Meet the woman who elevated what we talk about when we talk about mountains
STORY BY EMILY WHITE
McDonald, leading again. Photo by Rupert Wedgewood
Every year, the Banff Mountain Film Festival travels to seven continents and fifty countries, sharing the universal language of fist pumps, belly laughs, tears, and bear hugs, and in 2020 even a pandemic couldn’t darken its spirit, as nearly four hundred films were entered for consideration. Long before the film tour trickles down to your neck of the woods, though, it begins at a headwaters in the ragged Canadian Rockies, in Alberta’s Banff Centre, snug along the curves of the Bow River.
A year-round hub for arts, music, and dance training, the Centre is where Banff first takes form, and it serves as home to the original Banff Mountain Film and Book Festival, whose impact is far greater than just the tour. Banff hosts outdoor photography and writing residencies, adventure filmmaking workshops, and a range of mountain arts awards, drawing visitors from all over the globe. You don’t have to look close to see Banff’s rather incredible
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