Hailed as the Sundance of the High Peaks, the
Banff Mountain Film Festival World Tour comes to town tonight with a program of short, documentary, and feature films. For three decades, the movies have showcased people with more guts than we’ve got: Skiers leap off cliffs, men jump from planes 30,000 feet above the Grand Canyon, and a group of middle-aged Canadians fights over a hockey puck on a mountaintop. “It’s an opportunity to be a part of something you don’t ordinarily see or do,” says Christine Russell of
Ohio Sports & Fitness Magazine, which hosts.
Each year organizers sift through more than 300 entries from 40 countries to select the best movies pitting athletes against mountains. Tonight’s program features eight films about death-defying mountain bikers, paragliders, and skiers. Their appeal, says Russell, transcends the Mountain Dew-sippin’ crowd. “Some in the audience are definitely athletes,” she says. “But most of them are armchair athletes who just love films.”
Sat., April 8, 7:30 p.m.
