Every year we tell ourselves to be careful. Not to be over-ambitious. Maybe rein it in a bit? Make sure we don’t bite off more than we chew. And then we just steam ahead anyway, damn the torpedoes, and go for it in the only way we know how.
So that’s why this year’s programme is bigger than ever before. Maybe 50% bigger even, when you figure in our new Basecamp lectures and events. Phew!
As ever, ‘Kendal’ represents the best in adventure filmmaking, mountain culture, environment and exploration. Film is always the heart of the Festival and this year we have an outstanding programme that will inspire, inform, challenge your perceptions and take you to places and on journeys that will stay with you forever. Our lecture and live events programme continues to grow in quality and diversity, and our speaker list features cutting-edge adventurers from across the world. We aim to keep reaching out to new audiences, especially young people, inspiring a new generation to get active in the great outdoors that we all love.
Make sure that you have time to visit our new Basecamp at the Brewery Arts Centre. This exciting development brings together a cafe/bar, performance stage and space for our sponsors and partners, using reclaimed timber and materials to give a welcoming, high-mountain-village ambience, creating a vibrant Festival hub.
Kendal Mountain Festival’s vision is to inspire more people to explore, enjoy and represent mountains, wilderness and their cultures.
Our Basecamp area – including the Marmot Tent and Rab/Lowe Alpine’s Advance Base Camp - features a full-on programme of minilectures, appearances and music, all for free!
Further afield, our satellite events as part of ‘The Kendal World Film Tour’ continue to grow rapidly, with the best elements from each Festival shown at venues across the globe. We’ve recently launched major developments in China and South America, with more excitement in the pipeline.
Above all else Kendal is a gathering and the annual event for likeminded people who get together to celebrate the wonder of wild places and adventure. Have a great Festival and we thank you and our host of fantastic sponsors, especially our presenting sponsor, Blacks, supporters, funders and the hundreds of wonderful volunteers for your vital support.
Without sponsorship and support, the Kendal Mountain Festival just would not happen. Please take a moment to check out our partners who have helped bring this year’s Festival to you.
Kendal is so many things to different people. Inspiration from incredible physical and mental achievements against the odds; being wowed by places that suddenly you HAVE to visit; knowledge gained from the stories of true explorers. Whatever your motivation, there is something for you, something that will make you just that little more grateful that you are part of the Festival. Enjoy!
Tommy Caldwell
© Chris Burkard
With a great selection of climbing films to watch, there are also plenty of mustsee, live events this weekend.
Don’t miss the new Alpine and Rock Sessions! Riveting lectures, jam-packed with some of the world’s best climbing talent; Dave MacLeod, Natalie Berry, Kenton Cool, Ines Papert, Babsi Zangerl, Korrad Pesce, Dave Pickford, Catherine Destivelle, Matt Helliker, Jon Bracey and Tommy Caldwell. Plus Andy Kirkpatrick, Nina Caprez, Neil Gresham, Chris Bonington, Jeff Mercier, Leo Houlding and more to round it up on Sunday. Amazing!
One of our most popular attractions, we’re now building our Family Adventure Sessions into even more inspirational, educational, fun and entertaining events. As always we’ll be screening the best short films, featuring eye-popping action, but this year we’re also introducing special guests.
Saturday features the Meek family - a regular family that until recently lived a normal life. That changed in 2014 when they sold their house, quit their jobs and took the girls out of school to go on a year (or more) of family adventure.
Sunday features the irrepressible Andy Kirkpatrick; part comedy act, part serious mountaineer. Andy’s two kids Ella and Ewen often get dragged into the action, so the threesome will be there to talk about recent adventures which, in true Kirkpatrick spirit, often don’t go exactly to plan…
Festival Manager
Paul Scully
Festival Coordinator
Claire Wickham
Film officer
Claire Jane Carter
Business & Strategic Consultant
Jacqui Scott
Programme (Film & Live Events), Pr, Marketing and Sponsorship
Clive Allen
Brand, Specialist Programming and Sponsorship
Steve Scott
Production & Training Academies
Matt Burke
Arts & Cultural officer
Henry Iddon
Technical Managers
Steve Parnaby, Tom Elleray
Technical Assistant
Leigh Beavis
Basecamp Village Manager
Tim Murray
Brand Liaison & Creative Content
Liam Lonsdale
Presenter Coordinator
Andy Perkins
Volunteer Coordinator
Ian 'Blue' Gray
Festival Design (MTn Creative)
Jacqui Scott
Jenny Rice
Petra Blahova
Festival Trailer Film
Coldhouse Collective
Festival Photographers
Stuart Holmes
Kevin Moran
Jessie Leong
Festival Filming
Coldhouse Collective
Social Media/Pr
Captive Minds
Financial Management
Pam Purcell
The adrenaline junkies amongst you won’t be disappointed! Our famous Specialist Sessions now cover eight exhilarating areas of adventure: Snowsports, Endurance, Bike, Adventure & Exploration, Underground, Free Flight and the all new Rock and Alpine Sessions. And if that’s not enough for you, our Adrenaline films showcase the most electrifying, extreme action around the globe. OK, so you might never actually ‘give it a go’ but it sure is fun and inspiring watching others try!
The Festival weekend has plenty to offer lovers of the white stuff. We have Olympic skier Jenny Jones introducing the Julbo Snowsports Session, this year featuring the amazing big mountain skier Flo Orley. Plus our film programme is packed with dramatic, unmissable films from the breathtaking world of ski and board.
Sit back and enjoy awesome films and lectures from the world’s most intrepid explorers.
Tales from the backcountry from Toby Storie-Pugh and Squash Falconer, featuring in the Lowe Alpine Adventure & Exploration Session and sharing their inspiration along the way.
Films – the beating heart of Kendal Mountain Festival! This year we are thrilled to offer yet another packed programme showcasing the very best of outdoor filmmaking. With entries from all corners of the world, covering all aspects of mountain adventure (and a huge range of budgets), the 2015 Film Competition is going to be very exciting indeed!
Note: Events may be subject to change for reasons beyond the organisers control. Any changes will be publicised on venue info boards, via the website (www.mountainfest.co.uk) and on our Facebook and Twitter pages.
Thursday 19 november
Growing bigger every year, our public opening event brings the Festival onto the street - for free! The formula is simple: close the road outside Kendal Town Hall, build a giant screen, declare the Festival well and truly open, and show a selection of great family-friendly short films! There’ll be food, mulled wine and a great atmosphere - the fun starts around 6.30pm - bring your waterproofs, just in case!
Please note: this event may be moved inside the Town Hall in the event of high winds or very low temperatures, as the screen becomes vulnerable.
Thursday 19 Nov | 18:30 - 19:30 | Outside Kendal Town Hall | FREE
Kenton is one of the finest alpine climbers of his generation. He has summited Everest eleven times, skied down Cho Oyu, guided Ranulph Fiennes on the Eiger and was the first person to climb the ‘Everest Horseshoe’ - Everest, Nuptse and Lhotse - the so-called Triple Crown. Plus he’s a top bloke. Kenton has a new book out, his autobiography, and will talk about this and his career in a one-off presentation.
Friday 20 Nov | 19:00 - 20:30
K Village | £12.50
Some climbers specialise, but Dave is the consummate allrounder. Sport? Happy to tick 9a (A Muerte, Siurana). Bouldering?
8B/V13 (Pressure, Dumbarton Rock). Trad? E11 of course (Rhapsody, Echo Wall etc). Winter? XI,11 (The Hurting, Coire an t-Sneachda). And alpine? Lots of hard stuff, winter and summer, on the Eiger, Dolomites etc. Phew. But not only that, he’s willing to tell us the secrets behind his success, authoring two very successful training books.
Perhaps most annoying of all, he’s a totally nice guy who’s a pleasure to spend time with. Find out what we mean at this unmissable lecture.
Saturday 21 Nov | 10:00 - 12:00 Brewery Arts Centre - Theatre £12.50
MALLory: B EyonD EVEr EST
George Mallory and Sandy Irvine vanished into the mist high on Everest in 1924 and were never seen alive again. Their tale has become one of the most iconic stories in mountaineering. This dramatic one-man play imagines what demons Mallory might have faced had he lived. In the play Mallory, played by John Burns, relives his experiences in the trenches of WW1, looks back over his three attempts on Everest and struggles with the terrible choice he must make between the woman he loves and his obsession with the mountain. The play tells the human story of the man behind the legend and examines some of the dilemmas all mountaineers face.
Thursday 19 Nov | 20:00 - 21:30 | The Box | £7.50
One of our most popular attractions, we’re now building the Family Adventure Session into an even more inspirational, educational, fun and entertaining event.
Our Saturday Session features the Meek family – Tim, Kerry, Amy and Ella, a regular family that until recently lived a normal life. That changed in the summer of 2014 when they sold their house, quit their jobs and took the girls out of school to go on a year (or more) of family adventure. This involved travelling the UK, exploring the country, learning about it as well as seeking out adventures that would push the family out of its comfort zone…
Saturday 21 Nov | 10:00 - 12:00
Kendal Leisure Centre | £4.50 or FREE with a valid film pass
Workshops by British Mountain Guides. Supported by Arc’teryx.
Learn from the professionals about:
• Glacier ropework with top rock and alpine experts Stuart McAleese
• Dry tooling with ice expert Adrian Nelhams
• The Big Wall Portaledge Experience with Kendal’s resident wall monster Andy Owen
All these workshops are FREE courtesy of the BMG’s partner Arc’teryx but numbers are strictly limited. Please call Kendal Wall on 01539 721766 to reserve your place.
Saturday 21 Nov 10:00 - 12:00
Kendal Wall | FREE
Back once again for a little 10k jaunt, from the centre of Kendal up to Scout Scar, with the thigh burning, calf pinging warm-up up Beast Banks - it’s not called that for nothing!
Ultimate Triathlete Sean Conway will be starting the race, whilst adidas will be providing top of the range trainers for prizes!
Saturday 21 Nov | 11:00 start | Register at Kendal Town Hall £15 online | £20 enter on the day (if available)
Engineered to outsmart the elements and offer maximum protection in all conditions. With their high-performance functional membranes and sophisticated designs, Marmot’s technical shells are the go-to choice for all outdoor adventures.
< Alpinist Jacket, Quasar Hoody & Tour Pant
www.marmot.eu
Marmot Presents
Chamonix 150th Anniversary Session - the Golden Age of Mountaineering
Over the weekend come and see us in Marmot Tent at The Brewery for a Bar, Live Music and Presentations
Saturday 21 november
Ben Moon hit the climbing headlines this June, redpointing Rainshadow at Malham Cove, his second route graded 9a. Incredibly this was just a few days before his 49th birthday and 25 years after climbing Hubble, his first 9a, leading to an outbreak of mass motivation/depression among middle-aged climbers across the world. A true legend who transformed the standards of top-end rock climbing, Ben is also a successful businessman who has developed his own brand of climbing clothing and equipment while somehow managing to train hard and be a family man.
Find out what makes Ben tick at this one-off lecture for Kendal!
Saturday 21 Nov | 13:00 - 14:30 Brewery Arts Centre - Theatre £12.50
Climber, writer & photographer David Pickford, editor in chief of Climb Magazine, returns to the Kendal Mountain Festival with a special lecture in two parts.
The first part, called The LightDrenched Prism, showcases some of his best recent climbing photography. David will explain the hidden secrets behind the making of his finest images from the vertical world, and offer expert advice on how to achieve great results from your climbing photography.
The second part features two short readings from After The Crash and other stories, David’s recentlypublished collection of short fiction based around climbing and mountaineering, followed by a brief Q&A session.
Saturday 21 Nov | 13:00 - 14:30 | The Box | £9.50
From Kathmandu to Everest base camp, the horrific earthquake in April devastated the entire country of Nepal. Despite the fact that the disaster has faded from the news, the country faces a huge rebuilding challenge with a continuing need for safe water, shelter and medicine.
Sherpa Adventure Gear, the Nepal-based outdoor brand, manufactures its products in Kathmandu and surrounding villages. Tashi Sherpa, the founder and owner of the company will be on hand to describe the situation in Nepal; Kenton Cool adds his experiences and knowledge; and mountaineer Heather Geluk who was on expedition at the time describes her experience. Plus climber Neil Gresham will be on hand to discuss the current situation with the team. All are active in postearthquake initiatives and this special Session aims to raise funds; all ticket revenue will be donated to the Help Sherpas Help Nepal appeal.
Saturday 21 Nov | 16:30 - 18:00 | Kendal Town Hall | £12.50
Scottish climber Robbie Phillips recently shot to prominence with a series of high-profile repeats in the Alps. Climbing with partner Will Morris, Robbie succeeded on Paciencia, the Eiger’s hardest rock route, in August and completed an astonishing trilogy of alpine climbs in a single summer; Paciencia (8a), Silbergeier (8b+) in Switzerland and Project Fear (8c) in the Dolomites. Kendal Wall hosts this talk by one of the UK’s top all-round climbers.
