Outdoor Recreation, Half-Moon Outfitters host BANFF Mountain tour for ninth year
From walking a tightrope in the nude above a never-ending summer canyon, to trademarking a long-awaited victory dance atop one of the world’s tallest snow-covered mountains, there’s a certain thrill to the possibilities of the great outdoors.
Ultimate adventure-seekers canoe in roaring rapids alongside nature’s beautiful, and largely extinct, species and climb the sides of uncharted territory in search of the land and the beauty’s unmatched exhilaration.
And in the far reaches of foreign ground and unseen exploration, there’s one, all-revealing outlet: the Banff Mountain Film Festival.
The internationally-touring festival, which visits 32 countries every year, will make a stop in the Russell House Ballroom Wednesday at 7 p.m., co-sponsored by Columbia’s Half Moon Outfitters and USC’s Outdoor Recreation.
“We really wanted to bring more outdoor adventure to Columbia to show people that you don’t have to go out of the city to actually experience things,” said Katie Walsh , Half-Moon Outfitters manager, “and get people really amped up about what you can do outside and just broaden the horizons of the community.”
The festival brings a collection of films from outdoor ventures around the world — from five-minute clips to hour-long documentaries — with one goal: “to introduce and expose the community to the world of outdoor sports and to excite them about spending time outdoors,” said Kenny Linderman, Outdoor Recreation’s BANFF marketing manager.
But the Banff Mountain festival, in its ninth year in Columbia, takes on a special goal for Outdoor Recreation and students at the university.
“We just want to share the thrill and amazement that the outdoors can bring to anyone,” Linderman said. “We want people to come to the festival and leave wanting to go outside and do something amazing.”
Linderman has been to Columbia’s showing of the festival for the past three years, taking the mission of the larger movement down to a community level.
“I know from experience that every year when I come out from the films I’m pumped to do something that could someday end up at the festival itself,” Linderman said. “It’s a blast, and that’s something that anyone who goes will attest to.”
The Banff Centre, which works to cultivate arts and cultural education, sits in Banff National Park in Alberta, Canada. Each year, they take submissions of films showcasing the great outdoors across the world, from the public.
“Obviously, the films that win the awards and are thrown onto the tour are high class films that have taken a lot of work and dedication, but nonetheless they are submitted from all around the world by people like you and me,” Linderman said.
Twenty-seven films make the festival reel, which is sent to the Outdoor Recreation office for pre-screening to tailor each year’s Columbia event. Walsh, as well as a BANFF representative, will pick between five and eight clips Wednesday to show at the festival based on what the community wants and what’s available in the year’s picks.
The documentary-esque films outline the major categories of outdoor sport, including mountain biking, rock climbing and environmentalism, and Wednesday’s show will be sure to include at least one film from each niche, Walsh said.
All proceeds from Columbia’s BANFF world tour stop benefit the South Carolina Nature Conservancy, an organization that “protects the land and waterways that we play in all the time,” Walsh said.
“Everything we take for granted and don’t think about, they’re working day and night to make sure that they’re things we can enjoy today and things our grandchildren can enjoy in the future.”
And in its nine-year run in Columbia, the festival has worked to aid this organization and change the culture in the community.
“I think it’s brought a lot of awareness,” Walsh said. “People come out and find these great kayaking places and mountain biking trails right here in town. And it makes them want to protect these areas that have become their playground.”
The BANFF Mountain Film Festival, Columbia edition, will begin Wednesday at 7 p.m. in the Russell House Ballroom. Tickets are $7 for students, faculty and staff and $10 for the public.
Vendors and representatives from North Face, Outdoor Research, Deuter and Merrell, as well as Cromer’s popcorn and El Burrito contribute raffle prizes to round out the event.
“We try and keep it local,” Walsh said. “It encompasses two things we’re really passionate about: bringing outdoors to the community and supporting a great non-profit.”