By: Jonah Lazar, SFU Student
The Vancouver International Mountain Film Festival (VIMFF) ran its hit Fall Series from November 12 to 19 across Vancouver and Squamish, before expanding their tour across Canada until April.
VIMFF, which has been running since 1998, showcases short films relating to mountain adventure sports, such as climbing, skiing, cycling, and even kayaking, while also promoting messages of environmental sustainability and inclusivity in the mountains.
The Fall Series — “a mini-festival featuring select speakers and films” — was celebrated across four venues in Vancouver and Squamish, with a total of 11 in-person shows; multiple of which sold out in the weeks leading up to the festival. These shows also featured acclaimed guest speakers such as four-time rock climbing world champion Jakob Schubert and Himalayan alpinist Mingma Tsiri Sherpa.
I attended the Rock Climbing Show at the Rio Theatre, where an excited crowd of hundreds of rock climbing enthusiasts welcomed films from Chile, France, Switzerland, and, of course, Canada. These films, through their inspiring narratives, revealed deeply personal experiences of the climbers featured. Notable screenings included A Guide’s Book — a short film which followed the life of a mountain guide in Chamonix, France, revealing the pressure and responsibility surrounding the guides tasked with ensuring the safety of people in the high alpine, and the years of training and discipline required to do so.
Another film presented was Zahir, which follows Katherine Choong and Eline Le Menestrel, who embarked together on a quest to climb a highly-respected route in the Swiss Alps named Zahir, while getting there only using sustainable modes of transportation to raise awareness about fossil fuel consumption.
For me, the highlight of this show was guest speaker Sonnie Trotter, a world-renowned Canadian rock climber famed for his plethora of first ascents — the first ever time a mountain has been successfully climbed — in Squamish, BC. Trotter shared stories from his new book Uplifted: The Evolution of a Climbing Life, a memoir recounting his many experiences earned through climbing, all the while reflecting on how his relationship with the sport has evolved as he juggles family life and adventure.
In his presentation, he recalled stories of climbing routes with legendary figures in the sport such as Tommy Caldwell, along with the star of the Oscar-winning documentary Free Solo, Alex Honnold. Through these stories, he explained the importance of enjoying the process of working towards achieving a goal, rather than obsessing over the end results. He also pondered how his objectives in climbing have changed now that he has a family, making him more cautious in the face of risk.
While this year’s Fall Series has wrapped up, the VIMFF will return for their international 10-day line-up in February, undoubtedly with more breathtaking films.
