Picture this: Sharing brews and adventure tales with Alex Honnold, Cedar Wright, and Conrad Anker. Rallying with a hoot-and-holler crowd to watch creative, call-to-action films. And engaging conversation on protecting the nation’s wildlands, led by Wilderness Society president Jamie Williams. Every year for Memorial Day weekend the arts, ambition, and proactive individuals come together in one place for an awe-inspiring event: Mountainfilm in Telluride.
Starting in 1979, a group of climbers drove into town to scale the surrounding peaks by day, and bask in stoke-worthy mountain films at night. Now, 35 years later, the 4-day annual huddle draws more than climbers and films—it attracts boundary-pushing activists, filmers, photographers, artists, environmentalists, and world-class adventurers. Close to 85 documentaries are chosen for the line-up, all with a similar thread: the ability to motivate the exploration—and protection—of incredible places and people from around the world.
“Mountainfilm is more than a film festival. It’s as much an ideas festival as it is a film festival,” said Mountainfilm Executive Director Peter Kenworthy. “It’s a platform for advancing ideas and a place to create leverage for getting people involved across different spheres. There’s a tremendous energy, and the scope is different: It’s not just an adventure festival. It spans a huge spectrum of environmental issues, social justice issues, and any issues that matter,” he explained.
The weekend kicks off every year with the Moving Mountains Symposium: A locus of presentations and guest speakers all focused on a central theme. The conversation for 2014 is Wilderness in honor of the Wilderness Act’s 50th year anniversary. In the afternoon, local shops open their doors for the gallery walk with a span of featured photography and paintings from artists such as Ben Knight, Aaron Huey, Jenni Lowe-Anker, and Chris Hanson. Then the reel action begins: Seven theaters throughout Telluride and the Mountain Village—a village that’s just a gondola ride away—preview films that range from 6-minute shorts to 100-minute features.
For Friday night’s launch, the Sheridan Opera House debuted seven back-to-back climbing shorts to a full house of charged-up festivalgoers: Prevail world premiered with Sean O’Neill accomplishing the first-ever paraplegic ice climb of Bridal Veil Falls—Colorado’s 365-foot iconic and tallest waterfall, located in Telluride—directed by his brother and world-renowned climber Timmy O’Neill. Off-width climber Pamela Shanti Pack shares her relentless grit in Off-width Outlaw, with never-before-jammed routes in Utah’s Indian Creek. Reminding us of the unparalleled power of relationships, 14.C frames the life of 14-year-old Kai Lightner, a brilliant climber that’s honed discipline and determination through the support of his belay partner: his mom.
Then, with soul-seeking cinematography and applauding first ascents, Karsts of China ventures through China’s wild and uncharted landscape of lime spires and arches with climbers Cedar Wright, Emily Harrington, and Matt Segal. Desert Ice reveals a hidden cove of extremely badass ice to climb in Zion National Park, and Dean Potter takes his dog for wingsuit rides in When Dogs Fly. And in a hilariously gripping endeavor Alex Honnold embarks on “the worst experience of his life,” with Cedar Wright in Sufferfest: A goal to summit every 14,000-foot peak in California, and to travel between the peaks entirely by bike. Ironically—even for two world-class free solo climbers—the trip actually did turn into a giant mess of suffering. Despite sore and sunburned thighs, an erroneous peak summit, and an exhaustive sleep-to-activity ratio, the two are already planning another bike adventure, but with some major tweaks. For one thing, Honnold clarified, “We’re not climbing anymore mountains—they’re too tall. We climb rock.”
At Mountainfilm, these unbelievable documentaries bring to light issues that matter and instill a contagious desire to do more: explore, take action, and give back beyond ourselves. Stories of others pushing boundaries fuel the audience to push its own. And while history is shared, it’s also in the making—case in point: Alpinist and BASE jumper Dean Potter vouches to jump out of a plane in a wingsuit and fly over Telluride during Saturday’s ice cream social or at Monday’s award ceremony, weather permitting. Check back tomorrow for an update.
A pool of passes is still available including the Fitzroy Student Pass ($50), Individual Program Tickets ($25), and a multi-person 6-Pack Punch ($155). Check out the ticket options at www.mountainfilm.org. If you’re not locked into an adventure already head to the box canyon for an inspiration-filled Memorial Day weekend.
