The Travel Diaries · Tuesday, November 3, 2026
Filmmaker Jimmy Chin discusses directing the 2019 Oscar-winning documentary 'Free Solo' alongside his wife, following climber Alex Honnold's rope-free ascent of El Capitan in Yosemite. Chin describes it as an intensely high-stakes and anxiety-inducing project.
“Alongside his wife, Jimmy directed Free Solo, the breathtaking documentary following climber Alex Honnold as he attempts to scale El Capitan in Yosemite without any ropes.”
“After Free Solo, the film about Alex Honnold free soloing El Capitan, I thought, well, I was so happy that I'd finished that film because I thought I will never make a film that feels higher stakes or more anxiety inducing than that.”