Commentary / 26.10.2009
The Edge of Never – The Joy Trip Project
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An adventure film premieres in Madison on Wednesday. In a spate of one-night adrenaline injections following the Lance Armstrong pic Race Across the Sky and Warren Miller’s Dynasty, The Edge of Never plays at the Sundance Theater, 7PM $20.
Set against the backdrop of Chamonix, France, this documentary tells the story of extreme skier Trevor Petersen. A hero of many true-life action films of the 80s and 90s, Trevor’s career was cut tragically short during a fatal avalanche in a region known as “the death sport capital of the world.”
If you’ve been watching television or checking your favorite web sites lately, you’ve noticed one number keeps popping up. On October 24rd in particular people around the world have been plastering the number 350 on billboards, marching with it on signs and performing physical stunts to share this number with as many people as possible. Groups numbering in the thousands have gathered across the U.S. and in many countries to spell out 350 on surfaces from grassy fields, to mountain summits, to the open ocean. Writer and environmental activist Bill McKibben says 350 is a number we all need to be aware of.
"It’s the most important number in the world. It’s the amount of carbon, that’s measured in parts per million, that the scientists now say is the most we can have in the atmosphere and maintain the civilization that we now enjoy," McKibben said. "We’re past that number already. We need to get back to it. That’s why the stakes are so urgent."