Saturday 21 Nov | 15:00 - 16:30 | Kendal Wall | £7.50
There is something deeply primitive in mankind that fires the urge to explore; to search for the unknown whether it is beyond a horizon, over an ocean or, maybe, up a mountain. This desire, which includes rock faces, was possibly driven out of necessity but rock climbing eventually became a recreation. This shift to a sport-like activity emerged towards the end of the 19th Century when those who would have been considered ‘crazy people’ risked life on the seemingly futile pursuit of free-climbing.
David Chambre’s new book reflects on those men and women, famous or forgotten, whose lives have been possessed by their passion for the rock. David, and director of the ‘Montagne-Culture’ Series Catherine Destivelle, visit Kendal in a unique presentation to talk about the subject, the book and its gestation.
Saturday 21 Nov | 15:00 - 16:30 | The Box | £9.50
Robbie Phillips
Tommy Caldwell catapulted to international fame earlier this year freeclimbing the Dawn Wall on yo semite’s El Capitan with Kevin Jorgeson, an event that hit the headlines around the world; even Barack Obama was moved to pick up his phone and tweet the duo.
However it’s not like Caldwell and Jorgeson just strolled up to El Cap and started climbing; there’s been a lot of blood, sweat and sacrifices along the way and Tommy travels to Kendal to describe the whole story in this one-off UK appearance, which is guaranteed to keep everyone on the edge of their seats.
With enormous thanks to Patagonia for their help in bringing Tommy to Kendal.
Saturday 21 Nov | 17:00 - 18:30 | Kendal Leisure Centre | £12.50
Last year we broke the mould and moved our Awards Ceremony to Saturday night, and it was a rip-roaring success - the perfect start to a great social evening!
Come and see the winners announced in our internationally renowned mountain film competition and celebrate the success of the filmmakers.
Saturday 21 Nov | 19:00 - 20:30 | Brewery Arts Centre - Theatre
Entry is free with any valid Festival ticket, but you’ll need to visit the Box Office first to claim an Awards ticket.
r AB PAr T y
Just when you thought we couldn’t make it any bigger…this year RAB is extending its party across the whole of the Brewery Arts Centre and even further into Kendal itself!
At 10pm the phenomenally upbeat Hey Down Treaders will be kicking off in the Malt Room (doors @ 10pm - tickets £9.50) followed by a DJ set to keep the energy flowing.
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At 1am the party will up sticks and head along the high street, onwards into Kendal town centre, where GusN8R (Sheffield Techno Institute, E.T.C, Climbing Works parties) will make his festival debut dropping one of his famous DJ sets at the fantastic Bootleggers Music Bar (starting 00.45am - FREE ENTRy with AN y Festival ticket or pass).
For Festival goers that want a calmer vibe, but longer drinking hours (you know who you are), we will be taking over the wonderful Ruskin’s Bar and filling it with some chilled-out rhythms to accompany an excellent selection of ales, whisky, spirits and beers.
Saturday 21 Nov | £9.50
22:00 - 01:00 | Brewery Arts Centre - Malt Room
22:00 - 03:00 | Bootleggers Music Bar
22:00 - 03:00 | Ruskins
This year Chamonix celebrates the 150th anniversary of 1865, an eventful year when the Golden Age of mountaineering reached its climax. The Alps had become a playground for Victorian mountaineers, and 1865 was immortalised by 65 first ascents across the Alps and seven in the Mont Blanc massif including the Aiguille Verte, the Grandes Jorasses and the Brenva Spur on Mont Blanc. In partnership with the town of Chamonix, Kendal celebrates the anniversary with a special, totally unique Session presented by alpinist and UKClimbing editor Jack Geldard.
The programme features films and discussion setting the scene around those early ascents, plus a never-to-be-repeated line-up of speakers. Sir Chris Bonington will reminisce on his early exploits in the 1950s and 60s. Filmmaker Dom Green talks about his feature film about the Gary Hemming story, a dramatic 1960s rescue on the Dru. Catherine Destivelle will share her experiences through the 1980s and 90s, and Jeff Mercier brings us bang up to date with current alpine trends in the valley.
Sunday 22 Nov | 10:00 - 12:00 | Kendal Leisure Centre | £12.50
Our Sunday Session features the irrepressible Andy Kirkpatrick; part comedy act, part serious mountaineer. Andy’s two kids Ella and Ewen often get dragged into the action - in fact Ella insisted Andy took her up a route on El Capitan when she was just 13 - so the threesome will be there to talk about recent adventures which, in true Kirkpatrick spirit, often don’t go exactly to plan…
Sunday 22 Nov | 10:00 - 12:00 | Brewery Arts Centre - Theatre £4.50 or FREE with a valid film pass
Village du tour © Sylvain Coutterand
Sunday 22 november
Revive yourself with free coffee and pastries – or a cheeky Bloody Mary if that’s your bag – then sit back and let Niall take you on a rocky ride through real British adventure. Features exclusive films, behind-the-scenes footage and plenty of dark humour.
Finishes with Operation Moffat, the brand-new BMC TV film about Gwen Moffat.
yo u’ll also get: a chunky BMC TV goody bag, special cocktails (served by top climber Hazel Findlay), free entry into a seriously good raffle and the chance to win spot prizes.
Sunday 22 Nov | 10:00 - 12:00
The Box | £9.50
The US magazine Climbing described Andy as a climber with a “strange penchant for the long, the cold and the difficult.” His speciality is big wall climbing and winter expeditions; essentially piling suffering upon suffering. But more than that, Andy’s gift is communication. Through his books, chronicling his life and climbs. Through his films and various TV appearances, and most of all through his uproarious live shows; Britain’s only ‘stand up mountaineer’ is a proper comedian. Don’t miss this opportunity to hear the latest from “Hull’s second-best climber”.
Sunday 22 Nov | 13:00 - 14:30
Brewery Arts Centre - Theatre £7.50
The British Mountain Guides is our national association for the most qualified and experienced professionals for leading people in the mountains. Many BMG guides are well known climbers in their own right and a leading BMG guide will talk about his latest escapades, plus how engaging a BMG guide can relieve your stress!
Sunday 22 Nov | 14:30 - 16:00
Brewery Arts Centre - Malt Room £5.00
If modern British adventure has a face, it looks a lot like Leo Houlding.
Star of many of the best British climbing films in recent years, Leo’s latest project was to make a filmed ascent of an unclimbed wall in Greenland. After 12 days battling sickness, bad weather and complex route problems, Leo and the team topped out on the Mirror Wall route on 30 July. This will be a unique opportunity to hear him speak about this latest adventure, featuring film excerpts and special guests.
Sunday 22 Nov | 15:30 - 17:00
Brewery Arts Centre - Theatre £7.50
rAy MAr TIn
Ar TIST
Ray Martin’s paintings stem from a desire to travel, an interest in exotic landscapes. yet his works are not representational of real places, but of second source imagery available as a result of this century’s technological advances.
One of Pakistan’s top landscape and culture photographers, for whom photography is a tool of self expression and a means of sharing experiences. He records beautiful moments of remote wilderness through an understanding of light and composition to satisfy his love of nature and adventure.
ToM HInE
GrAPHIC Ar TIST
HINEink is a small design studio based in Chamonix. Producing clean bold graphic contemporary designs, heavily inspired by nature and presently his current surroundings, its local traditions and folklore.
Hazel grew up in a remote part of the Highlands, and has always loved wild places and natural objects. She does not directly use natural or found materials, but rather explores intuitively with metal. She finds that her admiration for the complexity, order and chaos of such forms and places surfaces indirectly.
Radiating from the Festival hub at the Brewery Arts Centre is a network of art that reflects the diversity of the mountains and the mountain experience.
Ray Martin, Deconstructed Hillside
Golden Age by Tom Hine
Hazel Thorn
Artspace 26A – Truth and Terrain
An exhibition of mountain paintings at Artspace 26a, the exciting new gallery studios at The Factory, South Lakeland’s cultural hub.
PAM wILLIAMSon
The Lake District is a continual source of inspiration for Pam: she records journeys made on foot through the landscape in drawings and thoughts, which provide the inspiration for paintings encapsulating each day and atmosphere. Panoramic paintings in this exhibition are part of a series on which she is currently working: 36 ways to see Scafell Pike.
DAVID PEnn
David Penn is a painter and printmaker who also makes pastel drawings of great immediacy. Here he is exhibiting these drawings alongside larger more abstract pieces celebrating rocky landscapes
joy GrInDroD
Joy was introduced to the Lake District hills from an early age and the local landscape has become a key influence for her work. Her ability to work quickly in rapidly changing conditions and use of many layers, encourages the viewer to see something new each time her work is viewed.
A photography project investigating the contemporary individuals who engage with the natural and upland environment. The pictures are a study of the clothing people wear for outdoor activity – and how their choices reflect their personalities and make a sartorial statement. 19 November to 4 January 2016
Friday 20 november
For MounTAIn LITEr ATu r E
The prize commemorates the lives of Peter Boardman and Joe Tasker and is given to the author or co-authors of an original work which has made an outstanding contribution to mountain literature.
On 17 May 1982 Peter Boardman and Joe Tasker were last seen on Mount Everest attempting to traverse The Pinnacles on the unclimbed North East Ridge at around 8250 metres. Their deaths marked the end of a remarkable era in British mountaineering.
Peter and Joe left two legacies. One was their great endeavour, their climbs on high peaks with bold, lightweight innovative methods which included Dunagiri, Changabang, Kongur, Everest and Kangchenjunga. The second and more lasting achievement were the books they wrote and left behind.
This literary legacy lives on through the Boardman Tasker Prize for mountain literature set up by family and friends in 1983.
This year’s judges, Robin Campbell (Chair), Graham Desroy and Terry Gifford have selected the following books for this year’s shortlist:
In Some Lost Place by Sandy Allan
Snowblind by Daniel Arnold
The Calling by Barry Blanchard
Cold Feet by David Pagel
one Day as a Tiger by John Porter
For the full list of entries, see the Boardman Tasker website: www.boardmantasker.com
Friday 20 Nov | 13:00 - 17:45
Brewery Arts Centre - Malt Room | £12.50
Saturday 21 november
Su M MIT u nDEr STooD:
A LITEr Ary HI STory oF ToPPInG ouT with Prof. Simon Bainbridge & Dr. Abbie Garrington
From the Romantic poets who first named and conceptualised the mountaineer and his sublime summit experience, through nineteenth century mountain sieges, to the modernists whose push to the top signified a nation in turmoil between the World Wars – Prof Simon Bainbridge and Dr Abbie Garrington trace the literary and cultural history of reaching mountains’ highest points.
Through poetry, prose and drama, alongside the diaries, letters and memoirs of mountaineers themselves, we will see what summits have meant, mean today, and could mean in the future, both to mountaineers, and to those writers who represent them.
10:30 - 12:00 | Town Hall - Georgian Room | £9.50
TH E ASCEnT oF woM En:
A HISTory oF woM En’S ALPInI SM
with Claire roche
Most people when they think about climbing during the ‘Golden Age of Mountaineering’ probably picture groups of stern looking, pipe smoking men, dressed in tweeds. Rarely are nineteenth-century women thought of as climbers. This is hardly surprising as the history of mountaineering that has come down to us is irredeemably male – women are largely absent. So it may come as a shock to learn that they began serious Alpine climbing more or less at the same time as men; yet their story has rarely been told: this talk aims to go some way to redress this imbalance. Mountain enthusiast Clare Roche discusses the lives and climbs of the main pioneers of women’s Alpine mountaineering up to 1900, but also explains how and why many more ordinary women hired guides, altered their dress, embarked on strenuous excursions lasting 10 hours or more, stayed in remote mountain huts and became entranced by the Alps.
13:00 - 14:30 | Town Hall - Georgian Room | £9.50
Saturday 21 november
Alexander
Mountains are powerful, dominant features of our topography and accordingly, they have a major presence within photographs and other representations of the landscape.
In this talk, Jesse Alexander will discuss how mountains and wilderness environments have featured within the broader narrative of historic and contemporary landscape photography. How traditional approaches to landscape imagery and mountain environments have affirmed ideas of the sublime will be questioned, and we will examine the work of contemporary photographers who have focussed on the narratives that have taken place within these wondrous places.
13:00 - 16:00 | Town Hall - Binloss Room | £9.50
The Eiger North Face Direct was one of the most dramatic climbs of the post-war era. Two teams, one British/American, one German, competed to make the first ascent in the winter of 1966 and the outcome brought both tragedy and triumph.
Co-written with his wife, Leni, Extreme Eiger recalls these dramatic events, assessing the effect on those who took part. One man died and others were permanently injured through frostbite. For Chris Bonington, it opened a path to a career and reputation as Britain’s foremost mountaineer. It was an epic ascent with profound consequences, redolent of a golden age of adventure and mountaineering.
