Thursday, March 13, 2014

Banff

One time when I was in college, a boy took me on a date to the Banff Mountain Film Festival World Tour when it was in town.  He was a ski bum of sorts and said this film festival was like Warren Miller, but for all mountain sports.  The films we saw were unbelievable!  Since that year (I think it was 2003), I have only missed Banff once, when I was living out of the country.  Yes, I am a bit obsessed.  I look forward to it more than Christmas.

This year, there were two films I especially loved.  One was called North of the Sun.  These two guys were so rad. Read about it here



The other, Sensory Overload, was about a blind adventurer named Erik Weihenmayer.  Erik is the first blind person to summit Mount Everest.  He then went on to summit the highest peak on every continent.  His latest endeavor had been kayaking, which was what this Banff film was documenting.  Remember how he's blind?  It was one of the coolest things I've ever seen.  I wish I had been able to write down everything awesome he said in that film, but since I can't find it anywhere online to watch again, I decided to get his autobiography from the library.  I'm sure there will be quotes to come :) but in the meantime, you should check out his website http://www.touchthetop.com/  This guy is so inspiring.


And then, just for fun, here are two of my other favorite Banff films from years past.  I picked short ones so you'd be sure to be tempted to watch them.  The first one freaks me out a little now because my son is going to look just like this kid in a few years!






1 comment:

  1. My stupid life has kept me from banff like the last 10 years or something. Not that many but holy crap! I don't even remember that it happens. Now you've reminded me to be sad again that I missed it. haha. Just kidding. But it does make me sad that I don't get to be going with you and such. Sounds pretty awesome though.

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