Banff films bring extreme outdoor pursuits to Spokane's big screen

Adventure, humor, awareness and awe, plus a   good dose of pucker factor, are coming to   Spokane next weekend in a road show of top outdoor adventure films.

The cream of the crop from the 31st annual Banff Mountain Film Festival will be traveling from Alberta to The Bing Crosby Theater Friday through Sunday.

The shows will take the audience to extremes, from ascending to one of the coldest places on earth to rappelling into the hottest place – to take a sample of molten lava from the bowels of a volcano.

The films feature all sorts of outdoor pursuits, including climbing, wildlife, pedaling and paddling.

And there’s always a good dose of human interest in flicks such as “Ski Bums Never Die” ( switchbackentertainment.com ), the whimsical look at formerly young Canadian powderholics from Nelson’s Whitewater Ski Area who eventually got jobs, had careers – and then became ski bums again into their 70s.

Of more than 300 films from numerous countries entered in the 2011 competition, judges winnowed them to about 50, which were publicly screened in Banff in the competition for $50,000 in prizes.

Source: The Spokesman Review

Costa Blanca Offers Climbing, Walking and Kayaking Tours

by Peter Mason

Costa Blanca, the white coast, is a fantastic tourist attraction created by the BEA, British European Airways, in order to promote their new flight to the area from London. Costa Blanca is 200 meters, or more than 125 miles, of sandy beaches along the southeastern coast of Spain. The now famous strip of sand spans from Torrevieja to Denia and is home to millions of tourists annually. In addition to the beauty of the beaches and the opportunity for adventures such as sea kayaking, the area is home to beautiful mountains that offer walking or climbing tours.

Climbing on a Costa Blanca holiday is a very popular activity. The weather allows year round accessibility to the limestone mountains and the climbers take advantage of more than 2500 climbing routes here. Winter is an especially good time to travel to this area, because the flights and boarding costs associated with the trip will be considerably less than in the summer.

Climbing tours in the mountains of the Costa Blanca area are quite intensive. An average day can be up to eight hours of climbing instruction and actual climbing. If you enjoy this activity and your skill level increases, you will be able to take advantage of more and more difficult climbs along the mountains. Many of the tour companies will make your climbing tour completely inclusive, so even a first time climber will have all of the latest gear to climb with, and the greatest instruction possible to use it, along with meals, lodging and lasting around five or six days.

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News

Where the Sun Never Sets, a 1500-Mile Trip by Sea Kayak

New York Times - Jan 01, 1970

“Kind of a goofy sea kayak trip, because we haven't been sea kayaking yet,” Jon Turk said via satellite phone 38 days into the journey. He added, “At every moment, we expect the possibility that we're going to run into big trouble.

Miranda Hart goes sea kayaking in Turkey

The Guardian - Jan 01, 1970

And then I surprised myself by booking not only a villa for full sun-worshipping and resting, but also a two-day sea kayaking trip. In the lead-up to my holiday, if the conversation couldn't naturally get on to holidays, I would find myself saying,

Maine Winter Paddling

VillageSoup Belfast (blog) - Jan 01, 1970

This winter my partner Chris Laughlin and I have been doing a lot of paddling both SUP and Sea Kayaking. The mild conditions have made the darkest months relatively bearable. So far we have been doing day trips in order to stay in shape but we are

Outdoors Resources

HeraldNet - Jan 01, 1970

North Sound Sea Kayaking Association: Club details at www.nsseakayaker.homestead.com; 360-652-5510. Trip details at 360-691-9436. Free meetings, 7 pm first Thursdays October through May, Legion Park, 145 Alverson Blvd., Everett, unless otherwise noted.

JK bags overall trophy in Dragon Boating

GreaterKashmir.com - Jan 01, 1970

Jammu, Feb 3: Jammu and Kashmir bagged overall championship trophy in the National Dragon Boating and Sea Kayaking Championship held at H2o Water Sports Centre, Mumbai recently. The state team participated in the event under the banner of JK Kayaking