15:00 - 16:30 | Town Hall - Georgian Room | £9.50
Maps not only show the world, they help it turn. On an average day, we will consult some form of map approximately a dozen times, often without even noticing: checking the road atlas, or the Sat Nav, scanning the tube or bus map or watching the weather forecast. At a stroke, they convey precise information about topography, layout, history, politics, and power. They are the unsung heroes of life, and Mike Parker’s book Map Addict sings their song, mixing wry observation with hard fact and considerable research, unearthing the offbeat, the unusual, and the downright pedantic in a celebration of all things maps.
Ar TH u r rAn SoM E: SwALLowS, AMA zon S AnD ADVEnTu r E with jon Sparks
Professional photographer and writer specialising in landscape and outdoor subjects, Jon Sparks, discusses themes of Exploration, Independence and Freedom in the novels of Arthur Ransome.
11:00 - 12:30 | Town Hall - Georgian Room | £9.50
At 28,251 ft, K2 might be almost 800ft shorter than Everest, but it’s a far harder climb. In this definitive account, Mick Conefrey grippingly describes the early attempts to reach the summit and provides a fascinating exploration of the first ascent’s complex legacy.
Beginning with the ill-fated efforts of drug-addicted occultist Aleister Crowley, The Ghosts of K2 charts how a slew of great men became fixated by this legendary mountain. There was the wealthy Italian Duke of Abruzzi; Fritz Wiessner, the man who revolutionised climbing in the USA; the brilliant but tortured expedition leader Charlie Houston; and Achille Compagnoni and Lindo Lacedelli, the Italian duo who finally became the first to make it all the way to the top. Conefrey evokes the true atmosphere of the ‘Savage Mountain’ and explores why it remains the ‘mountaineer’s mountain’, despite a history steeped in controversy and death.
11:30 - 13:00 | Town Hall - Binloss Room | £9.50
Burton
Nick Burton covers the period of the legendary fellwalker’s life from his birth in the Edwardian backstreets of Blackburn to the Sunday evening in November 1952 when he put ink to paper on page one of his first Pictorial Guide to the Lakeland Fells.
Wainwright’s passion for mountains was ultimately a reaction to his early life in cotton town Lancashire between the wars and shaped by his first ambitious expeditions to a car-free Lakeland in the 1930’s and 1940’s. It is a fascinating journey through Northern England that includes along the way encounters with the silent film makers Mitchell and Kenyon, Russell Harty’s dad - the man who introduced the avocado to Blackburn - and Borrowdale’s ‘Professor of Adventure’, Millican Dalton.
13:30 - 15:00 | Town Hall - Georgian Room | £9.50
We are launching a special new beer to celebrate being part of Kendal Mountain Festival.
KMF Ale is brewed with Pale, Munich and Crystal malts and pours an inviting copper in colour. Hopped with Cascade and Mount Hood from America the beer entices with grapefruit and mandarin aromas before exploding with tropical fruit flavours.
It will be available from December in Booths and our online shop.
Riverside Brewery
Buxton Road, Bakewell DE45 1GS
T: 01629 815 999
www.thornbridge.co.uk
In 1939 British cyclist Tommy Godwin cycled 75,065 miles in a single year. Dave Barter uncovers the stories behind the riders who would routinely cycle over a hundred miles a day in the race to set new records. Americans such as John H. George who recorded over 200 ‘centuries’, nineteen double ‘centuries’ and three triple ‘centuries’ in the late 1800s. The British advertising executive Harry Long, whose annual tallies of over 20,000 miles in the early twentieth century led to the founding of the formal cycling year record and Cycling magazine’s Century Competition. Meticulous research through the annuals, archives and news stories of the bicycling world is backed up with insights from the families of these legendary cyclists, as well as Dave’s own analysis of the riders’ years in numbers.
14:00 - 15:30 | Town Hall - Binloss Room | £9.50
In THE BrEwEry InTro BAr
Don’t forget to visit the Festival Book Stall to pick up both the latest books and old classics.
Book signings will take place with various authors.
NB: To prevent overcrowding and disruption to the Festival programme only books bought at Kendal Mountain Festival, or a maximum of two additional books will be signed. If in doubt you will be asked for proof of purchase. No trade.
Dedicated sessions with an entertaining mix of film, personalities, fun - and the odd surprise...
Thursday 19 november
This year we are delighted to welcome the world famous ‘Coupe Icare’ team from St.Hilaire, France to KMF this year, as part of a ‘Carte Blanche’ cultural exchange. We will present a selection of their best free-flight films ‘hot off the press’ straight from their annual International Free-Flight Film competition. Guest speaker is record breaking XC pilot, Antoine Boisselier, one of the world’s top flyers whose repertoire includes hang gliding, paragliding and speedriding. Of course the evening won’t be complete without our enigmatic compèresJocky Sanderson and Ed Ewing. The Jocky & Ed show is now running into its 5th year and their humour, passion and knowledge for their sport leaves the audience happier for the experience!
Thursday 19 Nov | 20:00 - 22:30 | Kendal Town Hall | £12.50
Friday 20 november
Featuring top guests and amazing film, our Endurance Session is building a legend of its own. This year, host James Thurlow interviews two amazing endurance athletes - Nicky Spinks and Sean Conway.
Nicky is the inspirational long distance runner who holds the women’s records for each of the three major British fell running challenges – the Bob Graham Round, the Ramsay Round and the Paddy Buckley Round - as well as being the only person to have run each of them in under twenty hours. This year she beat her own women’s Bob Graham record, coming in at 18hrs 6mins.
Sean Conway is the hirsute endurance swimmer, author and professional photographer who became the first person to swim the length of Great Britain from Land’s End to John O’Groats. He also recently became the first person to complete ‘the ultimate triathlon’ when he finished running the length of the country, having already cycled and swum the entire way before.
The Thornbridge Bar will be open from 6.30pm in the Town Hall.
Friday 20 Nov | 20:00 - 22:30 | Kendal Town Hall | £12.50
The most popular regular event at Kendal returns with a bang, featuring more top bike personalities and film. Guaranteed to make you laugh, cry and head for the bar (in the interval of course).
Hosted by Ed Oxley; ‘The Beard’ will guide us through the twists and turns from the year of biking. Joining Ed will be Greg Minnaar, Martyn Ashton and some very special surprise guests we can’t WAIT for you to find out about!
The Thornbridge Bar opens at 7.00pm. See you there!
Friday 20 Nov | 20:00 - 23:00 | Kendal Lesire Centre | £12.50
Saturday 21 november
A new introduction for this year, the Alpine Session aims to entertain, amaze and inspire with an exciting mix of people and films concentrating on that most testing of activities - alpine mountaineering.
Our partners Black Diamond really ‘get it’ and are bringing a galaxy of stars along - Ines Papert, who barely needs introduction as one of the world’s top female alpine climbers; Babsi Zangerl, one of the strongest female boulderers now applying her talents to mountain routes; and Corrado Pesce, Chamonix-based guide and alpine hotshot.
Emma’s 46 Pop Up Cafe will be open before hand to grab a coffee and a cake.
Saturday 21 Nov | 09:30 - 12:00 | Kendal Town Hall | £12.50
Nicky Spinks © inov-8 Sean Conway Greg Minnaar Martyn Ashton Ozone © Felix Woelk Coupe Icare 2015 Ines Papert © visualimpact.ch | Thomas Senf
Saturday 21 november
An afternoon of high adventure with exploration tales from around the globe, featuring an inspirational mix of film and entertainment from speakers Toby Storie-Pugh and Squash Falconer. Toby will describe his plans for a new expedition aiming to make the first source-to-sea descent of the Congo river by foot.
Squash Falconer is a record breaking adventurer and mountaineer. Combining her love of different sports, Squash was the first British woman to climb and paraglide from the summit of Mont Blanc having ridden there from the UK on her motorbike. In 2013 Squash completed a 3000 mile journey on an ElliptiGO, setting a new distance record for travel by Elliptical bicycle.
Pop into Emma’s 46 Pop Up Cafe in the Town Hall before the session for a coffee and cake!
Saturday 21 Nov | 13:00 - 15:30 | Kendal Town Hall | £12.50
The Snowsports Session always delivers great speakers and stunning films, and this year will be no exception, featuring top ski & board entertainment from around the world.
Featuring Flo Orley - Austrian freeride legend, aerobatic hang glider pilot, base jumper, passionate surfer, ocean crossing sailor, world traveller and lifestyle artist. Phew! We also have the brilliant Jenny Jones coming along for the ride! Jenny made history at the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, winning Great Britain’s first EVER medal in a snow event. A night not to be missed!
The Thornbridge Bar opens from 6.30pm in the Town Hall.
Saturday 21 Nov | 19:30 - 22:00 | Kendal Town Hall | £12.50
Now firmly a sell-out fixture, the Petzl Underground Session features a fantastic mix of film and lectures covering the latest and greatest news from the underground world.
This year the Session retains its Saturday night slot in The Box venue, and of course its on-site bar! On the speaker roster are Dave Rose on the Ario Caves, Dave Ryall on the Boreham project, plus Robbie Shone and Chris Blakeley talk about the Berger and their Greenland project. So come along and experience the true beating heart of the caving world!
Saturday 21 Nov | 19:30 - 22:30 | The Box | £12.50
Sunday 22 november
A new introduction for this year, the Rock Session aims to inspire with an exciting mix of people and films concentrating on rock climbing. Limestone, grit, granite, gneiss, sandstone, gabbro and - yes - even vertical choss.
Hosted by Rob Greenwood from UKClimbing, this is a session that celebrates the athletic and mental challenges of moving over the stone. One of the world’s most personable rock stars, Swiss climber Nina Caprez, talks about hard multi-pitch alpine routes such as ‘Ultime démence’ (8a+), ‘La Ramirole’ (8b) and the first female ascent of Silbergeier (8b+). Plus a man who needs little introduction; Neil Gresham, one of our top climbers for many years who just keeps getting stronger. With a CV including the third ascent of Indian Face on Cloggy, gnarly deep-water solo exploits plus recent high-quality first ascents, Neil has lots to catch up on with the Kendal audience.
Drop in to Emma’s 46 Pop Up Cafe for hot drinks and snacks before the session!
Sunday 22 Nov | 09:30 - 12:00 | Kendal Town Hall | £12.50
David Ryall Flo Orley Nina Caprez © Petzl/SamBie Squash FalconerOur hugely popular and inspirational event for school pupils; and not just because they miss morning school!
Films suitable for children will be screened (we recommend year 5 and upwards) and a special guest will be popping in inspire our young adventurers! Bookings by phone 01539 725133.
Friday 20 Nov | 10:00 - 12:00
Kendal Town Hall | £3.00 (Teachers go free)
The best adventure films from Kendal Mountain Festival brought to The Forum in Barrow-in-Furness, a specially designed programme for school children.
Book through The Forum directly.
Friday 20 Nov | 10:00 - 12:00
The Forum Barrow
World Première: TrAnSITIon
Transition follows Natalie Berry as she makes the move from indoor climbing to trad, winter and mountaineering. It’s not a simple transition, as you can imagine, with plenty of ‘moments’ where Natalie has to dig deep for inspiration, commitment and ability but acting as her mentor is Dave MacLeod, one of the UK’s most accomplished all-round climbers.
A fascinating, exciting and entertaining glimpse of one person’s journey, shot in some of the UK’s most amazing locations.
Directors Paul Diffley and Chris Prescott, together with Natalie and Dave will be on hand to introduce the film and take audience questions afterwards.
Friday 20 Nov | 19:30 - 21:00
Brewery Arts Centre - Theatre £9.50
Special Screening: CouPE ICArE FrEE-FLIGHT SESSIon
This year, Kendal has joined forces with the Coupe Icare Free-flight Festival in order to bring you the best flight films from around the world.
This event will be introduced by the Director of the Coupe Icare Festival, and guest pilots.
Matterhorn, The Bird Woman’s Dream
As Free as a Bird Freefall
Don’t Try This At Home Blowin’ in the Wind
Jetman Dubai
Doberman
Saturday 21 Nov | 09:30 - 12:30 The Box | FREE with a film pass
Special Screening: CITADEL FILM + Q&A with Al Lee, Matt Helliker & Jon Bracey
Award-winning mountain filmmaker Alastair Lee faces one of his biggest challenges ever; filming an attempted first ascent by alpinists Matt Helliker and Jon Bracey on a remote Alaskan peak.
Al, Matt and Jon are in Kendal for a unique presentation - your only opportunity to see the full team in the UK.
Saturday 21 Nov | 15:00 - 16:30
Brewery Arts Centre - Theatre £12.50
* Please note: the film is not a ble to be shown in 4K at t his venue.
