From the moment I first arrived I was made to feel welcome. I remember on that first day, years ago, I was greeted so warmly by Jim Olver the director of customer service at the Banff Centre For Arts & Creativity.
You just showed up and glommed on to one of my tours,” he reminded me. “Now look at you. You’re back as a big-time speaker.”
For more than a decade I’ve enjoyed the privilege of attending the Banff Mountain Film and Book Festival in Alberta, Canada. Like most aspiring adventurers I first became aware of Banff through the amazing films that tour the world every year and feature the best athletes in the sports of skiing, climbing, mountain biking and kayaking. I was also inspired by the remarkable stories of passionate people and communities that express their place in the world through an active relationship with nature. And despite marginal skills and few noteworthy accomplishments as an alpinist I managed to become part of this annual 9-day celebration of mountain culture.
A stand out attendee of the Banff Mountain Film and Book Festival for the past 14 years, Jim Head can always we be counted on to ask a question. At each of the live speaking presentations during the nine-day program he’s the one person in the audience ready to take the microphone and demonstrate to the person on stage that he was listening and paying attention to their every word. Though some suspected that he was planted in the crowd by the festival organizers to get the conversation...
As we’re winding up our time here at the Banff Centre there are constant reminders of enduring moments spent making cleaver expressions of mountain culture. Outside of the MacLab Bistro in the Kenner Centre of Creativity and Innovation a massive video display greets visitors with an exciting presentation of light and color as my fellow artist in residence Jeremy Collins does what he does best ~ draw. In this amazing video Jeremy sketches and paints a remarkable image on glass. Performing with great skill and talent over more than...
The 2013 adventure film festival season came to a grand finale the Banff Mountain Book & Film Festival in Alberta, Canada. The producers of the many great works of literature and cinema created took center stage to receive awards for their tremendous accomplishments. There in the spotlight before the thunderous applause of a grateful audience the best authors, filmmakers, and outdoor athletes in the world brought to a close an exciting 12 months of exploring. And as the first hard snow of winter fell over the great Canadian Rockies...
Norwegian adventurers Inge Wegge and Jorn Ranum had heard about some legendary surf waves, high up in the north Atlantic Ocean, in an island bay off the Norwegian coast. To test the rumour, they travelled to the island, built a hut out of driftwood and found materials, and spent nine cold, dark winter months north of the Arctic Circle, riding the waves. Their film of this unlikely adventure, North of the Sun, has won the Grand Prize at the 2013 Banff Mountain Film and Book Festival. “If it’s possible...
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