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Playing On the edge ... and lovin' it

Film Festival: Follow mountain adventures and extreme culture

MOLLY GILMORE; For The Olympian | • Published December 03, 2009

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Those who love to climb mountains and those who'd rather just see them from the freeway can experience a world of high-altitude adventure and culture this weekend - and they can do it right here in Olympia.

The Olympia Mountaineers host their annual weekend of selections from the Banff Mountain Film Festival, held each November in Banff, Alberta, Canada.

While the festival focuses on mountains and on outdoor adventure, that can include a lot of variety, said Richard Kennedy, who organizes the festival’s Olympia stop.

“The films typically cover mountaineering, trekking, climbing, skiing and snowboarding,” Kennedy said. “There are also bicycling and kayaking. And there are films about mountain culture: That could be Canadian mountain culture; that could be United States mountain culture; that could be in Nepal.”

The festival’s Olympia stop features a different program of films each night, covering a variety of sports and adventures and varying in length from just a few minutes up to an hour or so.

“We want to have people come more than one night,” Kennedy said, “We try to balance it so we don’t have all the skiing films on one night or all the bicycling films on one night and so on.

“It’s really become a community event,” he said. “Last year, we sold out Saturday and had probably 500 people on Sunday.”

Because the Olympia tour stop is just a few weeks after the festival ends, the Mountaineers will be choosing films almost right up to the last minute.

FILMS SET TO BE SHOWN HERE INCLUDE

 • “Committed 2: The Walk of Life”: The film, named the year’s Best Film on Climbing, follows James Pearson on an intense and suspenseful climb in North Devon, U.K.

“This film is about a very British climbing ethic,” said jury member Daniel du Lac. “The photography and music unpretentiously maintain tension without being manipulative, making it an outstanding film about the climbing community.”

 • “Mont-Blanc Speed Flying”: Winner of Best Short Mountain Film, this dramatic piece follows the flight of six skiers in one continuous 10-minute shot.

Jury member Don Bowie described it as a “wonderfully filmed adrenaline ballet.”

 • “Project Megawoosh”: This German short follows the quest of an engineer to create the world’s tallest water slide. The film, an extended version of a video widely seen on YouTube, got a special jury mention.

 • “Hunlen”: This film follows Will Gadd, one of the world’s best climbers,” as he climbs the frozen Hunlen Falls in British Columbia.

“He’s very funny,” Kennedy said. “Everybody seems to like Will Gadd.”