2002 guest speakers
Chris Sharma
Realization: Zen and the Art of Climbing, Chris Sharma redefining the limits of sport climbing and bouldering.
At 20, the Santa Cruz native has already joined the pantheon of climbing legends. Not only is he winning world climbing competitions by more than double the next highest score, but he is also scoring first ascents on routes that have been attempted unsuccessfully by the best climbers in the world. Last year he finally completed his long-term project in Southern France called "Realization" (5.15a), arguably the most difficult rock route ever climbed.
Chris won the Bouldering Nationals in Phoenix, Ariz., at the age of 14, and the next year had nailed his first 5.14c-rated climb, which until recently was the ultimate level on the American rating system. He earned his diploma at 15, freeing himself to travel in search of the newest rock. He has probably spent more time traveling than he has in a classroom, having been to Asia, New Zealand and Europe a number of times.
In spite of being one of America's latest "rock stars" Chris comes across as humble and spiritual, an image that conflicts with the media stereotype. He is more interested in talking about the nature of a climb than he is in discussing numbers or victories. Perhaps it is also because both of his parents are lifelong students of Eastern traditions that Chris seems to have a Zen-like view of climbing. "I love climbing. It's a great way to be in nature. It is moving on rock. It's not just a physical thing; it's also a spiritual thing ... where time stops. You stop thinking about stuff. There is no past, present or future. It all disintegrates." Chris always tries to be completely unattached to the outcome of his every move and totally present with the move that he is doing.
Chris, who is sponsored by Petzl, Pusher, Präna, and 5.10, is savvy to the commercialism of his sport. His job definition is full-time climber. It's his business. He shows up for interviews and photo shoots wearing his sponsors' logos. He has been in several documentaries and climbing videos. Yet the photos of Chris climbing show him practically levitating, concentrating his way up a rock. He could be a monk in prayer, or a man contemplating his next chess move. Whether he is a foot off the ground or 20 feet, a certain calm and poise mark his climbing.
July 18, 2001, Ceüse, France. "Chris Sharma hangs at the end of his rope with his face buried in his hands. To those who have followed Chris's quest for the first ascent of this magnificent project, the scene is, at first glance, all too familiar. Over the past four years, he's spent 13 weeks on three separate trips falling off this route. His efforts have elevated the line to legendary status and drawn international attention. All of his previous attempts - maybe as many as 100 - have ended in failure, and the image of Chris dangling from his rope in defeat has become ingrained in the consciousness of the climbing public. But this time something is different. This time the rope is clipped through the anchor, and Chris covers his face not in frustration, but to contain an expression of overwhelmed elation. The world's most famous project is now perhaps the world's hardest sport climb. It is Chris Sharma's Realization." (Josh Lowell, Rock and Ice 111)
Come watch Chris Sharma in the world premiere of his live multi-media presentation, Realization: Zen and the Art of Climbing! With slides and video clips from his most important climbs, including "Realization", 5.15a!
Also on the same evening screening of the specially selected Festival rockclimbing and mountaineering films!
Where: Centennial Theatre, 2300 Lonsdale Ave., North Vancouver, BC
When: Saturday February 23, 7:00 (doors open and reception with refreshments
starts at 6:00 PM).
Tickets: $ 15 in advance, $ 17 at the door. Advance tickets available
at MEC, and other selected outdoor stores and climbing gyms. Tickets also
available at the Centennial Theatre Box Office, (604) 984-4484.
Festival passes with admission to all events at $ 49!
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Guy Edwards
2001 Complete Coast Range Ski Traverse
Guy is a dedicated mountain explorer. He is a proponent of long, self-propelled wilderness traverses, as well as being a very motivated alpine climber. Guy instigated, organized, and skied the Complete Coast Range Ski Traverse, a 2015 km ski odyssey from Vancouver, BC, to Skagway, Alaska, from February to July, 2001.
Guy has attempted and succeeded on many tough alpine routes around the world. He has climbed new routes in Kyrgyzstan, Patagonia, Argentina, Bugaboos, Beartooth Mtns (Montana), and within BC's Coast Range and Cascade Mountains. Guy has also repeated the French Route on Aconcagua in an alpine style ascent.
