Non-profit Whistler Friends are hoping to get locals reaching for the heights of their potential after Thursday’s (Jan. 17) film screening of Reel Rock 7, a world-renowned collection of films featuring the best climbers in the world.
The picture comes from acclaimed adventure filmmakers Josh Lowell and Peter Mortimer, who joined forces in 2006 to found the Reel Rock Film Tour, which screened in 280 locations last year alone.
More than just screenings, however, the tour celebrates climbing and brings in some of the best athletes in the sport to speak at events and raise funds for non-profit organizations.
“I think the films will really resonate with anybody who just loves the outdoors in general,” said event organizer and mountaineering enthusiast Dave Clark. “The message that we really like that these kinds of films deliver, and this collection in particular, is that living on the edge of your boundaries is where you’re really going to find yourself, really succeed and be humbled by maybe not succeeding.”
Reel Rock 7 is made up of four different climbing films featuring some of the top names in the sport, like legendary alpinist Conrad Anker, who tackled Shark’s Fin, a difficult route on the Himalayan Meru Peak that is widely considered “un-climbable” by even the most experienced mountaineer, according to Clark.
One section of the film also features one of the world’s best free solo climbers, 27-year-old Alex Honnold, who ascended four gruelling peaks in California’s Yosemite Park in just 19 hours in Reel Rock 7.
Attendees will also be doing their part to support the BC Children’s Hospital in Vancouver, with 100 per cent of the net proceeds from the event going to the facility’s oncology ward.
“The oncology wards at BC Children’s Hospital are some of the most amazing hospital wards anywhere,” said Clark. “We chose that charity a longtime back mainly because we feel that childhood cancer is morally wrong in the big world. Kids should be able to be kids and not have to worry about lifelong illnesses.”
The funds raised will go towards cancer research, quality of life improvements and patient care in the 24-bed facility.
The Whistler Friends Community Health and Welfare Society have been raising money for that charity as well as the Crohn’s and Colitis Foundation of Canada for over 10 years. To date, they’ve raised more than $295,000 for these organizations.
Whistler Friends produce several local events throughout the year, including the Whistler Half Marathon, Whistler Balding for Dollars and others.
Reel Rock 7 plays at Millennium Place Thursday (Jan. 17) at 7:30 p.m. Doors open at 7 p.m., with refreshments available and a DJ spinning tunes in the lobby, organized by this summer’s Believe Freedom Music Festival.
Local mountaineer and Mount Kilimanjaro guide Sue Oakey-Baker will be MCing the event.
The $16.50 tickets are available at The North Face Store, at Millennium Place or online at www.whistlerfriends.com.
