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While highlighting remote mountain landscapes and outdoor sports in the form of film, the spirit of adventure comes to WSU highlighting.

The Banff Mountain Film Festival began 23 years ago in Banff, Alberta, as a means of showcasing outdoor adventuring, filmmaking and action-filled sports.

Taking place each fall, the nine-day festival in Banff begins its tour around the world, coming to universities, theatres, outdoor shops and any other place that wishes to bring the mountain film festival to their area.

Jonathan Stahl, director of the WSU Outdoor Recreation Center (ORC), first got involved with ORC eight years ago to coordinate the outdoor programs, the climbing wall and the rental shop.

The ORC has hosted the film festival for about 22 years now, Stahl said. Planning takes about a year in advance to set up the contract and work with the representative from the Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity.

The Banff Centre usually picks the date and the ORC makes sure it works, then the ORC sets up the venue. It takes a lot of time for the contracts to go through, which makes planning ahead so important, Stahl said.

The film festival features a wide variety of sports and outdoor activities, including kayaking, paragliding, rock climbing and skijoring (cross-country skiing mixed with dog sledding). Films range from full-length features to three-minute clips, Stahl said. The exact clips themselves are not chosen until the day of the festival. A Banff Centre representative comes and shares feedback of what films have been most successful so far, then the ORC staff and the representative work together to create the night’s lineup.

“We’re seeing some new films in a genre that’s personally captivating to me,” Stahl said. “We have an outdoor community in the Palouse and getting together with a lot of people who share the same interests in adventure, that’s the best part.”

The Banff Mountain Film Festival takes place at 7 p.m. tomorrow in the CUB Auditorium. Unlike previous years, non-student and non-UREC member tickets are being sold in advance and can be purchased online at the University Recreation Center website for $12. It is free to WSU students and UREC members.