52 | AG Outdoor

WORDS MARK WATSON PHOTOS MARK WATSON, LAURA SZANTO, RITA TAYLOR

We head to Alberta Canada to check out some of the most inspiring

outdoor adventure movies and books of the year... and to socialise

with some of the world’s best climbers as they take the chance to let

their hair down at the Banff Mountain Film & Book Festival.

Movie World

BANFF MOUNTAIN FILM & BOOK FESTIVAL | 40TH ANNIVERSARY

A

T FOUR O’CLOCK IN the morning I lean out over
a frozen lake, a half empty bottle of red in one
hand and a semi-frozen shutter release in the
other. I just d ipped my ha nd into the fi nger-numb-
ing water while trying to set up my tripod. I am
not usually this clumsy, but in addition to the re
there was this evening’s earlier beers... oh, and the tequila shots fe
low Aussie adventure photographer Krystle Wright forced me to drink.
Despite the situation I’m not at all concerned; right in front of me
green lights dance across the sky and swirl above the Rocky Mountain
peaks. I am awestruck gazing upon Aurora Borealis for the fi rst time.
Local photographer and co-conspirator of this little side-trip, Laura
Szanto, turns to me from her perch on a frozen rock alongside and
smiles, “I told you so”. It was Laura, who only an hour ago in the warmth
of the Banff Centre bar amongst introductory beers and tequila shots,
who glanced at her phone and announced something about a solar fl are.
A vaguely familiar face then walked over from the bar and seconded
the idea; it was National Geographic explorer and North Face Climbing
Team member Ceder Wright.
“So this is what Banff is about,” I thought. “Oh well, I may as well go
with the fl ow.”
Laura turned to a crew of Brits on the next table, asked if they had a
car, asked if they’d seen the Northern Lights and asked if they’d been
drinking tequila. They answered yes, no, no respectively, and with that

Laurainstructed: Cool.Iamgoingtogetmycameraanda

bottle of red, then we can go.”

The Brits responded with a confused, “Okay.”

A few minutes later we were chasing the Aurora on our way to Lake

Minnewanka, via Two Jack Lake, and in true expedition style, we had

already lost Ceder. I guess this was no longer an offi cial National Geo-

graphic expedition. On the upside, our new British friends turned out

to be the guys behind some of the most cutting-edge adventure and

mountain bike fi lms on the planet: Colin Jones and Ian Dunn from

Anthill fi lms. Yeeeuw! We had a new sponsor.

When Kiwi adventure photographer Scotty Sinton appeared from

nowhere in a bid to capture a nude selfi e under the glowing green sky

it suddenly dawned on me that I was surrounded by some of the most

inspirational outdoor image makers on the planet.

Open all hours

No sooner had I made it back to the hotel and dropped my head on to

Originally established as a drama centre

n 1933, the Banff Centre has developed

through many expansions and iterations

to exist today as a fully autonomous and

respected arts, cultural and educational

institution. It is home to the Banff

Mountain Film and Book Festival.

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  d,
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