Extreme mountain biking. Rock climbing in secluded areas. Kayaking in life threatening waters. Skiing and snowboarding on the most dangerous mountains.
From the largest arts and creativity incubator on the planet comes one of the world’s most prestigious mountain film festivals, the Banff Mountain Film Festival World Tour.
The “World Tour” is a series of short films with adrenaline-packed action sports in remote cultures. Films featured on the tour are known as the “Best of the Fest,” and are sure to get ones heart rate up.
The Banff Mountain Film Festival is a program of the Banff Centre in Alberta Canada. This year’s tour features a collection of the festival’s most inspiring action, adventure and environmental films.
The Banff Mountain Film Festival is held annually in Banff, Alberta, and then embarks on a world tour immediately after the festival ends in November. They travel to 32 countries and reach more than 245,000 people at more than 635 screenings worldwide.
Hundreds of excited students and Wyoming residents came out in anticipation of a great show, and they did not leave disappointed.
One film that really stood out featured the story of a blind man who participates and competes in almost every extreme sport. He climbed some of the world’s tallest and most dangerous mountains, ice-climbed glaciers in Greenland and Colorado. What stood out the most was the fact that he had taken up kayaking…as a blind man. Kayaking is a water sport whereby the individual sits in a small, narrow, human powered boat primarily designed to be manually propelled by means of a double paddle. Kayaks can be differentiated from canoes because in a kayak the individual and boat are one, where as in a canoe, the individual sits on top of the boat.
The most shocking thing was not necessarily that he kayaked, because almost anyone, blind or not can just sit in a boat in still water. What made me hold my breath was the fact that he was kayaking in some of the world’s most dangerous and unforgiving water. Coursing waters that could take his life at any moment and competing against the most advanced and experienced kayakers in the world-who by the way, unlike him just happen to able seeing men. Every time his boat would turn over and he would go flying down the river the audience would gasp.
About the sport and his experience with the water he said, “While I am kayaking I feel as though I am part of the water… I listen to my partner and the motion of the water to maneuver myself through the angry waters.” He later added that, “The longer he kayaks, the more he realizes why there are no other blind kayakers in the world.”
The films shown at the Banff Film Festival are sure to inspire anyone. Regardless of whether or not an individual participates or has an interest in extreme sports. These films are about real people pushing themselves out of their element, and everyone can relate to that.
