What’s On My Bedside Table: Jimmy Chin

Jimmy Chin calls both New York City and Jackson Hole home these days, but he’s rarely in either locale. He spends much of his time traveling the world for photo and film assignments and climbing expeditions. His 2015 feature-length documentary, Meru, won the audience choice award at the Sundance Film Festival, and last June he shot Alex Honnold’s free solo of El Capitan. We caught up with Chin in between trips to ask him what he keeps on his bedside table.

Memoir

“I’m about to read Tommy Caldwell’s book, The Push. It’s been sitting on my bed stand for a while and I have every intention of reading it. I just haven’t been home in two months.”

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Insulated Mug

“If I’m home, I like to drink a nice cup of tea from a Yeti Rambler while I’m reading before I go to bed.”

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Phone

“My iPhone is my alarm. It’s always there.”

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Laptop

“I know I shouldn’t do this, but I’m often either reading the news or hammering emails on my Macbook Pro before I go to bed.”

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Noise-Canceling Headphones

“I travel with my Bose QuietComfort Wireless headphones on all the time and watch movies with them if I get the chance before falling asleep.”

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Movies

“I watch a lot of documentaries to see what’s out there. I watch most of my narrative films on planes or in theaters. And yes, I still go to the movies. The latest narrative film I watched was Force Majeure, a dark comedy directed by Ruben Ostland. It was a really amazing and sometimes awful film to watch.”

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Magazines

“I keep a stack of recent issues of the New Yorker, National Geographic, Alpinist, and yes, Outside magazine by my bed, waiting to be read.”