangled from cliffs. He’s been chased by giant avalanches. He’s skied down Mount Everest, the tallest mountain on Earth. Why? It’s his job!
Jimmy Chin is a photographer and a filmmaker. He has devoted his life to documenting his passion: adventure. Through his work, Chin tells incredible stories about the world of extreme mountaineering. But it isn’t easy. His job takes creativity, skill, and a whole lot of guts.
Mikey Schaefer
Jimmy Chin
Sharing With the World
Growing up, in Mankato, Minnesota, Chin had many interests: swimming, playing the violin, and martial arts. It wasn’t until college that he discovered rock climbing. Chin immediately fell in love with it. In fact, he spent seven years living out of his car while climbing mountains across the Western United States.
One day, he used a friend’s camera to snap a photo of a mountain called El Capitan. An adventure company bought the photo, and soon, magazines were hiring Chin to photograph his fellow climbers.
He relished the opportunity. “I loved the people I climbed with,” Chin says. “They were from different walks of life, but they were all trying to do things that no one had ever done before,” he says. “I wanted to share that with the world.”
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Hanging On
As a photographer, Chin does whatever it takes to get the best image. His work has taken him to all seven continents!
Skill and Guts
Today Chin is famous for both his mountaineering skills and his artistry. He’s co-directed five movies with his wife, Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi, including the Academy Award-winning documentary Free Solo. The film follows a climber’s attempt to scale a nearly 3,000-foot cliff without using ropes. Chin and Vasarhelyi also directed The Rescue, about the dangerous attempt to save a youth soccer team trapped in a cave in Thailand.
Making such movies often requires Chin to travel to remote locations and film under extreme conditions.
So how does he push past the challenges?
“I take one challenge at a time,” Chin says. “It’s like climbing: You look at a huge mountain and it looks impossible. But when you look at the 5 feet in front of you, suddenly you can do it.”
Plus, Chin notes, it’s the challenges that adventure athletes face—fear, danger, discomfort—that make their stories worth sharing.
“These stories are about the human spirit,” he says. “They’re about what it looks like to fail or to achieve your dreams.”
Write Like a Pro Challenge
Write a note to your student council proposing a theme for the fall dance. In your note:
This article was originally published in the September 2023 issue.
1. PREPARE TO READ (5 MINUTES)
Set a Purpose for Reading
2. READ AND DISCUSS (25 MINUTES)
3. WRITE (10 MINUTES)
Have students work in pairs or independently to take the Write Like a Pro Challenge on page 31 of the printed magazine or at the bottom of the digital story page:
Write a note to your student council proposing a theme for the fall dance. In your note:
Project students’ notes on your whiteboard. As a class, check to make sure the colons are used correctly. (Alternatively, have students exchange their notes with a partner and check each other’s work.)
