It's time once again to kick back in the comfort of your own hometown as the best of the Vancouver International Mountain Film Festival comes to you.
"I'm always psyched to get the films to Squamish right away because I know everyone is itching to get back out there on the rock, and this is a reasonable tonic for all that pent up adrenaline," said VIMFF co-organizer Ivan Hughes.
From Jan. 22 to 29, festival organizers wowed sold out crowds in North Vancouver's Centennial Theatre and Vancouver's Pacific Cin茅matheque and H. R. McMillan Space Centre with a line-up of thrilling feats of adventures caught on film.
The award-winning shorts, ranging from five to 24 minutes, were picked to tour in The Best of The Fest, which launches at the Howe Sound Brew Pub Thursday, March 25.
"There is a great mix of films featuring paragliding, mountain biking, mountaineering, ocean crossings and a great funny short featuring Squamish's Sonnie Trotter and his belay slave Cory Richards on the classic route 'Presto,'" said Hughes.
And local crowds get an added treat with a few other films selected simply because they "seemed like films that would appeal to the Squamish crowd and keep the evening exciting," said Hughes.
For $12 in advance or $14 at the door, audiences can catch films from all over the world including Rush Hour Dream, a five-minute film from Dusseldorf, Germany depicting an office worker falling asleep in the tramway and dreaming of a beautiful mountainside where he discovers he is carrying a paraglider in his laptop bag.
Continuum Project is set in Zion and shows Rob Pizem and Mike Anderson crush brawny off-widths and delicate face climbing.
Samsara, in the heart of the lofty, knife-sharp Vindhya Mountains in India, captures Conrad Anker, Jimmy Chin and Renan Ozturk attempting a first ascent of a 2,200-metre rock and ice route.
The Argentine Project films three friends taking a trip and hoping to create a mountain bike flick with one bike, two cameras and a little Spanish.
Welsh 小蓝视频ion films the ever-popular British hot shot Timmy Emmett attempting hair-raising groundfall routes on the Pembroke cliff in Wales.
And Rowing the Atlantic is the story of Roz Savage's journey from an ordinary career woman to an adventurer, facing the most intimidating challenge of her life - rowing 1,700 km across the Atlantic Ocean.
The Best of the Fest doors opens at the Howe Sound Brew Pub Thursday, March 25 at 7 p.m. with the show starting at 8 p.m. Tickets are $14 at the door. Advance $12 tickets are available in Squamish at Valhalla Pure and Climb On, or on-line at www.vimff.org on the tour page.
