Taking Flight with MountainFilm – The Joy Trip Project

Taking Flight with MountainFilm – The Joy Trip Project


How can you be uninspired when you have friends who can fly? An entire world of possibilities unfolds before you when they encourage you to take flight as well. And though most would consider BASE Jumping more like a controlled fall, the moment you take that leap into space a thousand feet above the ground you cast aside the fear and limitations that deny the true nature of your essential self. Through adventure we experience sensations of ecstatic joy that lead us to believe that we can make anything happen. That’s part of the magic that is Mountainfilm.
Very early Thursday morning I stood on a high cliff above Mineral Bottom Canyon about 35 miles northwest of Moab, Utah. On this last stop in my tour traveling between the 5Point Film Festival in Carbondale, Colorado to the Mountinfilm Festival in Telluride I met up with my friend pro climber and BASE jumper Steph Davis. She and her husband Mario Richard recently added a new service to their business at Moab B.A.S.E. Adventures. And they invited me to come learn all about it.
Tandem BASE-Jumping gives people with pretty much zero experience in the sport the chance to dive off a high rocky ledge, soar through the air and land safely on the desert floor. Without the time and expense required to establish the necessary expertise the service that Steph and Mario provide will allow just about anyone to be a BASE jumper for a day.
“We use the exact same harness and fastening system as skydiving tandems,” Steph explained on Facebook.” “The Parachute is a BASE-specific tandem parachute.”
The client is attached to the front of the jump pilot’s chest. They take one step off the cliff and they’re airborne. I’ll outline the complete details in an article for Elevation Outdoors Magazine in the coming weeks. But suffice it to say that BASE-jumping can be made possible for anyone, with a few weight and height restricts, at a nominal cost and in complete safety.
Though tandem BASE-Jumping is a far less vicarious experience than watching movies that same rush of inspiration is what they’ve got on tap this weekend at MountainFilm. Making the three-hour drive from Moab later that day I was thrilled with a profound sense of excitement for all that lay in store. From the comparative safety of theater seats adventure filmmakers from around the world invite viewers to strap themselves in for an incredible ride. Through the power of cinema audiences experience together the adrenalin induced enthusiasm of altitude, gravity and speed to discover that just about anything the human mind can conceive the body can achieve. And for the price of admission anyone can surround themselves with friends and like-minded individuals who can indeed fly and inspire them to take flight as well.
Welcome to Mountainfilm!
The Joy Trip Project is made possible with the support sponsors Patagonia, Rayovac and the New Belgium Brewing Company