"The six month 2001 Coast Range ski traverse, which at times seemed to stretch ahead of us forever, has now become a collection of memories. On July 16, 2001, our team hiked down the ridge from the Denver Glacier into Skagway, Alaska after having skied and bushwhacked more than 2000 km. of mountainous terrain from Vancouver, BC."
"Months on end in the mountains entailed a process of acclimatization to the alpine environment. Traveling north lengthened the arrival of spring. Day by day we watched the transformation of the snow pack from storm accumulation to spring isothermal slush to summer corn snow. A major challenge was to reach the large northern ice-fields before the disappearance of the snows made ski touring impossible."
"Unusually solid weather throughout late winter allowed us to realize this objective and arrive in Skagway a month earlier than originally planned. We spent a total of only a dozen days tent bound in storm weather, a token penance in the notoriously tempestuous range." (Guy Edwards)
The original team of four included John Millar, Dan Clark, Guy Edwards, and Vance Culbert. After Dan had to leave the expedition due to a serious neck injury, Lena Rowat joined the team. Kari Medig, Cecilia Mortenson, and Heather Culbert also joined the crew for shorter sections.
Come watch Guy Edwards in the festival premiere of his live multi-media presentation, 2001 Complete Coast Range Ski Traverse! Also on the same evening screening of the best recent mountain films made in BC and the rest of Canada.
Where: Centennial Theatre, 2300 Lonsdale Ave., North Vancouver, BC
When: Friday February 22, 7:00 (doors open and reception with refreshments
starts at 6:00 PM).
Tickets: $ 15 in advance, $ 17 at the door. Advance tickets available
at MEC, and other selected outdoor stores and climbing gyms. Tickets also
available at the Centennial Theatre Box Office, (604) 984-4484.
Festival passes with admission to all events at $ 49!
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Lisa Gnade
Lisa Gnade is one of North America's most accomplished "traditional" crack climbers. She has left her mark with many 5.13 ascents, including the first ascent of the ultra-thin and technical finger crack "Ruby's Café" in Utah's Canyonlands area. Lisa has also displayed her skill and determination with a coveted ascent of Colorado's "Sphinx Crack," a stiff 5.13c overhanging finger crack located in the South Platte. The line has been climbed by only a select few and is considered one of the most difficult crack climbs.
Today, Lisa continues to climb the hardest routes in the desert, although most of her cragging days are spent climbing at American Fork Canyon near her home in Salt Lake City. She has climbed extensively throughout the U.S., Europe, and even in Jordan's Wadi Rum. Lisa's goals for climbing are long term, stating that she endeavors to climb and push her personal limits for decades to come.
Lisa has excelled in sports since she was young. She was a champion horseback rider in Iowa during her early teens, winning more than 100 competitions. She began climbing while a student at Northern Arizona University. Now married to fellow desert fanatic Steve Petro, she divides her time among climbing, guiding, and working as a sales representative for Excalibur/DMM climbing hardware. She can also be found making routine appearances in television commercials and climbing videos.
Lisa's slideshow Climb Now! features rock climbing images and stories from her home areas in Utah, and it also covers some of her favorite climbing spots in Europe and Jordan's Wadi Rum. In her Vancouver premiere she will also include images from her most recent trip to Spain's Costa Blanca. This photo album style show from her years of living the climbers' lifestyle gives some area history and stories from her climbing trips, as well as a look at rest-day sights. Lisa's hope is that everyone who sees the show will be inspired to make their own climbing dreams into realities.
Also on the same evening Film Festival Awards Ceremony and screening of some of the VIMFF 2002 Festival winners.
Where: Centennial Theatre, 2300 Lonsdale Ave., North Vancouver, BC
When: Sunday February 24, 7:00 (doors open and reception with refreshments
starts at 6:00 PM).
Tickets: $ 15 in advance, $ 17 at the door. Advance tickets available
at MEC, and other selected outdoor stores and climbing gyms. Tickets also
available at the Centennial Theatre Box Office, (604) 984-4484.
