MountainFilm tour stops in Whitefish
On March 10, the Bob Marshall Wilderness Foundation will bring the MountainFilm on Tour to Whitefish for the 10th straight year.
It’s the local installment of the renowned Telluride Film Festival in Colorado, with some of the best entries selected for a three-city tour through the Treasure State.
“It’s a great opportunity for the community to come together and see these awesome films,” said Margosia Jadkowski, the foundation’s community outreach coordinator. “They’re funny, adrenaline-pumping and heart-wrenching. It’s not all just super-adrenaline movies. It’s a great variety for everyone.”
The event is also the foundation’s biggest fundraiser of the year, with proceeds paying for the organization’s conservation projects in the 1.5 million-acre Bob Marshall Wilderness Complex.
Each summer, the group hosts hundreds of volunteers from around the country, giving them the opportunity to spend up to a week hiking and camping in the wilderness while building, repairing and clearing trails, managing invasive weeds and restoring wetlands.
Last year, the foundation completed 35 projects that totaled more than 133 miles of trail work, clearing more than 2,000 downed trees and managing invasive weeds on about 65 acres.
To help support those programs, the MountainFilm fundraiser includes a bevy of raffle items, from a five-day pack trip into the Bob with Swan Mountain Outfitters to a day of cat skiing with Great Northern Powder Guides, plus gear from Patagonia, Montana Fly Co. and other outdoor businesses.
Those looking for a list of the films ahead of time are out of luck, however. That’s part of what makes the event special, Jadkowski said.
“One of the best things about MountainFilm is that people show up and they’re not 100 percent sure what they’re going to see, so there is some excitement in that, there is an element of surprise,” she said.
And for a town that draws much of its character and income from winter sports, Whitefish is an ideal place for the film showing to strengthen a sense of community, Jadkowski added.
“A lot of films like this, people end up watching on their computer screens or their phone screens while they’re going about their daily life, but it really is a different experience to sit in a theater in front of a big screen with other people and hear their reactions to it,” she said. “I think that is a unique thing in these increasingly digital times that we really like to celebrate, too.”
MountainFilm takes place March 10 at the O’Shaughnessey Center in downtown Whitefish. Doors open at 6 p.m. and films start at 7 p.m.
Food and beverages will be available for purchase.
Tickets cost $15 and can be purchased at the door or online by visiting bmwfwf.bpt.me.
For more information, contact the Bob Marshall Wilderness Foundation at (406) 387-3808 or visit www.bmwf.org/events.
Reporter Sam Wilson can be reached at 758-4407 or by email at swilson@dailyinterlake.com.