The Banff Centre Mountain Film Festival is marking its 50th anniversary this year. For almost 40 of those years, it’s stopped in Spokane.
That’s mostly thanks to Paul Fish, an outdoor advocate who owned a local gear shop for nearly four decades. Every year for three nights, Fish and his friends showcase films highlighting amateur and pro athletes, extreme sports, breathtaking views and unbreakable spirits.
This year, the film festival is in Spokane from January 9-11 at The Fox Theater.
SPR’s Eliza Billingham brought Fish and his son Whitney into the studio to talk about why people do crazy things, why they film those crazy things, and how that craziness just might weasel itself into your life, too.
This is an extended version of an interview that aired Monday morning. It has been lightly edited for length and clarity.
Eliza Billingham: Since we've got two voices here, would you guys introduce yourselves and explain how you're connected with the Banff Film Festival?
Paul Fish: I'm Paul Fish. Started Mountain Gear in Spokane in 1983 and started touring the film festival Spokane in the very late 80s.
Whitney Fish: And I'm Whitney Fish. I'm Paul's son and I've been helping out this year with the festival.
EB: How old is this film festival and why is booking in a place that you thought would enjoy it?
PF: The Banff Film Festival turned 50 years this year. They're celebrating their 50th anniversary. We actually think it's 51 years, but I don't argue with them. I got started because I wanted to bring something fun to Spokane.
The first time we did it, we did it in a classroom at Gonzaga University. I think we had maybe 40 or 50 people there. And we had six different projectors. There was super eight, regular eight, 16 millimeter, uh, one VCR film. I can't even remember. It was, it was a nightmare.
EB: And where is it now?
PF: It's now at the Fox theater. It's been through the Bing, and at the Fox they have 1,500 seats. And we're getting really close to filling it.
EB: Can you talk about the films that are showing in Spokane this year?
WF: We have “The Finisher,” which is about Jasmin Paris, the first woman to finish the Barkley Marathons, which is just an incredible story all the way through. That's going to be Sunday night.
Then Friday, “Old Man Lightning” has finally released. It's about Verm, who was the inventor of the V grade system in bouldering, coming back from retirement to try and send Midnight Lightning at, I think he's 60s, early 60s at this point.
And then on Saturday, I think my favorite film was “A Baffin Vacation,” which is about Eric and Sarah, who are a couple of professional athletes and they pack up all their gear and hike out completely unsupported for a two month multi-sport–climb, ski, kayak–on Baffin Island, just super remote.
EB: And the people who make these films, do they do it specifically for this festival? Why are people recording themselves doing these crazy things?
WF: Partly, it's what you need to do to be a professional athlete these days, partly because they love it and love to share.
And sometimes you're just around, like The Finisher. There was a film crew on site doing a documentary about the Barkley Marathons and just happened to have the best footage of Jasmin Paris finishing and turned that into a whole story. And they're just excited to share it.
PF: I think what I love is that there's a blend of serendipitous films, just your chance like the Barkley one. And there are professional films. And there are self-filmed films.
One of the things that's been great is that camera gear has gotten smaller and lighter and it can go to more extreme places without a film crew. And I love the self-filmed films, but the best part is when people tell a story. It's not just about how hard it is or how big it is or how awesome they are, but it's the story of their life for their adventure. And those are the ones I really love.
EB: And Whitney, you mentioned what it takes to be a professional athlete. When I think of pro athletes, I think NFL, NBA, you know. What would you like to tell people who maybe don't know as much about professional climbers, professional kayakers? Like, do those actually exist? Can people be professional kayakers?
WF: Oh, absolutely. There's much less formal funding. So you have to really have a passion for it and go out and most of them–I mean, it's kind of the same for all athletes, unless you make it huge–but essentially, all professional kayakers are living on a shoestring and just trying to find the next sponsorship to go out and do things.
So I think you have to be really passionate and dedicated to the things that you're doing and really love it. But yeah, there are tons of professional climbers, kayakers, and a lot of how they get by these days is showing what they do to the public. And that's how we get some of these films.