Festival passes with admission to all events at $ 49!
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Fiodor ("Fedia") Farberov
Exploring Russia's Mysterious Kamchatka Peninsula: Climbing in the great ranges of Russia, living and working amongst the volcanoes of the remote Kamchatka Peninsula.
Fedia Farberov, 40, was born and raised in the far east of Russia, on the Kamchatka Peninsula. This strategic outpost of the ex-Soviet empire is a pristine wilderness teeming with active volcanoes and harbours the highest concentration of grizzlies on the planet. Until the early 1990s, the region was strictly off limits to foreigners, and even Russians couldn't travel here without a special permit.
A keen outdoorsman, Fedia has earned the prestigious Russian title "Master of Sport" in both Skiing and Climbing. For the past 20 years he has made numerous difficult ascents and rescues in the mountain ranges of the Caucasus, Pamir, Altai, Polar Urals and Kamchatka. He worked as a guide/interpreter for Pat & Baiba Morrow on two filming projects in Kamchatka in the 1990s as well as for many other foreign film crews and adventure clients.
Fedia began his career as a ski racer, competing all over the ex Soviet Union, then went on to use his skiing and climbing skills to make numerous first descents of peaks on his native Kamchatka Peninsula. Perhaps his most significant ski descent to date is the unrelenting Orient Express route on Denali which begins near the 6194 meter summit, and plummets down the steep west face for 2000 vertical meters.
Fedia's slide presentation, Exploring Russia's Mysterious Kamchatka Peninsula, will touch on some of his more significant ascents in the great ranges of Russia. However, most of his show will concentrate on his years of living and working amongst the volcanoes of the remote Kamchatka Peninsula where he grew up assisting his volcanologist parents with field work and exploring on his own.
Also on the same evening Festival Official Inauguration, Awards Ceremony for the VIMFF Photo Contest, VIMFF Photo Exhibition Opening, a short multi-media show by Pat and Baiba Morrow, 25 Years Behind the Adventure Lens, and screening of the Festival films on mountain culture.
Where: Centennial Theatre, 2300 Lonsdale Ave., North Vancouver, BC
When: Wednesday February 20, 7:00 (doors open and reception with refreshments
starts at 6:00 PM).
Tickets: $ 15 in advance, $ 17 at the door. Advance tickets available
at MEC, and other selected outdoor stores and climbing gyms. Tickets also
available at the Centennial Theatre Box Office, (604) 984-4484.
Festival passes with admission to all events at $ 49!
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Nazir Sabir:
Karakoram, Mountains of My Dream
Nazir Sabir was born high up in the mystic Chupursan Valley in the northern tip of Pakistan. Mountains fascinated Nazir Sabir from his childhood and 20 years of scrambling from mountain to mountain has taken him all over Pakistan and Nepal.
Nazir Sabir is the only Pakistani to have climbed four of the five 8000m peaks in Pakistan. Some major exploits include his successful attempt on a new route on K2 via West Face with the Japanese expedition (1981). He climbed both G-II and Broad Peak in one year in pure alpine style in the company of Reinhold Messner and fellow Pakistani Sher Khan (1982). In 1992 he climbed Hidden Peak in two days from Base Camp.
Nazir Sabir earned high respect in the community of the mountaineering fraternity in the world for his achievements in 20 years of climbing. He became a national hero and was honoured with the President's Award for Pride of Performance in 1982 for his outstanding achievements in mountaineering.
Apart from his trekking business Nazir has been closely involved in the promotion of tourism, trekking and mountaineering in Pakistan. He has been offering slide presentations in seminars around the globe. Nazir has been voicing for the environmental issues concerning the mountains in Pakistan's Siachen Area and in the Himalayan countries.
Nazir's slide presentation, "Karakoram, Mountains of My Dream", will cover the entire Northern Mountains range of Pakistan and also include slides from Hunza, his birthplace, as well as stories of his K2 and Everest ascents.
Also on the same evening screening of the specially selected Festival mountain culture films!
Where: Planetarium, 1100 Chestnut Street, Vancouver
When: Saturday, February 16, 7:00
Tickets: $ 12 at the door
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