Build My Own FeedBD employee TJ Kolanko reports on the 37th annual Banff Mountain Film and Book Festival
Black Diamond was one of the sponsors of this year’s Banff Mountain Film and Book Festival, the iconic multi-day showcase of the outdoor world’s best films and books. BD employee TJ Kolanko attended the event and wrote up the following report on his flight home from Alberta.
“Wow!” That’s the first thing I say to my co-worker, Randy Hankins, after our first full day of attending the 37th annual Banff Mountain Film and Book Festival. The presentations, the films—they where all deeply inspirational. Most of us walk through life totally caught up in our own world. Even here, as an employee of Black Diamond Equipment, I sometimes forget to look around, take a deep breath and listen to the inspiration the natural world around us has to offer. Attending the Banff Mountain Film Festival inspired me to look past the material objects our society proclaims to garner you happiness, and to focus on current and past experiences that have brought joy and content to life.
The world-renowned festival lasted for nine days this year and attracted 16,000 guests to the beautiful and rugged town of Banff, Alberta in western Canada. There were films about everything from whitewater kayaking to a human-powered crossing of ice-covered Antarctica. The festival also attracted great presentations from the likes of David Suzuki, Wade Davis, Lindsey Dyer, BD athlete Dave MacLeod and many more influential speakers.
This is the first year Black Diamond Equipment has sponsored the Banff Mountain Film and Book Festival, and we partnered with the festival because we believe that both of our organizations share a core set of values: adventure, environmental activism, exploration and a true appreciation of nature. We were excited to be a part of this year’s festival, and hope that all of you who couldn’t make it Banff can get a chance to view the films that go on the Banff Mountain Film Festival World Tour, coming away inspired to create your own adventures, partake in conservation, or make a film of your own.
To see the upcoming tour dates and locations, click here.
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