Jimmy Chin is an American climber, ski mountaineer, photographer and filmmaker who co-directed the Oscar-winning documentary Free Solo. He turns 53 today, October 12, 2026, and he is marking the year with a New York Times bestselling book, Rules to Live By, and a new Everest film, Everest: The Other Side, which opens in theaters on October 30. He once lived out of his car to climb, and he has since stood on top of Everest, skied down it and won an Academy Award.
| Date of Birth | October 12, 1973 |
|---|---|
| Age | 53 years |
| Nationality | American |
| Zodiac Sign | Libra |
| Occupation | Professional Climber, Photographer, Film Director, Author |
| Education | BA in Asian Studies, Carleton College (1996) |
| Former spouse | Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi (m. 2013; div. 2025) |
| Children | Marina and James |
| Notable Achievement | Academy Award Winner (Best Documentary Feature, Free Solo) |
Jimmy Chin Biography
Jimmy Chin was born on October 12, 1973, in Mankato, Minnesota. His parents, Frank and Yen Yen Chin, were Chinese immigrants who both worked as librarians. His father was born in Wenzhou and his mother in Harbin.
He went to Wayland Academy, a boarding school in Wisconsin, and then to Carleton College. He graduated from Carleton in 1996 with a degree in Asian Studies. Climbing took hold of him during his college years, and it soon pushed every other plan aside.
After graduation, Chin moved into the back of his car and parked it in Yosemite National Park. He spent about seven years living that way, climbing full time as what climbers call a “dirtbag.” His parents were not happy about it.
“As far as they were concerned, I was a homeless person. And they had just spent their life savings putting me through school,” Chin told National Geographic in 2016.
In that same interview, he said things changed once his first photos ran in National Geographic. That was the point where his parents started to see his odd career as a real job.
Jimmy Chin’s Climbing Career
Chin’s climbing career took off in 1999, when he joined his first expedition to Pakistan’s Karakoram Range. In 2001, he signed with The North Face as a sponsored athlete, a partnership that has now lasted more than two decades.
In 2002, he took part in an unsupported crossing of Tibet’s Chang Tang Plateau for National Geographic. A year later, he and Stephen Koch tried to climb Everest’s North Face in alpine style, but they had to turn back.
Everest Summit and Ski Descent
Chin first reached the summit of Mount Everest in May 2004, while filming on the mountain. In October 2006, he went back with Kit and Rob DesLauriers. The three made the first successful American ski descent from Everest’s summit.
Meru and the Shark’s Fin
His best-known climb is the Shark’s Fin on Meru Central in India’s Garhwal Himalaya. In 2008, Chin, Conrad Anker and Renan Ozturk spent about 19 days on the wall and turned back roughly 100 meters short of the top. They returned in October 2011 and finished the first ascent of the route.
Other climbs followed around the world. He made a first ascent of a big wall on Mount Kinabalu in Borneo in 2007 and climbed sandstone towers in Chad’s Ennedi Desert in 2009. In 2017, he and Conrad Anker climbed a new route on Ulvetanna Peak, known as the Wolf’s Fang, in Antarctica. In 2020, he climbed and skied Mount Vinson, Antarctica’s highest peak, in a single push.
The Andrew Irvine Discovery (2024)
In 2024, a National Geographic team led by Chin found a foot inside a boot and sock on Everest’s Central Rongbuk Glacier. The sock was embroidered with “A.C. Irvine.” The remains are believed to belong to Andrew “Sandy” Irvine, the British climber who vanished with George Mallory in 1924, exactly a century earlier. The team handed the remains to the China Tibet Mountaineering Association.
Jimmy Chin’s Photography Career
Chin’s photography career began by accident. He borrowed a sleeping climbing partner’s camera, took a picture, and sold that shot for $500. That one sale showed him he could get paid to be in the mountains.
He went on to shoot for National Geographic Magazine, and his work has also run in The New York Times Magazine, Vanity Fair and Outside. His peers at National Geographic later named him the winner of its Photographer’s Photographer Award. He’s also a Canon Explorer of Light and teaches adventure photography in a MasterClass course.
In 2021, he published There and Back, a book of his photographs from two decades in the mountains. It became a New York Times bestseller.
Jimmy Chin’s Filmmaking Career
Chin’s biggest fame comes from the films he has directed with Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi through their company, Little Monster Films. Their first major film together was Meru (2015), about his climb of the Shark’s Fin. It won the Audience Award for documentaries at the Sundance Film Festival.
Free Solo (2018) made them household names. The film follows Alex Honnold’s rope-free climb of El Capitan in Yosemite, and it won the Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature in February 2019. It also won the BAFTA for Best Documentary and seven Primetime Emmy Awards, including Outstanding Directing for a Documentary. It grossed about $29 million at the box office.