Special Screening: CHAMONIX COMPANIE DES GUIDES
Feat. ya nn Delevaux
Founded in 1821 the Companie des Guides of Chamonix is anchored in French mountaineering history. This is the story about the men and women whose lives are etched in the mountains.
Saturday 21 Nov | 17:00 - 18:30
The Box | FREE entry with film pass
This film session is a selection of this year’s winning films. Come and enjoy an early screening of some of our winning films. Actual titles will be published after the Awards Ceremony on Saturday night. Hugely popular and often a sellout, make sure you get a ticket!
Sunday 22 Nov
09:00 - 12:00
Brewery Arts Centre - Screen 1
09:30 - 12:30
Stramongate School
£9.50 (or free with a Saturday or Sunday film pass – you must collect an entry ticket from the Box Office for this screening prior to the event as it sells out early)
We’re heading west for the second year running! Taking the best of this years’ films to The Forum in Barrow.
Sunday 22 Nov
18:00 - 21:00 | The Forum
Tickets available directly from The Forum, Barrow in Furness www.theforumbarrow.co.uk
Box Office: 01229 820000
See the award-winning films from Kendal Mountain Festival 2015 on the IMAX-style screen. From high altitude adventure and adrenaline filled extreme sports films to arthouse drama and wilderness to travel documentaries.
Sunday 22 Nov
19:30 - 22:30 | Rheged Centre
Tickets available directly from Rheged Centre, Penrith www.rheged.com
Box Office: 01768 868000
Featuring a selection of 2015 winning films, screening over 5 venues in Kendal.
Film titles (and venues) will be publicised on Saturday night after the awards ceremony.
This is a ticketed event, however it is free with Sat/Sun Film Pass. Once you have completed your booking for a Film Pass you will be eligible to book a free ticket for The Best of Kendal evening or The Best of Kendal Breakfast.
Sunday 22 Nov | 19:30 - 23:00*
Various locations in Kendal
* Start times may vary depending on venue - please check all timings at the event.
If you’ve spotted a film you’re desperate to see, but missed it in the film programme, come along to the Video Jukebox with your request ...
Turn up at Ruskins and request the film you’d like to see. yo u will be given a time for the showing depending on the requests in the queue. The status of the playlist will be shown outside the venue, at the Info Desk at the Brewery and live on our Twitter feed.
Saturday 21 & Sunday 22 Nov 10:00 – 17:00 | Ruskins
FREE with a day film pass
As always, multiple film programmes run throughout the Festival. Other than the Stand Alone film screenings, you can catch films several times over the weekend. And don’t forget, if you miss something you can always request a screening at our Video Jukebox in Ruskins.
Film details are provided over the following pages.
Please refer to the schedule on page 6 & 7 for screening times.
Note: Films may be subject to change. Any changes will be publicised on venue info boards.
Hold onto your seats for a rollercoaster ride of extreme mountain action.
Mont Rebei Project 18’
The Rocky Mountain Traverse 52’
Showdown at Horseshoe Hell 20’
UK Caving Video
Best Bits 2014 14’
Freefall 17’
Red Run 02’
Back to the Fjords 34’
Masters of Slack 09’
The finest films from across our fragile globe celebrating the natural world, its mountain landscapes and people.
Nowhere Place 26’
Denali 10’
Sunakali 50’
Samaya 05’
Tashi And The Monk 40’
The Living Mountain 30’
This is a particularly strong year for ski and snowboard with jawdropping and beautiful films from the world’s top mountain destinations.
Snowflake 05’
Degrees North 54’
Ski Lakes 05’
Shifting Ice & Changing Tides 30’
Late 03’
Jumbo Wild 60’
Cross the globe and explore its most inaccessible regions with this stunning programme of mountain adventure films.
Blue
Pedal-powered action from around the world – jaw-dropping descents, hard-action MTB, longdistance challenges and a few surprises along the way.
The Rider and the Wolf 62’
Dar klight 16’
Mountain Bike
Out of the Box: Iran 50’
The very best climbing films from around the world – trad, sport, bouldering, solo, DWS, ice –perfectly combined into a mix of short and longer films.
These films delve into the psyche and experiences of those special individuals for whom the rewards of ‘pushing on’ outweigh the pain and discomfort of the hereand-now.
Nicky Spinks –The Bob Graham 20’
The finest and most exciting mountaineering films from around the world; alpine, high altitude, technical, rock, snow, you name it we’ve got it in this exciting mix of short and longer films.
MounTAInEErInG
CLAIrE jAnE CAr TEr
Feature films that are screened once only at the Festival.
Brave New Wild 76’
W Di Walter 65’
Passenger 65’
K2 Touching The Sky 72’
Eclipse 30’
Peeled Faces of the Amazon 104’
Hunter s of the South Seas 59’
Copa - Patagonia 67’
Caminos de Agua 51’
Last year’s curiosity for Mountain Heritage continues in 2015 as we celebrate the150th anniversary of Chamonix. Alongside heroes and heroines of the Alps, meet our statesmen and women of the Himalaya, big walls, barefoot rock, kayaking exploration and endurance cycling. These characters of old come alive with fresh insight and inspired adventures.
Step naked into Welsh lakes, see adventure through the eyes of man’s best friend, surf until your brain freezes. Climb through India, longboard though Norway, ski in Scotland, in Sheffield and the Lakes.
The 2015 selection is witness to the relationships of adventure - mentors, lovers, fathers and daughters, mothers and sons. We remember those lost and interpret their dreams though our new adventures.
I’m excited for some live action alongside that on screen - our incredible themed sessions, and new basecamp events. And don’t sleep through KMF Sunday, the BMC are kicking off the day with their Breakfast (Hangover) Session where rockstar Hazel Findlay will be doling out Bloody Mary’s to those in pain. Enjoy!
Thur 19 19:45 BAC - Studio
Fri 20 12:30 Kendal Leisure Centre
Fri 20 18:30 BAC - Screen 2
Sat 21 09:00 BAC - Studio
Sat 21 20:00 Stramongate School
Sun 22 09:00 BAC - Screen 2
Sun 22 13:00 K Village
Directed by CELLIER
From the highest rock wall in Spain, an International team of ‘Rope Jumpers’Rock&Rope, Pyrenaline and High Jumphurl themselves into the abyss, attached to a climbing rope, and broke the free fall World Record! Baraka Flims followed this team during a week, from the preparation to the performance’s achievement.
18’ / Spain
Directed by Bryan Smith & David Pearson
Will Gadd and Gavin McClurg, two accomplished paragliders, attempt to complete the first ever paragliding traverse of the Rocky Mountain Range, North America’s most iconic and by far wildest region. At a distance of over 1,200 km from Canada to the U.S., flying across rugged terrain and landing on mountain tops to camp for the night, this journey will smash almost any current long distance flight record.
52’ / Canada
Tuesday
Monday
Wednesday
Thursday
Thursday
Directed by Edward Birch
Directed by Zachary Barr, Peter Mortimer & Nick Rosen
4 Hours of Horseshoe Hell (24HHH) is the wildest event in the climbing world; a mash-up of ultramarathon and burning man where elite climbers and gumbies alike go for broke in a sun up-to-sun up orgy of lactic acid and beer. But all fun aside, the competition is real: can the team of Nik Berry and Mason Earle stand up against the all-powerful Alex Honnold?
20’ / USA
Directed by Keith Edwards
Video highlights of the caving year with members of Dudley Caving Club, featuring caves and potholes in Derbyshire, South Wales and yo rkshire. An amazing insight into the world beneath our feet. Why do we go caving? Are we mad? Could you do it?
14’ / UK
Directed by Aimard Alexandre ‘FREEFALL’ in the breathtaking landscape of Voss in Norway with multiple skydiving world champion Martin Kristensen.
17’ / UK
Sheffield Ski Village closed in April 2012 having trained some of the UK’s best freestyle skiers to the top of their sport. We took two skiers and one boarder back to the charred remains of the dry ski slope where they learned to ski.
02’ / UK
Directed by Sebastien Montaz-Rosset
The Flying Frenchies are back, with more fantastical stunts and enthralling experiments in a whirlwind adventure to the fjords of Norway. Twenty or more of the most colourful characters you could ever imagine, working together to create an outdoor extravaganza the likes of which have never been seen before!
34’ / France
Directed by Matthias Edlinger
Jaan Roose and Andy Lewis are two personalities united by a love of their sport and a conviction that wearing clothes is overrated. Jaan is a natural slacklining talent. He became one the world’s top athletes in just five years – eventually surpassing Andy, the ‘Godfather of Slacklining’, who had dominated the competition scene before deciding to celebrate ‘slacklife’ instead.
09’ / USA
Thur 19 20:00 The Shakespeare Centre
Fri 20 13:00 BAC - Studio
Fri 20 20:00 The Shakespeare Centre
Sat 21 09:00 BAC - Malt Room
Sat 21 17:00 BAC - Screen 2
Sun 22 13:00 The Box
Sun 22 16:30 Stramongate School
Directed by Natasha Brooks
Blue Hue explores a swimmers experience of year round submersion in the cold mountain lakes of Snowdonia. The lakes offer an environment of space and solitude strengthening a connection with the surrounding landscape, both above and below the surface.
07’ / UK
Directed by Justine Curgenven
No-one had succeeded in kayaking along the remote and stormy Aleutian islands, where more than 20 long crossings separate tiny unpopulated islands. Two women attempt this world-first journey in uncharted waters, dealing with wild storms, hungry bears and strong currents. Over 101 days, Justine Curgenven and Sarah Outen gain a rare insight into themselves and into the lives of the few people who live in this harsh and beautiful landscape.
47’ / UK
Directed by Playdead
A short animation that poses questions: We’re losing the world’s wildlife but is there something deep rooted in human psychology that’s also disappearing? A vital and inherent part of being alive? Perhaps reconnecting with the wild would help...
04’ / UK
Directed by Skip Armstrong
A group of friends set out on an adventure only they could have dreamed up. The journey takes them across Baffin Island’s Penny Ice Cap on skis, on a first descent of the Class V Weasel River and finally, by way of traditional kayaks they hand-built themselves, over age-old Inuit hunting routes across the southern portion of the island all the way to sea.
12’ / USA
Directed by Rhys Thwaites-Jones
Directed by Ryan Deboodt
A visually stunning journey through what may be the largest cave passage in the world, Hang Son Doong.
57’ / UK
Directed by Maceo Frost
Tom Allen and Leon McCarron set out to follow Iran’s longest river, the Karun, by human powered means. Their aim is to go beyond the politics and explore the culture and geography of this most misunderstood of nations – and have a great adventure doing so. But despite Tom’s previous experience of travel in Iran, they find that cultural differences run deeper than they’d realised. And when the once-calm waters of the Karun turn nasty, they wonder if they’ve bitten off more than they can chew...
57’ / UK
A short film starring downhill longboard rider Ishtar Backlund in the epic mountains of Norway. The film is a glimpse into the profound feeling of believing in yourself and living one’s greatest dreams.
05’ / Sweden
Directed by Jen Randall
Jen Randall goes into the Scottish mountains with three of her favourite outdoorsy people to find out just what motivates them to trudge up hills.
07’ / UK
Kayaking the Aleutians
Blue Hue
Fri 20 09:00 The Shakespeare Centre
Fri 20 16:00 Kendal Leisure Centre
Sat 21 13:00 The Shakespeare Centre
Sun 22 13:00 The Shakespeare Centre
Directed by Nathan Ward
Spawned from the dusty mining roads and trails of the American West, mountain biking exploded into a worldwide sport in just a few years. A young man named Mike Rust helped fuel the sport’s fire in Crested Butte, Colorado and went on to make some of the best mountain bikes ever invented. Then one night some men broke into his remote cabin and he chased them down. He has never been seen again. The Rider & The Wolf tells the story of mountain bike pioneer Mike Rust, the hall of fame cyclist who disappeared without a trace.
62’ / USA
Directed by Mike Brown
The lights haven’t gone out yet! Sweetgrass Productions is back with Darklight, a film that takes viewers back into a world of light and color. Follow professional mountain bikers Graham Agassiz, Matt Hunter, and Matty Miles on a mind-bending night ride through the moonscapes of Southern Utah to the Ewok forests of the Pacific Northwest.
08’ / USA
Directed by Gregor Mahringer & Julius Steinbacher
Shot in northern Iran this is a mountain bike action documentary about Iran’s best mountain bike riders. Showing another Iran that goes beyond the mainstream and gives an insight into the off-the-wall mountain bike scene of one of the most isolated countries in the world, far away from the axis of evil and religious fundamentalism.
Hossein Zanjanian, Iran’s best downhill rider, and his small band of intrepid mountain bikers present a very different perspective on the country. Besides stunning scenery, gripping mountain bike action and an unique insight into the country and its people.
