Banff Mountain Film Festival

Banff National Park in Canada is Canada's first national park. It encompasses 2, 564 square miles of valleys, mountains, forests, glaciers and rivers. The Banff Mountain Film Festival is hosted each year at the Banff Centre, located in the park. The festival was started in 1976 as the Banff Festival of Mountain Films. After screening all submitted films, the Banff World Tour Team chooses about 25 films each year with a range of themes and styles. The films focus on adventure sports (kayaking, climbing, skiing, BASE jumping, snowboarding, mountain biking) as well as environment and culture. Many of the films are in the "action packed, high adrenaline" category.

On Saturday, March 6, I went to a viewing of some of these films in Phoenixville, PA. The town is an old steel town being revitalized with boutiques, restaurants, and a great brewpub. I was with an old friend, who I hadn't seen in 12 years! He is a true outdoorsman and often an adventure seeker. We had enough time to explore the town, have a few beers, and get tickets for the show. After seeing the films, I was both inspired and discouraged. How does one's life compare to these individuals who push their bodies, minds and spirits beyond what seems humanly possible?

Many of the people I saw are on YouTube: Kris Holm (unicylcist), Chris Sharma (rock climber), Roz Savage (rower).

The film with Roz Savage is the one that has stayed with me. On the outside, at age 33, she had a wonderful life: townhouse in London, corporate job, husband, good health. But, she was feeling unfulfilled. So, she decided she was going to enter a competition to row across the Atlantic, alone. She trained for a year, rowing up to 16 hours a day in the month before the race. She made it, after 103 days at sea. On her website, she has a list of "Lessons Learned", which appeared in a newspaper column in the UK on April 23, 2006. Here's one I'm pondering: Be mindful of the link between present action and desired future outcome. Ask yourself: if I repeat today's actions 365 times, will I be where I want to be in a year?