theyearbeforegalaactivitiesbeginatnight.
My plans for an overnight hike and a day of
mountain biking are discarded as the mountain
weather moves in, but it doesn’t matter... I am now
fullyimmersedinthecultureofthefestival.Ican
ride my bike when I get home; for now I am a
sponge, soaking up the mountain culture in huge
gulps and unwilling to let go... well, not just yet,
anyway.
The final reckoning
Astheweekdrawstoaclose,thepartiesgetbigger,
the cinemas more crowded and the workshops more
intense.Secretmissionstohitthefirstskilinesof
the season are undertaken, while others tackle lo-
cal crags when weather permits.
It is that in-between time, between mountain
biking and skiing. The trees are bare but the snow
is yet to properly fall. The chairs are on the cables
but the lifts are not yet running.
ThereisaconstantbuzzwhenSundayrolls
around... it’s the day of reckoning.
Iarriveattheawardsjustintimetonotethat
manyofthoseIhavesharedbeerswith,coffees
with or even tequilas and midnight sorties with,
have been announced as winners; while many have
not.
Rueben is already dancing pre-after
party, following a deserved win for
Eclipsein the Snowsport category, and
Alex and Tommy have also won, taking
out the Climbing category.
However, skewing from a world of rope
and ice screws, it is the inspiring come-
back story of champion sled dog racer
Lance Mackey in the infamous Iditarod
Trail Sled Dog Race that takes Banff’s
BANFF MOUNTAIN FILM & BOOK FESTIVAL | 40TH ANNIVERSARY
sought-after Grand Prize.The Great Aloneisataleofepicstrengthand
determination, of Lance’s rollercoaster ride from youth and drug abuse
to dog sledding and eventually salvation.
In the literary worldMedicine WalkclaimstheGrandPrizeforbooks.
Harry Vandervlist, part of the 2015 Book Jury, summarises: “Medicine
Walktells an old kind of tale: a pilgrimage to a special place, powerful
stories told along the way, the stitching-up of a ravelled relationship
between father and son. In this novel the story is
distinctively Canadian, yet relevant to so many
mountain cultures, as it speaks of a First Nations
family – diverted and displaced by recent history- who must re-create a deep connection with one
another and with their home. That home in the
Western Canadian mountains is a central charac-
ter here. Richard Wagamese gives the rivers, the
hillsides, the ridges and the valleys a powerful voice
in his beautiful, tragic and hopeful story.”
The end of the perfect storm
Wrapping up the awards, a snowball fi ght erupts
whilst music blares from a heaving dance fl oor. For
many here, it is time to let the hair down. For much
of the year, those who surround me here are sleep-
ing in bivis high atop remote mountains, or wad-
ing through jungles in search of more awesome
new adventures.
I have been transformed. A week ago I had no
idea what to expect, but since arriving in Banff I
have met idols, realised a number of new idols,
learned new skills, been immersed in mountain
culture and loved every single minute of it. I have
become aware that the Banff Mountain Film & Book
Festival is a celebration of a passion for the natural
world, nature and life, and of those who best doc-
ument it with words, through books or poetry or
in photos and fi lm.
The festival not only feels like a celebration of
the year past, but also a celebration for the year
coming.
The night wears on, and Honnold’s claim, ‘I
would never dance’ is soon thrown out the window.
Krystle again emerges with tequila, even though the bar is not
erving it, and sometime throughout the night my mobile phone
beeps and oddly a message from a mate in Australia appears,
rambling something about a solar fl are that I should go and see.
Oh no!’ I think to myself. ‘Does this river ever end?’ But I have a
flight tomorrow and so for once I decide to pull into an eddy and
notgowiththe fl ow. But I promise I’ll be back next year... and
the year after, and the year after that... for as long as this river
keeps flowing.2015BanffMountainBook
CompetitionAwards
Grand Prize:Medicine Walkby
Richard WagameseAdventure Travel:Drawn: The
ArtofAscentby Jeremy CollinsMountain Fiction & Poetry:
Medicine Walkby Richard
WagameseMountain & Wilderness
Literature–Non-Fiction–The
Jon Whyte Award:The Tower:
A Chronicle of Climbing and
Controversy on Cerro Torreby
Kelly CordesMountain Image:Alpine
Exposuresby Jon GriffithGuidebook:Lake District Rock
by Members of the FRCC
Guidebooks CommitteeMountaineering Article:Crazy
Wisdomby Ed Douglas, AlpinistThe North Face climber and adventure cameraman
Jimmy Chin undertakes a photo walk for the public.
Among the onlookers is Nat Geo photographer Corey
Richardson.
I sit in on pitches, ideas and storyboarding, all the
while thinking, ‘I need to be a part of this; I need to
make something worthy.’
K
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‘‘
flK58 | AG Outdoor