USA: Professional mountain athlete, National Geographic photographer, Academy Award-winning film director, and bestselling author
North America
United States of America
Jimmy Chinn a highly accomplished Asian American professional mountain athlete, is a National Geographic photographer, Academy Award-winning film director, and New York Times best-selling author. He has made significant contributions in the fields of climbing, mountaineering, skiing, photography, and filmmaking. His career has seen him collaborate with some of the world’s most prominent adventure athletes and explorers.;
As a member of The North Face Athlete team for over 20 years, Jimmy Chin has excelled as a professional climber and skier, undertaking expeditions across all seven continents. His notable achievements include the first successful American ski descent from the summit of Mount Everest in 2006 and the first ascent of the challenging Shark’s Fin granite wall on India’s Meru Central alongside Conrad Anker and Renan Ozturk.
Jimmy Chin’s work involves him documenting expeditions and climbs from the Sahara to the Himalayas. He has also been featured in prestigious publications. These include National Geographic Magazine, The New York Times Magazine, Vanity Fair, and Outside Magazine. He was honoured with the National Geographic Photographer’s Photographer Award in 2019. Additionally, his book of photography, “There and Back,” became a New York Times Best Seller in 2021.
In collaboration with his wife Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi, Jimmy Chin co-directed the award-winning documentaries “Meru” and “Free Solo”. Both documentaries received critical acclaim and accolades, including an Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature. Their latest documentary, “The Rescue,” has also garnered significant recognition and awards, including the People’s Choice Award at the Toronto International Film Festival.
Beyond his documentary work, Jimmy Chin has directed commercial projects for renowned brands. Examples of these include Ford, Apple, Bose, Chase, Panerai, and The North Face. He and his wife are currently working on their first scripted feature, “Nyad”. It depicts Diana Nyad’s historic swim from Cuba to Florida and stars Annette Bening and Jodie Foster.
As a speaker, Jimmy Chin shares his story and experiences with varied audiences. These include global tech leaders, financial institutions, creative agents, and non-profits. He shares his journey that describes his life as a young child in Minnesota drawn to the mountains to that of a world-class climber and filmmaker. Using his photography and film work, he relays the lessons learned from navigating the world’s most challenging climbs and other adventures. He lives in the USA and presents in English.
“Jimmy Chin is a phenomenal speaker. He is authentic, inspirational, and incredibly warm. Our audience was completely captivated by his experiences. He was the highlight of our conference by far.”
“Jimmy has always been able to inspire through his work, but we were thrilled to see his talent for storytelling translate effortlessly to captivating the room as a speaker.”