LOGAN – The Banff Centre Mountain Film & Book Festival is slated to return to Logan on Friday, Feb. 7 and Saturday, Feb. 8.
The event, which is sure to again thrill Cache Valley winter sports enthusiasts and adrenaline junkies, will take place at the Ellen Eccles Theatre in downtown Logan.
Hosted by the Outdoor Programs office at Utah State University, the BANFF Centre Mountain Film & Book Festival is ranked among the largest and most prestigious outdoor festivals in the world, according to Dan Galliher, the university’s associate director of outdoor activities.
Since 1976, the city of Banff in Alberta, Canada has hosted an international film competition each autumn that features screenings of more than 400 films and documentaries about mountain culture, sports, environment, adventure and exploration.
After the annual festival closes in Banff, its world tour hits the road with a selection of award-winning and audience favorite films intended to play in more than 600 communities in 40 countries with a total audience exceeding 550,000 worldwide.
In addition to an exhilarating and provocative exploration of the mountain world, the Banff tour will introduce its audiences to remote vistas, topical environmental issues and an inside look into adrenaline-packed action sports.
Here in Logan, Galliher explains that the Banff world tour is a major fund-raising event for the university’s Lyon, Maas, Mueggler Outdoor Leadership Scholarship.
That scholarship honors the memory of Max Lyon, Keith Maas and Karl Mueggler, who died in an avalanche in the backcountry of the Bear River Range east of Logan in 1997.
The three young men were exceptional athletes, noted for their outdoor talents that included climbing, kayaking and backcountry skiing.
“They weren’t just adventurers,” Galliher observes. “They were educators, outdoor activists, voices for the community, committed professionals and all-around good people.”
While they were alive, Galliher adds, the inseparable trio stood for human richness, imagination, kindness, compassion and commitment. They were always driven to somehow make a difference in whatever course their lives took at every moment.
The USU outdoor scholarship was set up as an attempt to continue their legacy, Galliher says.
The Lyon, Maas, Mueggler Outdoor leadership Scholarship pays 50 percent of the expenses for the Desert Mountain Medicine Wilderness First Responder (WFR) certification course.
The show times for the Banff Centre Mountain Film Festival world tour in Logan will be at 7 p.m. on Feb. 7 and 8, with different films slated for each evening.
The tour’s organizers typically select 35 to 40 films that highlight multiple themes, including climbing, skiing, kayaking, biking, adventure, culture and the environment. Local hosts can choose films from that catalogue best suited to their audiences’ interests.
The films also feature a wide range of formats, including action-filled shorts; longer, more comprehensive films; amateur and professional productions; etc.
Tickets for the film festival can be purchased by going online to www.cachearts.org.
For questions and additional information, please call 435-797-5525 or go online to dan.galliher@usu.edu
The Ellen Eccles Theatre is located at 43 South Main Street in downtown Logan.