50’ / Germany
Directed by Anthill Productions / Teton Gravity Research unReal is for those of us who escape. A film that celebrates breaking free from the confines of reality and venturing into a boundless world. This place isn’t remote or hard to find, and yet many never see it. Here, glacial walls transform into mountain bike trails, rain and snow aren’t the only elements to fall from the sky and thousand pound mammals become riding partners. Breathtaking visuals conjure feelings of awe and pure joy; feelings that only those of us who venture outside can truly understand. This film is dedicated to you: the dreamers, the rule-breakers, the ones who never grow up, the ones who know the secrets, the ones who know the way into the unReal world.
45’ / USA
Fri 20 16:30 BAC - Theatre
Sat 21 09:00 BAC - Screen 1
Sat 21 17:00 BAC - Malt Room
Sat 21 19:00 Kendal Leisure Centre
Sun 22 09:30 K Village
Sun 22 16:00 Kendal Town Hall
Directed by Brendan Leonard
The first time Frank Sanders saw Devils Tower was in the sudden brilliance of a lightning strike. It sent a wave of dread through him, but, the next day, he climbed the tower. Forty years later, he has repeated that act more than 2,000 times, and learned a thing or two about life along the way.
11’ / USA
Directed by Jon Herranz
In July 2014, Edu Marã n took on the most challenging project of his life: climbing Panaroma, the legendary route freed by Alex Huber in 2007, with his 62 year-old father, Francisco Marã n Novatoâ.
Located in the Tre Cime di Lavaredo National Park, the 500m line is graded 8C, making it one of the world’s hardest big walls. The demanding nature of the climb, the psychological commitment involved and the ever-changing weather means that only a handful of parties have managed to reach the summit. In this film, father and son enter the heart of the Dolomites, taking their lives into their own hands with the hope of accomplishing an unprecedented sporting feat which will place them among living climbing legends.
40’ / Spain
Directed by Dom Bush
In the early 1970s Carlisle became an unlikely epicentre for hard traditional climbing. The atmosphere was competitive, a new E-grading system was born and new milestones were set. Eden is set around a little known crag close to Carlisle called Armathwaite, a meeting place and training venue for the Penrith and Carlisle teams, who were looking to make their mark on the British crags. The film is a tribute to a much loved character who changed the face of British climbing, Jeff Lamb.
21’ / UK
Directed by Shane Wilder
The film documents a climbing journey through the Stuart Range, a jagged collection of peaks in the centre of Washington state. A decade of dedication to these mountains laid the groundwork for this three-peak enchainment by climbers Jens Holsten and Blake Herrington. Holsten pioneered two of the routes used in the link-up, but it took a new friendship with Herrington to finally complete the goal. Shot live on the day of the ascents, this is a beautiful and raw look into two regular guys and the backyard peaks that define their passion..
15’ / USA
Directed by Nick Rosen, Peter Mortimer & Josh Lowell
High ball bouldering - where a fall could lead to serious injury - is not for the faint hearted. Add to the equation a level of difficult at climbings cutting edge, and things can get down right out of control Follow Daniel Woods’ epic battle to conquer fear and climb the highball test-peice ‘The Process’.
20’ / USA
Directed by Chris Prescott
Transition follows Natalie Berry, one of the UK’s top female competition and sport climbers, as she takes up trad and winter climbing. Acting as mentor is Scottish all round climber Dave MacLeod.
45’ / UK
Thur 19 19:45 BAC - Theatre
Fri 20 09:00 K Village
Fri 20 14:30 Kendal Town Hall
Fri 20 20:00 BAC - Studio
Sat 21 09:00 BAC - Screen 2
Sat 21 13:00 BAC - Studio
Sat 21 20:30 BAC - Screen 2
Sun 22 09:30 The Shakespeare Centre
Sun 22 16:30 Kendal Leisure Centre
Directed by Shreedhar Bhende & Neerja Jaiswal
‘I Climb Therefore I Am’ sheds light on the development of rock climbing as a sport in India. A peak into the life and love that is climbing, it draws from the accounts of ace climbers, amateurs and beginners, providing us with a holistic view of what climbing is at present in India and its potential in the future. This short film is a collaborative effort for all the young and experienced climbers of India.
12’ / India
Directed by Taylor Zann
Bernd Arnold, the iconic barefoot climber, has logged over 980 first ascents in his 67 years. Now facing the phase of decline, he reflects on the power of psyche in overcoming fear.
06’ / USA
Directed by Nick Brown
A documentary featuring Andy Earl, one of Britain’s best ever climbers, and the tragedy that struck him in 2010. The film follows Andy’s climbing career and takes an in depth look at the day that changed his life forever.
20’ / UK
Directed by Mike Pollitt
Black Rocks, once known as Stonnis, is a gritstone outcrop that juts crudely out of the limestone dales south of the English Peak District like an uninvited guest. Climbers have been coming here for 125 years. They’ve always found the climbing desperate and they’ve always said that they’d never come back. But those with the skill, boldness or just plain determination to return find routes filled with some of the most compelling challenges, stunning features and unlikely positions that this fantastic stone has to offer. These are their stories.
61’ / UK
Directed by Jochen Schmoll
Majlis al Jinn is a huge cave located in Oman and it’s an epic challenge for the climbers Stefan Glowacz and Chris Sharma. After a 170m free hanging descent, they climb back into the light together from the deepest point of the cave. While ascending, they not only have to harness all their physical and mental strength, but they also have to fight gravity, as they hang upside down from the roof of this enormous natural wonder.
52’ / Australia
Directed by Jen Randall & Claire Carter
Operation Moffat takes inspiration and wit from the colourful climbing life of Britian’s First Female Mountain Guide Gwen Moffat. Writer Claire Carter and Filmmaker Jen Randall scramble, swim and barefoot climb through Gwen’s most cherished British landscapes, grappling with her preference for mountains over people, adventure over security, wilderness over tick lists. With new take on landscape photography, archive footage and action sequences this is a film rooted in a real love of wild places.
20’ / UK
Directed by Lukasz Warzecha
An insight into the art of hard work, patience and perseverance behind successful red point climbing, following British climber Neil Gresham as he battles to force his body and mind into shape to climb the hardest sports route of his life.
05’ / UK
With over 30 years’ experience in the design and manufacture of climbing equipment, DMM are renowned for our world-class climbing equipment.
Visit us in Basecamp to discover the heritage of climbing gear, see our new innovations for 2016, enter our competition to win DMM hardware, talk with our athletes and much more…
SHow TIMES
Thur 19 20:00 BAC - Screen 2
Fri 20 15:00 BAC - Screen 2
Fri 20 18:00 The Box
Sat 21 09:00 Stramongate School
Sat 21 17:00 The Shakespeare Centre
Sun 22 10:00 BAC - Malt Room
Sun 22 16:00 BAC - Studio
Directed by Susanne Opstal
Where do you find the essence of your existence? On the peaks of the highest mountains in the world? Even higher, on an uninhabited planet from which you can never escape? Or is it in the deepest sorrow, by leaving a trail of destruction that will never be forgotten. This documentary follows various people on their quest and inevitably leads to the question: how far do you want to go?
26’ / Netherlands
DEnALI
Directed by Ben Knight
Directed by Franz Walter
We humans are merely giving a guest performance on planet earth. Comparing both the cosmic and the human scales, our lives shrink to a blink of an eye.
05’ / Germany
Denali is the story of the relationship between photographer Ben Moon and his beloved dog, Denali. This short film is about friendship, loss and the beautiful fight for life.
08’ / USA
SunAKALI
Directed by Bhojraj Bhat
This is a film about how a girl’s passion for football helps her pursue her dream and break free from the fate of most girls in her village. Set against the harsh but beautiful backdrop of the region, Sunakali is an uplifting documentary of Mugu’s women’s soccer team and its journey to the national championship.
50’ / Nepal
Directed by Andrew Hinton & Johnny Burke
On a remote mountaintop a brave social experiment is taking place. Former Buddhist monk Lobsang trained under the guidance of the Dalai Lama but 8 years ago left life as a spiritual teacher in the United States to create a unique community in the Himalayas which rescues orphaned children.
5 year-old Tashi is the newest arrival. Her mother recently died and she’s been abandoned by her alcoholic father. Wild and troubled, Tashi is struggling to find her place amongst 84 new siblings. Can the community’s love and compassion transform Tashi’s alienation into a capacity to make her first real friend?
40’ / USA
Directed by Jon Morrice
Travel writer Robert MacFarlane presents a BBC4 documentary about one of his favourite books – ‘The Living Mountain’ by Scottish poet and novelist Nan Shepherd. This Cairngorms love letter, which lay in a drawer unpublished for over 30 years, instantly challenged MacFarlane’s pre-conceptions about nature writing. Unlike other mountaineering literature that focused on a quest to reach the summit, Shepherd’s book described a poetic and philosophical journey ‘into’ and not ‘up’ the mountain. MacFarlane retraces Shepherd’s footsteps, exploring the range through her thoughtful and lucid descriptions, offering a memorable tour of the Cairngorms, seen afresh through the passion and poetry of her writing.
30’ / UK
Sunakali
Fri 20 09:00 BAC - Theatre
Fri 20 18:00 Stramongate School
Sat 21 16:30 Stramongate School
Sun 22 13:00 Kendal Leisure Centre
Sun 22 16:00 BAC - Screen 2
Directed by Ben Pritchard
In April 2015 Nicky Spinks set out to beat her own women’s record of 18 hours 12 minutes for the Bob Graham Round, the legendary Lake District fell running challenge. This film follows the literal and metaphorical highs and lows of her record attempt.
19’ / UK
mountainsportphoto.com
Directed by Chris Davies
Filmed on the amazing Suilven Mountain in the Assynt region of the Highlands of Scotland, ‘Suilven: The Trail Runner’ is a short film following Tom as he runs out of the sleepy town of Lochinver, leaving civilisation behind and into the desolate and remote countryside, up onto one of the most distinctive mountains in Scotland.
05’ / UK
Directed by Fitz Cahall
In hyperactive Salt Lake City ski community, the Dorais brothers unique brand of masochism has made them local legends. While ski-racing and trail running are constant for the brothers, it’s the bonds to family and each other are what define them.
12’ / USA
Directed by Kasper Kiertzner
From his Bolivian mountaintop, Asser works on humanitarian projects with and his girlfriend Ida. When he isn’t working, he runs in the Bolivian dessert to become Denmark’s best marathon runner. He lives his life from a distance and has a heart and mental strength, which differs greatly from the norm in Denmark. Is this the face of the modern man in the year 2015? A man trying to hide himself behind social and humanitarian work, but who in reality only uses the work as a recovery process to reach his own selfish goal? Is it even possible to combine the love of another person with your own personal ambitions, when you strive to be the best?
30’ / Denmark
Directed by Anthony Collins
‘Come on Eileen’ is the story of Eileen Sheridan who defied the odds to become a record breaking professional cyclist in the 1950’s, smashing all the existing distance records and in doing so, setting a standard for generations of female cyclists. Her 1000-mile record stood for 48 years. Eileen relates her exploits and remarkable life. Archive is combined with dramatic reconstruction to recreate her epic 1000-mile ride from Lands End to John O’Groats.
20’ / UK
Directed by Dean P Leslie
The term ‘fell’ is an often used Northern England expression for hill or mountain. It is presumed that shepherds were probably the first ever fell runners with the earliest documented accounts of running in the fells dating back to the 11th Century. In ‘Of Fells and Hills’ American trail runner Rickey Gates joins forces with British fell runner, Ricky Lightfoot, to explore and discover the history, culture and legends of the ancient practise of ‘Fell Running’.
07’ / South Africa
Directed by Felix Gänsicke
Headache is the first German surf movie that was exclusively filmed in the winterly Northern European hemisphere. Breathtaking landscape, heavy slabs, ice-cold and an unbeatable team.
47’ / Germany
#lakedistrictbid
We believe the Lake District deserves worldwide recognition. That’s why in 2016 we will bid for World Heritage status, placing us alongside the Taj Mahal, the Tower of London and the Great Barrier Reef. Join us on our journey.
Headache Come On Eileen
A delightful melting pot of adventure and technical expertise.
This year’s programme offers insight in to the exploits of the world’s best climbers and adventure athletes, incredible expedition cooking from Patagonia and thirst quenching beers from our friends at Thornbridge Brewery. All for free!
This year we welcome our good friend Squash Falconer to the Festival for a Saturday afternoon session full of adventure psyche. Get your tickets before they sell out.
Saturday, 13:00, £12.50
When basecamp gets too much head to ABC for a large dose of free adventure, beer and food. We’re running an incredible programme of free events throughout the weekend. Be sure to pop in and say hello.
Every day, Free. See listings for more details.
Cross the globe and join us for a film programme filled with wanderlust, adventure and action from the 4 corners of the planet.
Every day, various venues. See listings for more details.
