Adventure Is Out There

Last week myself and 6 friends (& my Mum) attended the Banff Mountain Film Festival at Union Chapel. It was most of our 3rd years at the global touring event, each year exhibiting the best of what the Canadian festival has to offer, to ever increasing audiences.

Having had such a great time previously we attended both the A and B Programme's this year to ensure we didn't miss a single nail biting moment.

The appeal is in the diversity and variety of the films, one moment you'll be watching a stunning 3 minute clip of skiers in LED lights flying down Alaskan terrains, the next it'll be a 40 minute piece featuring a Buddhist Monk and his 84 adopted children he schools, deep in the Himalayan mountains. The range of interesting stories combined with the talent of filmmakers involved means, without sounding cliched, there really is something for everyone.

Below are a couple of my favourite clips, the first is a bouldering video featuring rock-climber Alex Honnold and Cedar Wright.

The next is an intense spectacle, two professional American kayakers decide to throw themselves down a drainage ditch in British Colombia.

I can't recommend the experience enough, be sure to keep an eye out for the festival this time next year. In the mean time, from the success of the Mountain schedule, the same team have launched an Ocean Film Festival which will be touring the UK in October. 

My musical pick for this post is the exceptional Wolf Alice. Having first seen this band in the backroom of the O2, they've come on leaps and bands, from supporting Tom Odell at Somerset House to being selected to play Radio 1's Rock Week last summer. Their debut album  'My Love Is Cool' drops on the 22nd of June. The below is their latest, heavy hitting, single Giant Peach, displaying their elegance and charm alongside their grungier influences.