BY KAREN BOSSICK

Kendal Mountain Festival, the United Kingdom’s leading adventure film and speaker festival, is coming to Ketchum for the first time on Saturday, Nov. 5.

The film festival will make its Ketchum debut at 4:15 and 6:50 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 5, at Magic Lantern Cinema in Ketchum.

Britain’s biggest mountain festival, it’s making its first tour through more than 75 markets in the United States and Canada this fall for the first time in its 42-year history.

The festival features short adventure documentaries and stories with a uniquely British and European slant. Over the years it’s fielded a list of “who’s who” from the world of climbing and mountaineering to stand on its stage. Among them Yvon Chouinard, Reinhold Messner, Fred Beckey, Jeff Lowe, Tommy Caldwell and Will Gadd.

It has been the launchpad and international showcase for such films as “Free Solo” and “The Rescue,” showcasing films in the United Kingdom and China.

The festival is sponsored by Montane and OS Maps. Ordnance Survey (OS) is Britain’s national mapping service.

"We’re incredibly excited and honored to finally be bringing the Kendal Mountain Tour to our friends across the Atlantic! We’ve worked hard to program the best Festival films, alongside hosting great guest speakers at our live events across North America,” said Steve Scott, director of Kendal Mountain Festival. “We hope people will join us for an evening that will celebrate adventure stories from some of the most spectacular places on earth. You’ll be guided through our curation featuring a unique collection of travelers, athletes, activists, and creatives.”

FILM OVERVIEWS

The Process--Tom Randall is a world class crack climber. He is also a terrible runner, which is why his latest challenge seems like an odd choice. He decided to link up two of the Lake District's biggest and toughest endurance challenges, the Bob Graham Round and The Classic Rock challenge into one hellish 24-hour mad dash.

Spellbound--Male Wingsuit BASE jumping is often presented as a thrill-seeking adrenaline rush. Spellbound takes us deeper into the more contemplative aspects of jumping, as David Walden and friends venture into the mountains around his home in New Zealand.

The Traverse--Facing some of the most challenging terrain in the world, Valentine Fabre and Hillary Gerardi, two world class athletes, attempt to be the first women to ski the Haute Route non-stop from Chamonix to Zermatt. For Valentine, the Haute Route has deep personal resonance. Her husband had set the men's record shortly before a fatal mountain climbing accident a decade ago. With Hillary she sets out on this non-stop 100-km traverse, climbing 8,000 meters over some the most beautiful high mountain terrain in the world.

Bicycling Presents—Leo Rodgers lost his leg, then rediscovered the bicycle. Now he’s unstoppable.

Chasing Ghosts--Deep in remote Florida swamps, a team of researchers and photographers have made a new discovery that upends what we thought we knew about the ghost orchid, one of the world’s most iconic flowers, and how it reproduces. In their quest to identify the pollinator of the ghost orchid for the first time, this team spent three summers standing waist-deep in alligator- and snake-laden water, swatting air blackened by mosquitoes and climbing to sometimes nausea-inducing heights. They came away with an even deeper love for Florida's wildest wetlands and with surprising revelations that may help to conserve both the endangered orchid and its shrinking home.

A Woman’s Place--A funny, heartwarming and honest conversation with The Pinnacle Club. Highlighting women's long-standing involvement in climbing, and aiming to rebalance a narrative which has been primarily about men; join members of the club as they celebrate their centenary during a global pandemic.

Running Thoughts--Sometimes, an hour is all you get. Often, an hour is all you need. In those 60 minutes, for every question that gets answered, a new one gets asked. Tension releases into the passing wind. Goals are reaffirmed. Internal yarns are spun. Knots get untangled, and everything makes sense — even if you've forgotten it all by the time you get home.

Touching the Water--Mhairi Helme's poetic reflection of a 100-mile run around the English Lake District inspired by the landscape, the people she meets and her running hero Joss Naylor.