Fri 20 13:00 BAC - Theatre
Fri 20 16:30 The Shakespeare Centre
Sat 21 09:00 The Shakespeare Centre
Sat 21 13:00 BAC - Malt Room
Sat 21 20:30 The Shakespeare Centre
Sun 22 09:00 BAC - Studio
Sun 22 13:00 Stramongate School
Directed by Josh Lowell & Peter Mortimer
The Fitzroy traverse is one of the most sought after achievements in modern alpinism: a gnarly journey across seven jagged summits and 13,000 vertical feet of climbing. Who knew it could be so much fun? Join Tommy Caldwell and Alex Honnold on the inspiring - and at times hilarious - quest that earned the ‘Piolet d’or’.
40’ / USA
Directed by Euan Ryan
A team of three British Paraclimbers tackle the West Flank route to the summit of the Eiger, assisted by two mountaineers. When society views you as ‘disabled’, how hard is it to break the mould and do something most thought impossible?
19’ / UK
Directed by Iara Lee
K2 And The Invisible Footmen chronicles the lives of the indigenous porters of Gilgit/ Baltistan in Pakistan. These heroes of mountaineering make possible the ascent of K2, the second highest mountain in the world. Amid breathtaking scenery, the film depicts the courage and everyday sacrifices of these unacknowledged porters. It also provides a fresh look into Pakistan, a country typically portrayed in the foreign media as being merely a land of conflict and sectarian strife.
54’ / Brazil
Directed by Matt Pycroft, Matt Hardy & Adrian Samarra
Opposites attract. There isn’t a more appropriate statement to describe the unlikely yet formidable climbing partnership that is Nick Bullock and Tim Neill. They met on the mountains of Scotland in winter, and despite walking their own paths in the mountaineering world they are both drawn inexorably back there each winter. The fickle conditions that define Scottish winter climbing frequently lead to frustration, but the prospect of discovering an obscure gem presents an irresistible allure to them both.
15’ / UK
Directed by Matteo Vettorel
July 18, 2013. A story of chopped fingers, fun, friendship and the First Ascent of Kunyang Chhish East (7,400m). Following the rules of true alpine style Hansjorg Auer, Matthias Auer and Simon Anthamatten embark on an adventure for the summit and for survival on Kunyang Chhish East.
37’ / Italy
For Rab, the climbing communities that surround the mountains we love are what define us. The stories from climbers and mountaineers returning from their adventures drive our inspiration. Here at KMFF we are committed to sharing this inspiration with you, and all the fun and banter that comes with being a part of the mountain community.
Come and visit us at The Advanced Base Camp Yurt located outside the Kendal Brewery Arts Centre, where our athletes and friends will be sharing their unique and exciting experiences from around the world.
Fri 20 13:00 The Shakespeare Centre
Fri 20 16:30 BAC - Studio
Sat 21 09:30 The Box
Sat 21 13:00 Kendal Leisure Centre
Sat 21 20:30 BAC - Studio
Sun 22 12:30 BAC - Studio
Sun 22 16:30 The Box
Directed by Frédéric Degoulet
In 2014 the French alpinists Frédéric Degoulet, Benjamin Guigonnet, Hélias Millerioux and Robin Revest made the first ascent of Looking for the Void, a difficult new ice and mixed route up the 900m West face of Siula Chico (6265m) in the Cordillera Huayhuash, Peru. After days of acclimatisation, the team spend five days on the route, a steep, pyramidal wall of limestone with intermittent cascades of water ice.
25’ / France
Directed by Greg Hackett
The La Grave Cablecar is an icon of modern big-mountain freeskiing. A one of a kind lift, it accesses some of the most classic steep skiing descents in the Alps. This film gives an insider’s view of the soul of La Grave.
05’ / UK
Directed by Alastair Lee
Directed by Vinicio Stefanello
Citadel is a stunning 3,000m peak in one of the remaining untouched corners of the Great Alaskan Range, the Neacola Mountains. Matt Helliker and Jon Bracey are one of the most formidable partnerships in alpine climbing –their objective is to make the first ascent of the extraordinary 1,200m long north-west ridge. Alastair Lee explores the paradox of the mountaineer and poses one of the toughest and controversial questions in climbing: which is more important the mountain or your ego?
55’ / UK
One of the great mountaineers of the second half of the twentieth century - retraces the stories and adventures of a lifetime exploring and climbing the world’s mountains.
“It feels like I’m still there”, explains Bonington, remembering those mountains and moments still so vivid and present in his mind. This is the starting point for a journey and a reflection that embraces the deepest, most noble but also contradictory sentiments of this mountaineer and man.
22’ / Italy
Come along to the Berghaus Hub, meet the expedition crew and watch exclusive behind the scenes footage from the unreleased Mirror Wall film.
Screenings at the Berghaus Hub, Basecamp Village.
Directed by Angel Esteban & Elena Goatelli Tom lives with his ageing father, James, in the Dolomites. Even though his mother, the great British alpinist Alison Hargreaves, died descending K2 when he was just 6 years old, he has never wanted to be anything else but a climber. His whole life is dedicated to the mountains, his latest goal: To climb the Six North Faces of the Alps, solo, in a single winter season. Nobody has ever done it, and he wants to be the first. In a white van driven by James, Tom travels through the Alps to make his dream come true.
67’ / Spain
Fri 20 09:00 BAC - Studio
Fri 20 19:00 BAC - Malt Room
Sat 21 17:00 BAC - Studio
Sun 22 12:30 Kendal Town Hall
Directed by Ben Sturgulewski
Snowflake, produced by DPS Cinematic in association with Outdoor Research and Gore-Tex, shares the story of an iconic and local legend from Englelberg, Switzerland who chooses to base his life in the mountains.
05’ / USA
Directed by Guido Perrini
World-renowned freeriders Xavier De Le Rue, Samuel Anthamatten and Ralph Backstrom use new technology to scope remote areas in order to show ski and snowboard action in a way never seen before.
54’ / Switzerland
Directed by Joe Fennell
A casual mention of a weekend spent chasing the elusive ‘Lakeland Powder’ never fails to raise eyebrows but if you’re prepared to spend a bit of time scrambling about the Eastern Fells, a lot of time being thoroughly disappointed and, very occasionally, a smug moment of crowd-free skiing, the Lakes have a lot to offer. This film goes beyond the tow lift at Raise to explore some of the lesser skied areas. By the time Spring arrived, I was more convinced than ever that we’d barely scratched the surface of the skiing on our doorstep...
05’ / UK
Directed by Kt Miller
In March of 2014 six women set sail from Isafjordur, Iceland with the intention of sailing across the Denmark Straight and up the west coast of Greenland. They hoped to explore the remote coastline, pioneer new ski descents, and collect scientific data in some of the most incredible wilderness on earth.
30’ / USA
Directed by Aaron McLean
In search of spring lines, mega stoke and scotch, the Puzzle Media crew and British Freeride founders and friends, headed north to the Scottish Highlands in May this year. The team had twenty days to plan an exploration of the best freeride terrain that the Scottish backcountry had to offer, speak to Scotland’s skiing heritage icons and capture the beauty of the Highlands. After battling with Scotland’s finest weather on several occasions the team were rewarded with some exceptional freeride skiing and a heavy dose of adventure, proving that Scotland’s terrain is a notable destination for any aspiring freeride snowboarder or skier.
25’ / UK
Directed by Nick Waggoner
Jumbo Wild is a gripping documentary film that captures the true story of the decadeslong struggle over the future of the Jumbo Valley. Set against a backdrop of toothy spires and some of the deepest snow on earth, the film takes the audience on a journey into the raw and rugged peaks of British Columbia. Exploring an epic tug of war between a proposed large-scale ski resort on one side and community members, First Nations, and conservationists on the other, the film documents a fierce ideological battle surrounding how we value land and why we care so deeply about our wild backyards.
60’ / USA
AEROSPACE.
The first goggle that’s just as happy going up as down.
For snow fans who want a well ventilated ascent, Julbo has invented the Aerospace. Thanks to the SuperFlow System, the lens can be easily moved forward for better heat management and to prevent fogging on that uphill climb.
The new freerando benchmarkcheck it out asap!
Fri 20 09:00 BAC - Screen 2
Fri 20 15:30 K Village
Sat 21 09:00 K Village
Sat 21 12:30 Stramongate School
Sun 22 13:00 BAC - Screen 2
Sun 22 16:30 The Shakespeare Centre
Directed by Jon Glassberg
She’s been trad climbing for only three years, but Emily Harrington didn’t let that sway her from the magnetic pull of El Capitan’s Golden Gate (5.13 VI). 6 days and 40 pitches later, she stood on the summit with broken skin, aching muscles and a smile that stretched across yo semite Valley.
17’ / USA
Directed by Christian Shaw
Directed by Dom Bush
The Paths We Take explores our relationship with the mountains, inviting us to consider the social and cultural influences on our outdoor activities as well as their environmental impact. Intended as a catalyst for deeper reflection and discussion.
16’ / UK
Directed by Sean Villanueva O’Driscoll
Four years after Vertical Sailing Greenland, Captain Reverend Bob Shepton (79) calls the Wild Bunch back onto his boat for a major mission! On board of the Dodo’s Delight (a 10m sailboat) the team measures up with arctic ice, polar bears and ferocious storms, in search of the holy grail: to find unclimbed big walls and musical enlightenment. After some mouthwatering walls and tunes in Greenland, it’s in Baffin Island they find big virgin walls to feed their musical inspirations, propelling the group to ultimate all-new heights!
50’ / Belgium
Nicky Spinks, the female record holder for the four hardest fell running challenges in the UK: The Bob Graham, Paddy Buckley, Ramsey round and Lake District 24.
05’ / UK
Directed by Sébastien Montaz-Rosset
In April 2015 ultra runner Kilian Jornet is preparing to travel to Nepal and Tibet for an expedition to Everest as part of his project: Summits of My Life. On the 25th April 2015, 2 days before departure, a 7.8 magnitude earthquake hits Nepal with the epicentre not far from the capital Kathmandu. Resulting avalanches wipe out villages and many remote mountain areas are completely cut off. Taking the decision not to cancel the trip, Kilian - together with alpinist Jordi Tosas & filmmaker Sébastien Montaz-Rosset - travel to Nepal with the hope of offering their mountaineering skills to help with the relief effort.
50’ / France
Directed by Anton Lorimer
Join an expedition into the Vatnajökull glacier in Iceland in the hope of finding unique environments in which to climb. We follow award winning photographer Tim Kemple and ice climbers Klemen Premrl and Rahel Schelb as they discover new ways to push the boundaries of climbing ice.
16’ / USA
Climbing Ice
Golden Gate - yosemite Free Climbing
All available with your day film pass Hunters of the Southern Seas
Directed by Mikel Sarasola
A kayak expedition with a difference. for almost a month, three spanish kayakers (Mikel Sarasola, Aitor Goikoetxea, Xabier Olano) travel from the mountains to the sea, around the Patagonian Icefield. A 600km trip, searching for new rivers and waterfalls, crossing the biggest lakes of Patagonia using a kayak as transport and carrying all the necessary equipment (tent, food, clothes...) by themselves.
51’ / Italy
Friday 20 Nov | 13:00 | Kendal Town Hall
Directed by Paola Nessi
Walter Bonatti and Rossana Podestã met when they were both at the end of their careers. She was a famous international actress, whereas he was a much loved explorer of distant lands and above all a man who had made history in world climbing. Two very different lives, which as Rossana said, slowly came together to create an unbreakable bond. This film is the last gesture of love that Rossana offered her Walter, recounting the life of a great man with intense sweetness and simplicity.
65’ / Italy
Friday 20 Nov | 13:00 | K Village
DoUblE bill
brave new Wild & K2 touching the sky
Directed by Oakley Anderson-Moore Stumbling upon her father’s hi8 tapes, a daughter discovers a world of delinquent oddballs and wino nomad-poets who dedicate their life to the absurdist art form of rock climbing.
76’ / USA
Directed by Eliza Kubarska
In 1986, several dozen mountain climbers from all over the world met at K2 to be the first via the - back then - unclimbed Southwest Pillar. These summer came to be known as the Black Summer with 13 alpinists left dead. Eliza, director and an alpinist herself, together with an international group of grown-up children of acclaimed climbers, sets out on an expedition to K2 to face the past and to understand the force that once seduced their parents and eventually killed them.
72’ / Poland
Saturday 21 Nov | 13:00 | K Village
Directed by Andre Nutini & David Peacock Innsbruck. Hokkaido. Edmonton. Revelstoke. Haines. Queenstown. Stubai Glacier. Many have passed through these places over the last two years; workers, travelers, adventurers…among them was a collection of friends bonded by a shared affinity for chasing snow to all corners of the globe. This group of skiers has come to be known as Legs of Steel, and they’ve been travel companions for a long time. A cinematic journey that spans four continents, it aims to reveal the endless spectrum of emotions and experiences from each location. With the help of Old Man Winter himself, a story is woven through the twists and turns of a season, shedding light on how it feels to be a constant passenger.
