A biography for Jimmy Chinhasn’t been written yet.
“The best alpinists are the ones with the worst memories.”
“As a professional climber, that's the question you always get: Why, why, why? It's an ineffable thing; you can't describe it.”
“When I'm home, I still live like I'm traveling. I have nothing in my refrigerator.”
“Becoming a parent has changed the risk calculus for me. But it might be age, too, and seeing a lot of friends die in the mountains. Will I take the same risks I took in my 20s? Probably not, but I will always push myself in the mountains.”
“I'm a filmmaker. I like to ask the questions, make others feel vulnerable. I don't want to be vulnerable.”
“There's intense personal gratification in finding a mountain and becoming inspired by the aesthetics of an unclimbed line on that mountain, especially if that line has been tried by a lot of people who couldn't do it, and you get to set yourself up against the history of it.”
“The mainstream audience has a certain picture of what climbing is all about: man conquering mountain. But you can't conquer a mountain, though it may conquer you.”
“Meru was the most challenging climb of my life. Not once but twice.”
“The two great risks are risking too much but also risking too little. That's for each person to decide. For me, not risking anything is worse than death. By far.”
“I listen to everything while I train. From old school reggae, to classical stuff like Bach, to hip-hop, to rock and roll.”
“Climbing is my art; I get so much joy and gratification from it.”
“Great images take you on a journey via a single photograph. The depth and layers pull your eye all over the frame, causing you to pick up interesting pieces along the way, ultimately coming to a climax.”
“Fear is always there; it's a survival instinct. You just need to know how to manage it.”