REVOLUTION_International_Vol 54

amygdala because fear keeps you alive. But there is a
point in particularly challenging situations where your
capacity to remain calm is the only thing that’s gonna get
you through it and allow you to survive and not panic and
be paralyzed by fear. It has to be a delicate balance.
What are the main technical challenges that you faced
filming Free Solo?
Alex is the fastest climber in the world, so I needed a team
of world-class climbers, the best. They needed to
be able to climb El Capitan casually in a day. On top
of that, they needed to be able to shoot. As you can
imagine, there are a very small group of people in
the world who fit both criteria.
In the movie Free Solo, Alex Honnold has an MRI
and they find that the center of the brain that
processes fear, the amygdala, isn’t as active as it is
in others. So, do you think you’re the same?
The question is whether he was born that way or
was it modified through doing certain things. Like
most questions like this I think that it’s a bit of both.
But I do think that to perform at a high level in this
sphere of work — big mountain climbing, rock climbing,
big mountain skiing — you have to have a functioning
I see that you’re wearing a Panerai, naturally.
How does this fit in with your gear?
I love the elegance of the Due [that he’s wearing],
but for climbing, the [Submersible] BMG-Tech is
my choice. I choose my equipment carefully because
I have to rely on them. Oftentimes in the mountains
your life can depend on your equipment. Everything
has to have a purpose because weight is such an issue.
So, you’re always kind of trying to cut weight down
and only bringing the essentials.
Are there plans for a “Jimmy Chin Limited Edition”?
Hopefully! Let’s see what happens.
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