65’ / Germany
Directed by Mike Douglas & Anthony Bonello
It was a ridiculous idea from the start. Travel to the edge of the earth to see one of the planet’s rarest events- a total solar eclipse in the Arctic. Faced with the likely reality of bad weather obscuring the sun and having to battle frigid, arctic temperatures and winds, the odds did not favor success. Despite this the Salomon Freeski TV team and set out on an expedition to realize photographer, Reuben Krabbe’s grand vision to capture a single unique imageone of skiing during a solar eclipse. Persistence, preparation and a positive attitude was a guarantee of nothing as March 20th, 2015, dawned. The fate of the expedition’s goal would rest entirely in the hands of the weather gods.
31’ / Canada
Saturday 21 Nov | 16:30 | K Village
DoUblE bill
Peeled Faces of the amazon & Copa Patagonia
Directed by West Hansen
Sponsored by National Geographic, the 2012 Amazon Express is the first expedition to paddle the entire Amazon River from its newly discovered source at 14,000 feet in the Andes to the Atlantic Ocean. Led by first time explorer, West Hansen, the team endured 500 miles of uncharted life threatening white water before the jungle, where they encountered gun toting Ashkaninka and narcotraffickers. Held at gunpoint five times and withstanding every hazard under the sun, the team dwindled down to three by the time they hit saltwater 3800 miles later.
104’ / USA
Directed by Rhodri Davies
A lifetime of memories, ‘what if’ dreams and one last climb. Tea on the ‘South Col’, Welsh speaking gauchos, life saving fifi hooks, solo epics on the Eiger, a love of cats, base-jumping off waterfalls and a near 1000ft rock tower in the Patagonian desert. Copa is an eclectic mix of melancholy and humour laced with an unwavering spirit of adventure.
67’ / UK
Saturday 21 Nov | 20:00 | K Village
DoUblE bill
Hunter s of the south seas & Eclipse
Directed by Jamie Balment
The Coral Triangle is home to people who have adapted to ocean life like nowhere else.Will Millard heads to the Indonesian village of Lamalera, the region’s most notorious community, which has survived for centuries by hunting whales.
59’ / UK
Details listed above left.
Saturday 21 Nov | 16:30 | K Village
This year, Chamonix Mont-Blanc celebrates the 150th anniversary 1865; an eventful year when the Golden Age of Alpinism (1854–1865) reached its climax. This intense period of exploration and adventure was pioneered by the Victorians, along with their invaluable Swiss and Savoyard guides.
1865 was immortalized by 65 first ascents across the Alps and 7 in the Mont-Blanc Massif including the Aiguille Verte, the Grandes Jorasses and the remarkable Brenva Spur on Mont-Blanc which heralded the beginnig of a new climbing era!
The terrible accident on the Matterhorn on 14th July, where 3 English climbers and the Chamonix guide, Michel Croz, perished, brought a tragic end to a glorious and somewhat carefree campaign.
Never has the title of Leslie Stephen’s book, The Alps, Playground of Europe (1871), been more appropriate than today! The MontBlanc Massif attracts alpinists and adventure seekers from the world over. The Chamonix Valley remains a privileged base camp, proud of its heritage, committed to preserving the ethics of Alpine Style climbing for the future. The great novel of mountain history continues…
Presented by Marmot
Sunday 22 November | 10:00 – 12:00 | Kendal Leisure Centre
This special event is in partnership with the town of Chamonix and features a galaxy of stars including Sir Chris Bonington, Catherine Destivelle, Jeff Mercier and filmmaker Dom Green.
Kendal and Chamonix celebrate the anniversary with a special, totally unique session presented by alpinist and UKClimbing editor Jack Geldard. The programme features films and discussion setting the scene around those early ascents, plus a never-to-be-repeated line-up of speakers. Sir Chris Bonington will reminisce on his early exploits in the 1950s and 60s. Filmmaker Dom Green talks about his feature film about the Gary Hemming story, a dramatic 1960s rescue on the Dru. Catherine Destivelle will share her experiences through the 1980s and 90s, and Jeff Mercier brings us bang up to date with current alpine trends in the Chamonix Valley.
Kendal Mountain Festival commissioned Chamonix-based graphic artist Tom Hine to create an artwork celebrating the anniversary, which features on the Festival posters, programme and Buffs®.
you can see more of Tom Hine’s work at the Brewery Arts Centre in the Warehouse Cafe.
From December 19th 2015 to April 17th 2016, you have a unique opportunity to discover British Mountaineering and cultural heritage in Chamonix Mont-Blanc.
For the first time in history, the Treasures of the Alpine Club are being exhibited on the continent and indeed Chamonix is privileged to host this unique display of Alpine art and documentation.
Not only can visitors discover over 50 works by 36 nineteenth century artists, but a ground floor display describes and illustrates the genesis of mountaineering, a sporting and cultural activity which was born in the Chamonix Valley over 200 years ago.
Find out more about why the British played such a major role in the development of Alpine literature, art and exploration. Indeed it was an Englishman, Wyndham, who first named the Mer de Glace, a Scot, Forbes, who drew the first map of this same glacier and an Irishman, Adams-Reilly who was the first to map the entire Mont-Blanc Massif during the Golden Age of Mountaineering.
During this period, the British conquered 31 of the 39 major summits across the Alps and the majority of these summits are immortalized in the magnificent collection of paintings at the Alpine Museum. you can find out more online at: www.1865.chamonix.fr
All images reproduced by permission of the Alpine Club. Images clockwise from top left:
Climbing Mont Blanc. Photograph by Gay-Couttet ©
The first crossing of Col Dolent, 1865. Engraving by Edward Whymper
Mountaineers and Guides in 1865: F.F. Tuckett, L. Stephen, F.C. Grove, J & M. Anderegg.
Reynaud’s jump, Ecrins, 1864. Engraving by Edward Whymper
The Meije - watercolour by E.T. Compton
Enjoy these excerpts from sidetracked Magazine. You can visit the sidetracked Bar/Cafe in the Basecamp Village, meet the team, enjoy a Thornbridge beer and read the magazine
Words: Molly Baker // Photo: Zoya Lynch
Location: Radstadter Tauern Mountains, Austria
Some people enjoy the pain of a long ski mission. Masochism suffuses the air with every grudging step, and each pull of ski and binding up the mountain. For those people, it is only an achievement if it hurts – only validated if it feels like work.
We loved every step. There was no pain in our squinted eyes or open mouths. We welcomed the fresh air with every breath through a broad, semi-sunburnt smile. Sweat flooded through our pores, but it didn’t drown us in discomfort. It cleansed. Life is short and we both know that you have to sweat when you can. It’s a luxury, not a malaise. The freedom that comes from being a breathless, sweaty mess is becoming invaluable these days. Too often, we don’t allow ourselves the gift of that kind of vulnerability.
In each other, Zoya and I recognised kindred spirits. Women with values, but a relaxed approach. On this mountain there was no finish line, no time, no ranking, or summits. Just two heads of wild, curly hair taking their brains along on a mission of the spirit. Gently floating, one foot in front of another, gazing far beyond the peak that might become our destination. Laughter was enjoyed. Space was given. At times we travelled as sisters, yet other moments were spent walking alone. We found a balance. We didn’t care about where we were going because in many ways we were already there.
Frozen coconut cocooned in chocolate welcomed us on a ridge-line that showed us diversely painted horizons in all directions. I made my way carefully across the rocky contour, tiptoeing as you might do around a sleeping baby. Our footsteps are an indication of how we feel in the world and on this day we chose not to stomp, grunt, and slam our skis and boots into the mountain. Instead we traversed with some delicacy as the wind played its tune through the curls close to our ears. A friend recently told me that a Japanese mentor refers to women’s hair blowing while they ski or snowboard as Winter Magic. In that case we were bewitched. The mountains weren’t painful. They were just plain enchanting. And somehow on this day we were lucky enough to feel cloaked in their metaphysical charm.
From my own perch on the mountain I watched Zoya on hers. She moved with the same grace. And we stood there, realising in that moment that the hard part was not coming up, but instead deciding when to go back down. In that place we saw the world for all that it is – a choice to feel the hurt or soar along with ease over the rocks, ridges, and icy slopes. My funky, vibrant-eyed, wild-haired Canadian sister and I chose loveliness over the sting. We chose moments over time. We chose the experience over the process. We had arrived at a destination, but we decided to do it without the stereotypical delusion of it only being worthwhile if the journey is an excruciating one. Sometimes it’s okay to just float.
RECIPE: KIERAN CREEVY • PHOTOS: CLAIRE BURGE
We wake slowly in our cocoons of silk, down and nylon. There’s a delicious sense of lethargy, so we’re slow to get moving. Outside, the dawn chorus has finished and the landscape is coming alive. Here, amid rolling grasslands and forests of the Scottish lowland, we can even smell subtle changes in the weather as skirls of wind blow past our camp. We decide to get up and get breakfast on. Grumbling slightly I wriggle out from the tent, trying not to dislodge the small puddles of last night’s rain on the fly. Descending to the stream I slide up a sleeve and fish for our dry-bag that’s been wedged between boulders, and fill the kettle for a brew. Inside, chilled overnight in this makeshift fridge, are some wild trout fillets. Though the hues of purple and green on the skin are a little faded now, the flesh still holds its rich pink colour, far removed from the paler shades of farmed trout. Rice leftover from last night’s dinner sits wrapped up in a fleece jacket, and nestling in the pot are a couple
2 cups long grain rice or a mix of long grain and wild rice
of duck eggs. Coming across the farm yesterday added this surprise final element to our breakfast: rice and spices from India’s markets, mingled with the colonial addition of fish and eggs, transformed the local dish of kichir into what we now know to be kedgeree.
(cooked the night before)
1 tsp turmeric
1 tbsp curry leaves
1 tsp mustard seeds
1 tsp black onion seeds
1 tsp rock salt or sea salt
1 tsp pepper
1/2 dried lime
2 organic duck or chicken eggs
2 fillets of wild trout
Chervil and coriander leaves
1 tbsp ghee
NOTEs:
Though some Kedgeree recipes include curry powder, no self-respecting Indian cook would ever resort to the vaguely brown powder that probably sits in a jar at the back of your cupboard. Use our suggested mix, or add to it as you will; the flavour will be far better than any pre-made version. Dried whole spices weigh little and changing the quantities below can greatly alter the flavour of the recipe so we encourage you to experiment!
Heat the ghee in a frying pan and, once hot, mix in the spices and salt. Add the trout fillets to the pan, skin side down until crisp and then flip and cook for 1-2 minutes more. Remove and leave to rest.
Add the pre-cooked rice to the pan, heat thoroughly and set aside. In a saucepan/pot, bring 300ml of water to the boil and add the dried lime. Break the eggs gently into the water and cook until the white has just set.
Return the pan of rice to the heat, flake the trout fillets into the rice, tear the chervil and coriander leaves and mix. Spoon into bowls or eat from the pan.
Drain the poached eggs and carefully place onto the rice. Break each egg, allowing the lovely oozy bright yellow yolk to run into the kedgeree.
One Pot Version
Hard-boil the eggs in advance.
When the trout is almost cooked, flake, add the rice and heat. Shell, chop and add the eggs to the rice with the fresh herbs and serve.
The Festival aims to show the very best in mountain-based film, across the broadest spectrum.
Films are screened in eleven competitive categories, with winners judged by a panel of film and mountain luminaries and – in the case of the People’s Choice prize – the audience itself.
A trophy sculpted by Andy Parkin and cash prizes up to £1000 will be awarded for the best films in the categories (listed right).
Sports Correspondent for Channel 4 news
Keme first came to Kendal in 2012 to report on paralympic athletes featured at the event. Last year he was Chair of the Jury and we’re delighted that he’s back again this year as Chair of the Jury - our diplomat and adjudicator!
wAjAHAT MALIK
Adventure filmmaker, TV presenter and Director of Pakistan International Mountain Film Festival
Producer, director and presenter of numerous adventure and travel documentaries that have been aired on all local and some foreign television channels. He is also an avid climber, paraglider, writer and political activist.
HAzEL FInDLAy
Adventurer and Climber
Hazel has been a full time climber for the last four years, which has allowed her to travel all over the world climbing interesting pieces of rock. She has been involved in many climbing films including Hot Aches ‘Odyssey’ and Spice Girl.
Best Climbing Film
Best Mountaineering Film
Best Adventure & Exploration Film
Best Environment & Culture Film
Best Adrenaline Film
Best Short Film
STEVE roBInSon
Co-founder of Indus Films
Best Sound
Best Visual
People’s Choice*
Grand Prize
Judges’ Special Prize
An award-winning adventure film-maker with over 14 years experience in factual television. Creator & series producer of the BAFTA-nominated Tribe with Bruce Parry. Other credits include Extreme Lives & the BAFTAnominated Ellen MacArthur: Sailing Through Heaven.