EB: If those sports were inundated with sponsorships, partnerships, money, would it change the sport at all or the desire to do it, do you think?
WF: It would motivate some people, but I think a lot of these sports, there's, I don't know, just a lot of suffering. And I think you have to enjoy it intrinsically to do it at this level, to be willing to take on the risks and the suffering.
PF: One of the things I love is there's a really good chance you'll watch these films and two of them you'll go, ‘Heck no, I am never doing that.’
But then you'll watch and you'll go, ‘Well, what's going to be my adventure?’ I watched these films and I was inspired to start paragliding. I was inspired to go climb Mount Fairweather with a group of friends–not successfully, but we had almost a month on the mountain with a group of local guys and it's the best trip of my life. And you will find something here that might just change your life.
EB: You mentioned your unsuccessful climb–how much do you think failure is a part of these sports? Because I am imagining we're just watching films of people who have achieved big things.
PF: Well, I think, no, there are people who don't succeed. I mean, John Sherman–Verm–doesn't make it up Midnight Lightning in this film and that's okay.
I mean, it really is inspirational to try harder. Not all of it is a success. I guess I view the outdoors as, it's a success if you put a smile on your face. I would still call that trip to Fairweather the best trip of my life.
EB: And you just kind of said this, but do you think people need to do big grand adventures to enjoy the outdoors?
PF: Well, I think Reinhold Messner says it best when he says you have to do things by fair means. And fair means, you don't go out necessarily to climb Everest. It means you find your own Everest that you can accomplish with the skills you have, the ability you have, the finances you have.
But you find the thing that inspires and motivates you and you do it fairly and it's an adventure rather than trying to hit a record or the tallest or the biggest.
It's really about the smile on your face at the end of the day. That's what I love about the outdoors.
EB: And what do you think some of the best outdoor parts of this area of the country are?
PF: Oh, my gosh, so much opportunity here. There's paragliding by Steptoe Butte and then up by Chewelah. There is mountain biking. We have great trails all over. There is hiking in our local parks, the River Gorge. There's fly fishing.
Spokane–I'm kind of glad it doesn't get listed as one of the best outdoor towns in America, but gosh, to me it is the best outdoor community in America.
One of the things I love is that the various outdoor users groups, whether they be hunters and fishermen, or mountain bikers or equestrians, they all seem to get along. They do trail parties together. They share the trails. There are very few complaints. And I think the people here are as outdoorsy as any place in the country.
EB: You mentioned mountain biking. I think skiing, I think paragliding. My one concern is that these things can be really expensive. Do you think that's a proper critique of outdoor adventures, or do you think there's a way to do it on a budget?
PF: I think you go out for a walk in the woods, you know. If I could do one change, I'd get rid of the discovery passes for our state parks. I think that our public lands, other than maybe national parks, should be free.
And the great American vacation should be getting in your station wagon, driving to a nearby recreation area and camping with your kids, taking a walk in the woods, fishing, throwing, skipping rocks in a pond. I think that would be just lovely.
WF: And we do have a problem with most of the sports. The costs are very front-loaded, so it's hard to enter. Once you're actually doing it, they're reasonably affordable to even pretty cheap. So more places that can get people into the sports and over that initial hump of investment would really help in getting people into the outdoors and into more of these sports.
PF: I think there are groups like the Mountaineers, Spokane Nordic, that bring the entry level to get into Nordic skiing or to get into the outdoors really low. People share gear. There are people who sell used gear. There's the new used gear shop out by Northern Lights now that's pretty reasonable. I share climbing gear and take people out climbing all the time because that's the sport I love most. There are used bikes.
We see this stuff as high-end. We see the $10,000 bicycle. But you know what? You can have just as big a smile on a $100 bicycle.
EB: Do you think that injury is a necessary part of outdoor sports?
WF: If you do things long enough, you're going to have some sort of injury. But I don't think it's like you don't need to be out there and committing to something that's going to get you seriously injured. All of these can be like lifelong sports if you're careful and thoughtful in what you do.
PF: I think armchairs cause more injuries than any of the outdoor sports. Armchairs and TVs.
