Jackson, Wyo – Alpinist Magazine-a quarterly publication dedicated to world alpinism and adventure climbing-announced today the dates and lineup for the Second Annual Barry Corbet Film Festival (BCFF), a unique mountain gathering that honors Jackson Hole mountaineering legend Barry Corbet. In March 2005, Alpinist celebrated Corbet’s athletic and artistic spirit with a series of films and presentations that evoked the joys of deep snow, wild water and steep stone. The first festival’s success prompted Alpinist to make it an annual event.
This year’s festival will take place January 19-21, 2006 at the Walk Festival Hall in Teton Village, Jackson Hole, Wyoming. Three nights of film-one each for skiing, surfing and climbing-will be presented by legends of their particular disciplines. Each evening will feature more than two hours of film by the best adventure filmmakers in the world.
Big-mountain skiing pioneer Doug Coombs will MC the opening night, Thursday, January 19, and present the world debut of The Otterbody Experience, the story of his descent of the Grand Teton, a mountain he has skied nine times. On Friday, January 20, surfing legend Mickey Munoz will present his favorite surf films, including the new film, All Aboard the Crazy Train, featuring Laird Hamilton and Dave Kalama. Patagonia founder and outdoor icon Yvon Chouinard will wrap up the festival Saturday night with a presentation of the seminal film, Mountain of Storms, which chronicles the 1968 journey from Ventura, California to El Chalten, Argentina, that resulted in a new route on Patagonia’s Fitz Roy, the naming of Chouinard’s company, Patagonia, and the birth of the adventure lifestyle.
Each night will include other films, from classics to world premieres, within the selected disciplines. “The featured films showcase the common threads that unite skiers, surfers and climbers across borders, disciplines and generations,” says Christian Beckwith, Alpinist Editor and founder of the BCFF. “The parties before and after the screenings, the world-class presenters and the magical energy of Jackson in winter all underscore our goal: to throw the best party of the year in Jackson Hole.”
All proceeds from the event will be donated to the Central Asia Institute (www.ikat.org) in support of their Education Disaster Fund (EDF) for “on the ground” relief efforts following Pakistan’s catastrophic earthquake. Advanced tickets and a complete listing of films can be found at www.alpinist.com.
On Friday, January 6, The New York Times (circulation: 1.5 million) published an article, “Adventure Film Festivals: Would-You-Dare Movies,” that featured The Barry Corbet Film Festival. “In these cinema events,” according to the Times, “hard-core and armchair athletes watch scenes of jaw-dropping athletic feats and daring natural exploration, all in celebration of life on the edge.” The Times quotes the BCFF’s founder and Festival Director Christian Beckwith as saying, “Anyone can pull together a montage of images with a pounding soundtrack and call it a film. We’re trying to showcase films that find an appreciation for aesthetics and a story line-films that show both the reverence and irreverence of what we call lifestyle sports.” The article continues, “In Teton Village, cocktails and conversation begin flowing before the screenings, and the after-hour parties… are not to be missed.”
Films accepted for the BCFF will be eligible for the People’s Choice Award in each evening’s category of Snow, Surf and Stone. An award for Best Film will be made at the conclusion of the festival; this Grand Prize will carry with it a cash award of $500.
On Saturday, January 21, at 5 p.m. at Vertical in Teton Village, the BCFF will host a symposium entitled “Playing with Style”. The symposium will feature a panel of outdoor icons exploring the changing landscape and impacts of the adventure lifesyle. The symposium will be moderated by Charlie Craighead; panel members include outdoor legend Yvon Chouinard, renowned author Ted Kerasote, professional skiers Charlotte Moats and Doug Coombs, world-class climber Nancy Feagin and surf pioneer Mickey Munoz. A $5 suggested donation at the door will go directly to this year’s BCFF proceeds recipient, the Central Asia Institute.
Panel members range from their sixties (Yvon Chouinard) to their early twenties (Charlotte Moats) and their experiences comprise the cutting edge of climbing, skiing, surfing, hunting, fishing and environmentalism. “The gathering of such diverse opinion leaders will create a dynamic examination of the obligations and impacts of our adventures,” says Beckwith. “How have our lifestyles changed since Yvon first drove down to Patagonia with four friends in 1968 to climb Fitz Roy? Does Charlotte’s approach to her adventures in 2005 have anything in common with the way Gerry pioneered big-wave surfing a generation ago? This discussion is an opportunity to explore how we play in the wilds today, and whether we have any responsibility to future generations,” Beckwith said.
Barry Corbet was a Jackson Hole legend who ticked the first ski descent of Buck Mountain and named the infamous ski run Corbet’s Couloir at the Jackson Hole Mountain Resort. A former Snow King ski instructor, Exum Mountain Guide, and founder of the Jackson Hole Mountain Guides, he was also an American climbing legend who helped put the first American team on Everest. “An athlete beyond compare,” as one of his fellow guides called him, Corbet combined the pursuits of exploration and exhilaration in an exemplary fashion.
In 1968 while making a ski film, Corbet was gravely injured in a helicopter crash. After the accident, which left him partially paralyzed, he made several films about living with disabilities, wrote a book, Options: Spinal Cord Injury and the Future (now in its tenth printing) and founded New Mobility, the leading magazine for the disabled. As one of his colleagues from that magazine said, “Because of his spinal cord injury, Barry kind of had two lives. And he lived more fully in both of them than most of us do in one.”
Doors open each night at 7:00 p.m. for pre-film cocktails. Films begin at 8. Tickets are available at Teton Mountaineering, Skinny Skis, Tobacco Row, Wilson Backcountry Sports, The Village Cafe and Teton Village Sports or by calling Alpinist at 307-734-0600.
The Barry Corbet Film Festival is supported by Patagonia, Exum Mountain Guides, the Jackson Hole Mountain Resort and powered by Base Camp Communications.
For complete information and updates, visit www.alpinist.com/bcff
About Alpinist Magazine: Hailed by Italian climbing legend Reinhold Messner as “The best climbing magazine in the world today,” Alpinist Magazine is an archival-quality, quarterly publication dedicated to world alpinism and adventure climbing. The pages of Alpinist capture the art of ascent in its most powerful manifestations, presenting an articulation of climbing and its lifestyle that matches the intensity of the pursuit itself. Alpinist has been awarded two Maggie Awards, for Best Quarterly/Consumer Division and Best Overall Design, and was featured in a seven-page article (“The Purists”) in the March 2005 Outside Magazine. The magazine’s editorial and publishing offices are based in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, and online at www.alpinist.com