Banff films to be shown next week

by The Daily Inter Lake
| November 12, 2009 2:00 AM

The Flathead Valley soon will be a stop for the prestigious Banff Mountain Film Festival World Tour.

The tour is being brought to Flathead High School Tuesday and Wednesday, Nov. 17 and 18, starting at 7 p.m., by the Flathead Nordic Ski Patrol.

“The program looks really good this year,” said Steve Burglund, one of the patrol’s festival organizers. “We’re pretty jazzed about it.”

Coming on the heels of the 2009 festival held in Banff, British Columbia, from Oct. 31 through Nov. 8, the world tour schedule includes stops in 285 communities and 30 countries around the world.

“This year’s tour features a collection of the most inspiring and thought-provoking action, environmental and adventure mountain films,” a promotional press release for the event states.

“Traveling from remote landscapes and cultures to up close and personal with adrenaline-packed action sports, the 2009-10 World Tour is an exhilarating and provocative exploration of the mountain world.”

This year’s weeklong festival featured about 300 films, with top films being selected for the world tour.

Among the featured films: scaling the 6,000-meter Trango Pulpit in Pakistan; first river descents in Madagascar; climbing falling ice and crashing waters of distant waterfalls; and paddling the crocodile-infested White Nile River in Uganda.

Burglund said the nordic patrol chooses about 14 films from a list of 25 for the Kalispell screenings, which last about 2 1/2 hours. Different films will be featured each night during the two-night stop in Kalispell.

The Flathead Nordic Ski Patrol is a nonprofit group of volunteers trained and prepared to respond to backcountry winter emergencies.

Members are experienced in a variety of backcountry specialties, including avalanche rescue and education and outdoor emergency care and support.

The film festival is the patrol’s annual fundraiser, with proceeds being used to further education programs and equip the patrol with medical, safety and evacuation gear.

Tickets are $12 and available in Kalispell at Rocky Mountain Outfitter and the Sportsman and Ski Haus and in Whitefish they are available at the Sportsman store and the White Room.

More information on the festival and tour can be found online at: