What does the phrase “adventure film” mean to you? Is it Warren Miller and 
his annual ski epics? Is it an hour of 10-second skateboard and bike crashing clips? Is it Kate Bosworth competing on for top honors in Blue Crush?
This’ll be my second year on the selection committee for Boulder’s Adventure Film Festival and the experience has changed the meaning of the phrase for me. I’ve gotten to screen never-before-seen films about never-before-tried expeditions and get to know some of the filmmakers and masterminds behind the magic–I just finished an interview with a filmmaker for our Fall issue’s “Dream Job. I’ve grown my network to include editors, film critics, and festival-goers who drop names of world-class explorers as easily as they throw out anecdotes of lessons they learned in far-off countries. I’ve also gained an appreciation for the art of storytelling that goes into a truly great film, and for the value of documenting the world as we see it today–and capturing what we can of the world as it once was, or still is.
That last point–capturing the world as it once was–was part of the mission of The Last Wild Mountains: Portrait of the American Climber, a film by director Oakley Anderson-Moore and producer Alex Reinhard that’s in the post-production process right now. I haven’t seen the film (yet) and can’t vouch for the final product (yet), but with the American Alpine Club on board to receive tons of archive footage, they’re already proving that the documentary angle of their mission is a top priority.
What else is on their minds? No surprise here: Money. Gramicci has stepped up as a sponsor to help them finish their project and they’re selling hand-printed t-shirts to bridge the gap between their exhausted travel budget and the cost of finishing the film. I can’t wait to see it, so I’m in… watch their effort to convince you, and get a sense for the story they’re trying to tell. Then, check out their selection of T’s at www.lastwildmountain.bigcartel.com
