CANCELED - Backcountry Film Festival - Seattle

The Mountaineers Present: The 19th Annual Backcountry Film Festival - March 2nd at the Seattle Program Center

The Backcountry Film Festival is a film annual festival that celebrates human-powered, backcountry-inspired stories rooted in wild snowscapes, stewardship and stoke.

Any profits will go to support the Mountaineers Foothills Branch's efforts to make outdoor activities and instruction available to all.

HERE IS A LIST AND DESCRIPTION OF THE FILMS THAT WILL BE SCREENED:

WHAT IF? - Locations: Oregon and Washington - A countdown into the mind of a backcountry skier as he contemplates the delicate balance between risk and reward; confidence and apprehension.

BELOVED WHITEBARK: STALWART - Locations: Montana and Wyoming - Having worked to protect white bark pine in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem for the last 23 years, Nancy Bockino invites you to get to know this charismatic tree in the alpine. Learn about why white bark is important and its present perilous situation. Nurture your own connection to the alpine and its inhabitants.

109 BELOW - Location: New Hampshire - A tale of resilience, grit and elite rescue volunteers going out of their way to save the lives of strangers, 109 BELOW traces how an attempted rescue on Mount Washington in 1982 changed not only the course of two climbers’ lives - but also the lives of the rescuers who attempted to save them, and the future of prosthetics, forever.

BEYOND BEGBIE - Location: Revelstoke, British Columbia, Canada - Climbing Mt Begbie is a “rite of passage” for every hiker, climber, sledder, and skier who chooses to make Revelstoke their home. While this peak has created an entire contemporary culture in Revelstoke, its name and story only represent colonial history, with no reference to the Indigenous heritage of this land. Is it the outdoor community’s responsibility to help change this?

BLOOM - Locations: New Jersey and Colorado - follows the life of Sierra Schlag as she navigates the world after losing her father on 9/11. As Sierra matures, she explores her grief and identity as a Japanese-American and finds herself under the cloak of depression. While she navigates these complexities, Sierra finds a way to connect with her dad and heal through skiing.

CON ARTIST - Three female freeskiers find themselves on a transcendental journey, crossing the lines of reality and the subconscious mind in a heist for self-identity.

BURN // A SKI FILM - Locations: Montana and Colorado - The story of how forest fires are impacting large swaths of terrain in the western United States and Canada. In the wake of the fires, certain areas are transformed into beautiful playgrounds for skiers and snowboarders.

RACHA - Location: Georgia - Through stunning cinematography and powerful storytelling, this film takes you on a journey of discovery, where the love of skiing leads to an unexpected education, and a story that demands to be told.

THE REDLINE TRAVERSE - SHORT - California - Jenna Kane and Greg Cunningham take on the Redline Traverse, the tallest and longest ski tour in the Sierra Nevada. They pay tribute to the pioneers of the route, the spirit of the tour and, of course, ski.

HAVE AN ADVENTURE - Location: Utah - A human powered think piece that follows a collection of skiers as they explore familiar terrain in search of new adventure around Utah’s famous backcountry. Join John as he follows in his father’s tracks to turn new corners and explore the canyon he grew up in. Along the way John explores his father’s skiing philosophies while considering ways to nurture the rapidly changing culture of a growing ski community.