For outdoor enthusiasts, fall can be bittersweet: a time of reflection on the summer fun that seems to have flown by too quickly, and of anticipation for the inevitable flurry of winter adventures to come.
To help ease this transition, November has become the best time of the year to catch the latest and greatest outdoor films in the Flathead Valley, with three film festivals on tap to inspire and instigate the wanderlust in all of us.
Kicking it all off is the Stumptown Double Feature Movie Night on Nov. 11 at the Whitefish Performing Arts Center. A presentation from Smoking Aces Events and Whitefish Physical Therapy, the movie night will feature skiing and snowboarding films.
“Passenger,” a film from Legs of Steel, will showcase deep powder skiing and dramatic mountain settings; the film won awards for best editing, best single shot, and best crash at the International Freeski Film Festival in Montreal. Showtime is at 6:30 p.m.
And for the snowboarders, “Eversince” from Absinthe Films will take the audience into a wide array of boarding scenes, from Alaskas massive mountains to urban riding. Showtime is at 8 p.m.
Proceeds from the movie night will go toward Whitefish Freestyle Inc., a nonprofit that provides scholarships for freestyle athletes. The evening will also include raffles to make any skier or snowboarder happy, and there will be an after-party at Casey’s Bar.
Tickets are $10 and available at www.stumptowndoublefeature.eventbrite.com.
Then, on Nov. 15, the momentum continues with the ever-popular Whitefish Mountain Films seventh annual presentation of films embodying “mountain action and culture.”
The films come courtesy of Outside Media and Bluebird Guides. Hilary Hutcheson of Outside Media said November is the perfect time to whet local palates with such movies, but it’s also a great time to catch up with the athletes who make them.
“It’s a shoulder-season kind of thing, before the tours start for the athletes,” Hutcheson said.
This year’s emcee will be professional ski mountaineering star Greg Hill, who will also give a multi-media motivational talk to inspire adventurers of all ages and abilities.
Hill’s accomplishments pile up like the mountains he’s climbed: in 2010, he climbed and skied two million vertical feet; he’s scaled Mount Blanc in one day and summited and skied more than 190 mountains; in March 2014, Hill climbed and skied 330,000 vertical feet without revisiting the same areas; and in December, Hill plans to climb and ski 40,000 feet on his 40th birthday.
“He’s trying to inspire people,” Hutcheson said, “with the message of ‘This year could be the year you are the fittest of your entire life.’”
When Whitefish Mountain Films began showing movies nine years ago, the lineup was ski and snowboard heavy. Now, it features many aspects of mountain culture, such as trail running, kayaking, biking, fly fishing, and more.
“We look for films that maybe people didn’t see online that are little gems,” Hutcheson said. “Because now it’s really hard to see something new that you didn’t already see online.”
It’s also a chance to engage with others who enjoy these films, she said, because more and more, people are experiencing such media alone on their phones or computer screens. There’s something to be said for the oohs and ahhs of a movie theater crowd, she said.
“The idea of everybody getting together as a community and watching a movie together is kind of a cool old-new concept,” Hutcheson said. “The whole theater vibe and energy… That’s the kind of thing that this film event is all about, is getting that entire community feel.”
Doors open at the Whitefish Performing Arts Center at 6 p.m., and the films start at 7 p.m. There will also be a pre-party night at the Palace Bar in Whitefish at 8 p.m. on Nov. 14, since the film presentation will be on a Sunday night and very family friendly.
Proceeds from the event will benefit the Glacier Institute. Tickets are $15, and kids 12 and under get in free. Tickets are available at www.whitefishmountainfilms.com or at The White Room in Whitefish or Lary’s Fly & Supply in Columbia Falls. Hutcheson noted that the event sells out every year, so early purchases are recommended.
Rounding out the week are two nights of star-studded films from around the world at the Banff Mountain Film Festival World Tour, showing on Nov. 17 and 18 at the Flathead High School Auditorium.
The festival, a program of the Banff Centre, is the largest mountain film festival in the world, with stops in 400 communities and 40 countries and is now in its 40th year. The Kalispell showings will benefit the Flathead Nordic Backcountry Patrol; the event is the patrol’s largest fundraiser of the year.
There will be seven different films shown on both nights, according to organizers Craig and Amy Moore, so audiences can see different presentations each night.
Steve Burglund and Mark Johnson brought the festival to the valley 25 years ago, and the proceeds have helped fund the patrol’s seasons ever since. Two years ago, the screen was upgraded to twice the normal size, and all the films are shown in high definition.
This year, the lineup includes breathtaking and adrenaline-filled selections covering skiing, biking, running, kayaking, climbing, and more.
“The event typically sells out every year, so we highly encourage people to purchase their tickets in advance from one of our local sponsors: The White Room in Whitefish, Runner Up Sports in Whitefish, Rocky Mountain Outfitters in Kalispell and Sportsman and Ski Haus in Kalispell and Whitefish,” Amy Moore said.
For more information on Flathead Nordic Backcountry Patrol, visit www.flatheadnordic.org.