The 10th annual Edinburgh Mountain Film Festival ventures back into the capital from 26-28 October 2012. From its humble beginnings in 2003, it's grown to be one of the most popular snd dynamic events in Scotland's outdoor adventure calendar, attracting in excess of 3,000 outdoor enthusiasts. The 3-day festival is staged at George Square Lecture Theatre in Edinburgh.
As always, the festival promises to be a weekend packed full of inspiration and entertainment, with an impressive diversity of speakers and a selection of films delivering lots of high drama and painful wipeouts! The EMFF has built a reputation as a fun, lively and inspiring event, suitable for all of the family, and in its 10th anniversary year, it will continue to build on that trend.
Highlights include lectures by alpinist, climber, BASE-jumper and all around adventurer Leo Houlding; and Alan Hinkes, the only British mountaineer to have scaled all 14 of the world’s 8000m mountains. Coming in from the cold is Norwegian polar explorer Børge Ousland, a true adventurer of modern times who seems to genuinely enjoy extreme suffering! He’s not only travelled to the North Pole in winter – he even got married there (in summer!).
Meanwhile, self-styled Alpine Princess, Zoe Hart, inspires the climbers on Saturday afternoon and Ardnamurchan-based Simon Willis will share tales of his sea kayaking adventures on his lecture on Sunday afternoon.
As well as the speakers, there are many remarkable films being screened, including the first public screening in Edinburgh of Dave MacLeod in ‘The Long Hope’; the gritty high altitude epic ‘Cold’ with its frightening footage of the aftermath of a major avalanche; and the astonishing and hilarious ‘don’t-try-these-at-home’ antics of ‘Sketchy Andy’, a slackline adventurer. Most mountain sports are represented, including climbing, snowsports, BASE-Jumping, mountain culture and epic journeys, with a good combination of international and locally made films.
Speaking about his forthcoming lecture, Leo Houlding said: “I’ve been hoping to come to the EMFF since it started back in 2003. Time flies but I’m delighted to be speaking at the 10th anniversary festival. I’ve got some great stories to share with everyone. It’s going to be an awesome weekend!”
The festival is staged in association with Tiso, Mountain Equipment, Gore, the EICA at Ratho, Visit Norway and Wilderness Scotland. Tickets start at £5 and will be on sale from the EMFF website.