Capturing Images During Mountain Climbs and Skiing Expeditions by Jimmy Chin
Jimmy Chin and Kit Deslauriers Attempt the Grand Ski Traverse
Jimmy Chin, a renowned adventurer and extreme sports athlete, is currently attempting to complete the Grand Ski Traverse, a challenging 12-mile, 20,000-foot skiing project in the Tetons. Chin, who majored in international relations at Carleton College in Northfield, Minnesota, is no stranger to high-altitude adventures.
Chin's career in extreme sports began unconventionally. After his expulsion from Shattuck-St. Mary's, an elite Episcopal boarding school in Faribault, Minnesota, Chin's life veered in a new and unexpected direction. He enrolled in a more liberal prep school and fell in with a group of beatniks with whom he started rock climbing and smoking pot. This marked the beginning of his journey towards a life of adventure.
The Grand Traverse, as the project is called, spans 12 miles and 20,000 vertical feet of some of the most rugged terrain in the lower 48. The team, consisting of Chin and Deslauriers, would be entirely self-supported, schlepping all their own gear and bivouacking in the saddles between the peaks.
One of the peaks on the traverse, the Spooky Face, is currently too steep and rocky for skiing, making it a serious alpine climb instead. However, Chin's ski descent on the Grand Teton is almost as steep as the Spooky Face, but the higher elevation provides better snow conditions.
Chin and Deslauriers are no strangers to such challenges. They are two of only a handful of people on the planet who've skied off the summit of Mount Everest. Deslauriers recounts her memorable ski descent of the Lhotse Face on Everest in 2007, which had never been skied before. However, during the Lhotse Face descent, Chin and Deslauriers got separated, each finding their own line through wind-blasted snow.
Their current expedition is not the first time Chin has made headline-grabbing adventures. Over the past two decades, he has skied and climbed his way around the world, leading or participating in expeditions to various places like China, Pakistan, Nepal, India, Tanzania, Chad, Mali, South Africa, Borneo, and Argentina.
In addition to his physical feats, Chin is also a skilled photographer. His first professional photo was taken while sitting in a portaledge on Yosemite's El Capitan. He is currently working on a documentary film, Meru, which tells the story of his attempts, along with Conrad Anker and Renan Ozturk, to climb the Shark's Fin, a mile-high fang of rock and ice jutting from the side of Mount Meru, a 20,700-foot peak in northern India.
The documentary, produced by Daniel Hug from Austria, is titled "Meru – The Ascent of the Goldfish" and features climbers Simon Gietl, Roger Schäli, and Mathieu Maynadier attempting a new route on the south-east face of Meru South (6660 m). Meru won the audience award for a U.S. documentary at the Sundance Film Festival in January and opens in theaters on Friday.
If successful, Chin and Deslauriers' Grand Ski Traverse will be another epic moment in Chin's already epic career. Despite the challenges, Chin remains undeterred, driven by a spirit of adventure and a love for the mountains.
