Banff Mountain Film Festival

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“Ice & Palms” is a German film about Jochen Mesle and Max Kroneck who bikepack for five weeks across the Western Alps to the Mediterranean—1,800 kilometres and 35,000 vertical metres—while skiing some iconic lines along the way. Photo by Max Kroneck, courtesy of Banff Mountain Film Festival

By DANA DUGAN

“Nomad Boy,” one of the films to be shown at the annual Banff Mountain Film Festival, takes a look at the life of 9-year-old Janibek, who lives with his family in Mongolia’s Altai Mountains. Photo courtesy of Banff Mountain Film Festival

The Banff Mountain Film Festival, one of the most prestigious mountain film festivals in the world, takes to the road each year following the festival held every fall in Banff, Alberta, Canada.

For the 19th year, the tour will make its annual landfall in Ketchum, for three nights—Feb. 2, 4 and 5. This is one stop of 550 in more than 40 countries across the globe. The films this year touch on culture, travel, sport and also human interest.

“This Mountain Life: Coast Range Traverse” concerns a woman and her daughter who set out on a six-month ski traverse of the Coast Mountains of British Columbia, from Squamish to Skagway. Over the course of their journey, they learn about each other while ski traversing, bushwhacking and foraging rivers.

“For the Love of Mary” follows the story of 97-year-old George Etzweiler, who began running as a way of saving his own life. Overweight, out of shape and going downhill fast, he vowed to turn things around and to be there for his beloved Mary, whom he married in 1942. Almost 50 years after he started running, he still runs and competes, now to honor his wife Mary, who passed away in 2010.

Among the more gasp-inducing of the films is “Rogue Elements: Corbet’s Couloir” in which skis are traded for mountain bikes to leap into the icy, infamous couloir in Jackson Hole, Wyo. Another is the film “Skier vs. Drone” in which Olympic bronze medalist ski racer Victor Muffat-Jeandet actually races a drone in the classic battle of man versus a very high-tech machine.

“Fast Horse” is a Canadian film that follows the return of the adrenaline-fueled Blackfoot bareback horseracing tradition. Photo courtesy of Banff Mountain Film Festival

One of the more charming entries is the Spanish animated documentary, “Viacruxis.” Marcel and Andrezj are a mountaineering team who, despite their different temperaments, make a great team. Now they face their biggest challenge: reaching the virgin summit of the highest mountain. In order to achieve this, they will have to overcome formidable obstacles and suffer hardships.

As in years past, a portion of the proceeds from the event will go to support the Friends of the Sawtooth Avalanche Center, which will also hold a raffle each night.

For more information on the Banff Mountain Film Festival, visit mountainfever.us.