The Rescue (2021) told the story of the 2018 Thai cave rescue. It won the People’s Choice Documentary Award at the Toronto International Film Festival, an award Free Solo had also won, and Chin and Vasarhelyi shared the Critics’ Choice Documentary Award for Best Director.
In 2022, Chin hosted the eight-part Disney+ series Edge of the Unknown with Jimmy Chin, which premiered on September 7, 2022. The next year brought Nyad (2023), the pair’s first scripted feature, starring Annette Bening and Jodie Foster. Both actresses earned Oscar nominations for their roles. Wild Life (2023) followed Kristine and Doug Tompkins and their conservation work in Patagonia.
Endurance (2024), which Chin co-directed with Vasarhelyi and Natalie Hewit, retold Ernest Shackleton’s Antarctic expedition alongside the 2022 search that found his sunken ship. In 2025, the pair released two more films. Lost in the Jungle told the story of four Colombian siblings who survived 40 days in the Amazon after a plane crash, and it aired on National Geographic on September 12, 2025. Love+War, about war photographer Lynsey Addario, premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival on September 7, 2025.
Everest: The Other Side (2026)
Chin and Vasarhelyi’s newest film, Everest: The Other Side, had its world premiere at the 83rd Venice International Film Festival in September 2026 and then screened at the Toronto International Film Festival. It opens in theaters and IMAX worldwide on October 30, 2026, through National Geographic Documentary Films.
The film follows skiers Jim Morrison and Hilaree Nelson and their dream to climb and ski Everest’s North Face. Nelson died in an avalanche on Manaslu in September 2022. Morrison carried on, and on October 15, 2025, he became the first person to ski the North Face via the Hornbein and Japanese Couloirs. Chin led the film crew on that expedition.
Speaking to Fred Film Radio at Venice, Chin called it “the hardest film I’ve ever taken on.” He explained the crew’s rule on the mountain: “the film’s needs never supersede Jim’s needs as a climber.” He also compared Morrison’s run to free soloing, since one slip on the 9,000-foot face would have been fatal.
Rules to Live By (2026)
Chin’s new book, Rules to Live By: How Extraordinary Lives Define What Really Matters, came out on September 29, 2026, from Celadon Books. It is built on ten conversations with people he admires, including Yo-Yo Ma, Simone Biles, Alex Honnold, Ridley Scott, Annette Bening, Yvon Chouinard, Kelly Slater, Kristine Tompkins, Lynsey Addario and Bill King. Chin narrates the audiobook himself.
The book quickly found readers. “Heard yesterday that Rules To Live By made the New York Times bestseller list,” he wrote on Instagram on October 9, 2026.
Jimmy Chin’s Personal Life
Chin married filmmaker Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi on May 26, 2013. They have two children, daughter Marina and son James, and the family split its time between New York City and Jackson Hole, Wyoming.
On April 30, 2025, the couple announced that they were divorcing after 13 years together. In a joint statement to People, they said, “After a great deal of care and consideration, we have come to the difficult decision to end our marriage.” They added that “our children remain at the center of our universe.”
Their working partnership has carried on. Little Monster Films said the news would not affect its work, and the pair have since released Lost in the Jungle, Love+War and Everest: The Other Side together.
Jimmy Chin’s Net Worth
Jimmy Chin’s wealth comes from almost three decades of work across several fields at once. His main income comes from directing and producing documentaries with Little Monster Films, including Free Solo, which earned about $29 million in theaters, and a run of National Geographic projects since then.
He also earns from his long sponsorship with The North Face and from brand work with partners such as Panerai, Canon and, most recently, Meta’s smart glasses. Books add to that. There and Back and Rules to Live By both became New York Times bestsellers, and his MasterClass course and photography assignments bring in more.
Frequently Asked Questions
How old is Jimmy Chin?
Jimmy Chin was born on October 12, 1973, so he turns 53 on October 12, 2026.
Is Jimmy Chin still married to Chai Vasarhelyi?
No. Chin and Vasarhelyi announced their divorce on April 30, 2025, after marrying in 2013. They still make films together.
Does Jimmy Chin have children?
Yes. He has two children with Vasarhelyi, a daughter named Marina and a son named James.
Did Jimmy Chin win an Oscar?
Yes. Free Solo, which he co-directed with Vasarhelyi, won the Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature in 2019.
What is Jimmy Chin’s new book?
His new book is Rules to Live By: How Extraordinary Lives Define What Really Matters, released on September 29, 2026. It made the New York Times bestseller list in its first weeks.
When does Everest: The Other Side come out?
Everest: The Other Side opens in theaters and IMAX worldwide on October 30, 2026.