AMAnDA Lu
Travel & Adventure journalist & Photographer
Director of KMF China
Amanda co-founded the new Nanshan International Mountain Film Festival in 2015. Amanda also works on promoting cross-cultural and economic exchange between the UK and China and organises large sports and media events that are often televised.
ELLA KIrKPATrICK
Ella is thrilled to be able to represent the youth vote in this year’s festival having been to Kendal every year since she was 7. She is no stranger to the world of film or adventure. At 13 she climbed El Capitain in yo semite which was made into the BBC film ‘The Big Climb’ and the film of her latest skiing adventure in Norway with her family ‘Xbox to Ice’ is being shown this year at Kendal.
These workshops are run by two fantastic filmmakers Dom Bush and Jen Randall along with mountain guide Brian Hall. Under their expert guidance you will learn a wealth of skills to improve your filmmaking.
DSLr CrASH CourSE
Presented by Supporteded by
Presented by
This workshop is designed to get you up and running with settings and shooting great video on your DSLR camera. Lenses, the exposure triangle, framing, composition and handling techniques are all included in this one day session; a great introduction to the world of DSLR video.
Tuesday 17 Nov | 09:30 - 16:30 | Kendal College - Allen Building | £100
rIGGInG AnD LoGISTICS
Rigging and logistics are often a big part of adventure film and something you won’t learn at film school! Develop your rope-work and learn to protect your equipment in remote and challenging locations.
Tuesday 17 Nov | 17:30 - 20:30 | Kendal Wall | £50
EDITInG FroM SCrATCH
This session will allow you to develop your post-production skills, add sound, colour correction and effects, and give you tips on how to build a great narrative in the edit suite.
Wednesday 18 Nov | 09:30 - 16:30 | Kendal College - Allen Building | £100
ProDuCTIon SounD rECorDInG
Every great filmmaker knows the importance of great sound. This session will cover acoustic environments, wild tracks, mic types and how to record great sound at source, so you can bring the audio elements of your production to life.
Wednesday 18 Nov | 17:30 - 20:30 | Kendal College - Allen Building | £50
Learn to shoot for the edit, capture great handheld footage and experiment with dollys, sliders, jibs, steadicams and slow motion to add energy and dynamism to your sequences.
Thursday 19 Nov | 09:30 - 16:30 | Kendal College - Allen Building | £120
GoPro TIPS AnD TrICKS
Experiment with accessories, sequences and shooting techniques and learn the settings and functions of the GoPro and GoPro Studio app to unleash the power of this versatile little camera.
Friday 20 Nov | 09:30 - 12:30 | Kendal College - Allen Building | £50
Friday 20 november
TH E STATE oF ADVEnTu r E FILMMAKEr S
Industry Only Invite Event
The adventure and outdoor industries are changing. This year the Dawn Wall brought climbing into mainstream living rooms and ‘outdoor’ is being redefined by marketers to give consumers urban-outdoor, glamping, adventure heritage, lumber sexual and mountain hipster. 33 % of the US Outdoor Market are spenders who don’t go outdoor, they are indoor climbers or ‘concrete adventurers’. This should be great news for filmmakers a s the world flocks to visualise the adventure trends.
Or is it? What effect does the state of the adventure industry have on the state of adventure filmmakers? Are we working more, less, more creatively, more collaboratively? Are our aims changing? What do films do we want to make, and can we make them?
In the 2015 Filmmakers Summit we want to health check adventure filmmakers, and share ideas on how the industry and individuals are adapting to a broadening perception of, and hunger for adventure.
Statesman of Adventure: Pete Mortimer Retrospective 14:00 | The Box
Keme n zerem , Channel 4 Sports Journalist will interview Pete Mortimer, Sender Films, about his career and perspectives on adventure filmmaking.
Filmmakers ‘In the Box Show and Tell’
Followed by a Panel Discussion | 16:30 | The Box
In Pecha Kucha style a bunch of filmmakers will take us through their current state of mind, work, equipment and creativity. These fast fire presentations will give us an insight into the pressures filmmakers handle, what tools they use to help them, and what out of the box ingenuity they are developing as the industry moves forwards. A panel of commissioners, producers and filmmakers will then discuss the state of adventure filmmakers today, and what they see is the main issues for the coming year.
Panel including Alex Messenger – BMC Head of Marketing and Communications, johnny Burke – Director of Tashi and the Monk, Steve wakeford – Filmmaker & rachel Brine – Lowe Alpine Marketing Manager.
are proud to sponsor the Kendal Mountain Festival Photography Competition 2015
you can see the shortlisted photographs at Kendal Town Hall all weekend. The winner will be announced at the Kendal Mountain Festival Awards Ceremony on Saturday night.
2014 Winner - Kasia Biernacka, Under the Glacier
Steve Walton Clark Kent Excels at New Pastime of DH Biking
James Appleton Rivers of Stars - Tre Cime
Neil Sharp The Hike
James Appleton Journey’s End - Cerro Torre
Winter Climbing Jago Miller
Rupert Sagar-Musgrave Heading Up
Morgan Eliasen Reynisfjara Beach
J Rutherford Faroe Islands
Steve Ashworth Giving it the Works
John Henderson A Glyders Winter
Film Active is Kendal Mountain Festival’s youth film programme with the aim of encouraging young people to share their outdoor adventures online and at the Festival. you can see the selected films during the Family Adventure sessions.
Entries for 2016 will open on the 1 January 2016 - so if you’re inspired by the amazing films at Kendal Mountain Festival - get out and start filming!
We’ll be running filmmaking courses through the year for youth workers, teachers and any other interested parties who work with children.
Keep an eye on our website www.filmactive.org.uk for more information.
Kendal Mountain Festival is delighted to announce the launch of the new ‘Mountain Basecamp Village’ located inside the huge marquee at the Brewery Arts Centre.
Welcome to the new Basecamp Village at Kendal Mountain Festival! Crafted out of reclaimed wood and dressed with prayer flags; our ‘village’ is the social hub of the Festival.
Packed into the village will be a selection of the world’s finest outdoor brands. Grab your chance to get a first look at the newest kit, interact with global ambassadors, meet world-class athletes and quiz the people who develop the gear we so often rely upon. Many will be running sessions and activities throughout the Festival, bringing their brand to the people.
Expanding the Festival’s fringe content, will see the new Sidetracked Bar/ Café as a central feature in the Basecamp Village. Its dedicated stage, hosting cookery demonstrations, open forum discussions, interviews, live music, workshops and more…all of which is 100% FREE! So grab a coffee or sample the delicious new KMF ale (brewed by our friends at Thornbridge) and take part in a mini-session.
All that is left for us to say is that we hope you manage to take a moment to enjoy the new Basecamp Village as much as we have enjoyed dreaming it up and creating it for you.
These pages give an overview to the events in the Basecamp Village, but be sure to pick up a detailed programme from the Basecamp Village to help plan your Festival weekend.
Friday 20 november
16:00 Chris Davies (drone pilot) / SIDETrACKED
16:30 AVALAnCHE SAFETy
17:00 Minimalism Packing for Ski Touring / HAGLoFS
17:30 Rob & Harriet Fraser / LAKE DISTrICT nATIonAL PArK
18:00
18:30
09:00
11:00
12:00
12:30
13:00
14:00
14:30
15:00
15:30
16:00
Come chat to our friendly team on the Festival Information Desk, who will be able to access live information regarding screenings, seating availability, venue updates etc.
This year we have some fantastic Limited Edition Festival gear for sale.
sherpa relief t shirt
All proceeds go to the Sherpa Charity ‘Paldorje Education Fund’.
Hydroflask®
Exclusive to Kendal!
Give yourself some Unexpected Refreshment
Chamonix 150 anniversary buff®
Featuring the design by Tom Hine to celebrate the anniversary of the Golden Age of Mountaineering
thornbridge ‘KmF’ beer
Our Arts and Literature sponsor Thornbridge Brewery have launched a new beer to celebrate their partnership with Kendal.
KMF Ale is brewed with Pale, Munich and Crystal malts and pours an inviting copper in colour. Hopped with Cascade and Mount Hood from America the beer entices with grapefruit and mandarin aromas before exploding with tropical fruit flavours.
Serving hot drinks, cold beers and warming stews and soups. Perfect for a quick bite in between film sessions!
Sidetracked Magazine is an online and printed journal featuring a limited collection of personal stories of adventure travel, journeys and expeditions.
The concept is simple: to capture the emotion and experience of adventures and expeditions throughout the world…and to inspire.
In between your jampacked film schedule, spend a little time relaxing in the Sidetracked Bar and Cafe – pick up a magazine, grab a coffee or beer and listen to the fascinating and inspirational talks on the Basecamp Stage.
Saturday 21 november
16:30 DMM / BMG
17:00 BL ACK DIAMonD BAr TAKEoVEr
Join Black Diamond team members Hazel Findlay, Babara Zangerl, Tommy Caldwell, Matt Heliker, Jon Bracey, Calum Muskett, Dave Macleod, Karrado Pesce, Kenton Cool and Ines Papert for a beer at the Sidetracked Bar with live music from Freyja Burke!
Sunday 22 november
10:00 Tashi Sherpa / SHErPA
10:30 Leo Houlding & Richard Leaf / LAKE DISTrICT nATIonAL PArK
11:00 Adventure Cuisine with Kieran Creevy / SIDETrACKED
12:00 Learn From The Pros - Expedition Nutrition / Lyo FooDS
12:30 Lennart Edbergh - Sustainability Talk / HAGLoFS
13:00 Neil Gresham / SHErPA
13:30 AVALAnCHE SAFETy
14:00 Independent Publishing / SIDETrACKED
14:30 PEAK DESIGn
Visit the Marmot tent at Kendal for free events and live music. At Marmot we believe that our 40 year history has taught us how to make the very best apparel and equipment for the mountains. We also learned how to throw a decent party too.
Friday 20 november
20:00 – 22:00 LIVE MuSIC Northern Sky
Northern Sky are set to rocket with their blissful melodies and swooping soundscapes. This 5-piece line-up of velveteen vocal harmonies, acoustic & electric guitar, cello and percussion take you through a mellow heaven to lightning crescendos and back again, with a style so simple and yet so satisfying.
Saturday 21 november
14:30 – 15:30 MAry-Ann oCHoTA
Walking the Simpson Desert
Mary-Ann Ochota, TV presenter, anthropologist, and a Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society, has managed to transform adventuring into a day job.
14:30 – 15:30 LuKASz wArzECHA
Inspiring Female Athletes
Lukasz has been working with incredible female athletes over the last few years. From Paralympians to wingsuit pilots, mountain guides, sea kayakers, climbers, fell runners to future bouldering world champions. All driven by their passion of sport and the outdoors, they are pushing the boundaries for what is humanly possible.
Saturday 21 november
20:00 – 22:00 LIVE MuSIC Room Full of Mirrors
Room Full Of Mirrors draw upon every rootsy genre they can get their grubby little mitts on, from Celtic tunes to reggae grooves, Eastern European vibes to Americana, Middle Eastern sounds to English folk music, drawing it all together with a pop sensibility and an infectious groove.
Sunday 22 november
14:30 – 15:30 LIVE GrAFFITI Ar T in aid of CAC Painted by Foundry
In another first for Kendal Mountain Festival, Sheffield’s renowned graffiti artist Foundry will be painting live on Sunday in the Marmot Tent.
Using the inspiration of Mountains and Climbing, a massive 8’ by 12‘ artwork wall will be created over the day, as well as smaller canvases. In support of Climbers Against Cancer, Foundry is offering the opportunity to win these unique artworks to take away. If you visit the Marmot Tent during the weekend and make a donation to Climbers Against Cancer, every £1 donated will get you an entry into a raffle draw that will be made at 4pm on Sunday.
Stocking Mens & Womens Clothing/ Footwear/ Tents/Sleeping Bags/Accessories/Rucksacks/ Daysacs/Head Torches - with a combination of clearance rails and new season stock.
15% off autumn/winter 2015 stock
Friday 20 november
15:00 – 16:00 jAMES MCHAFFIE
James needs no introduction. Every climber’s favourite climber talks us through some of his favourite climbs ever.
17:00 – 18:00 BEEr TASTInG The Hops of Thornbridge
A free beer tasting session with the brewer from Thornbridge.
19:00 – 20:00 LIVE MuSIC
Join us for an early doors Festival party, advanced base camp style!
Saturday 21 november
11:00 – 12:00 BECKy CoLES Trekking in remote regions
Becky has organised and participated in expeditions to the most remote regions on the planet. Find out what it takes and what you need to do the same.
13:00 – 14:00 oPErATIon MoFFAT Q&A/Behind the Scenes
Co-directors Claire Jane Carter and Jen Randell give us the lowdown on making a truly unique adventure film.
15:00 – 16:00 jEFF MErCIEr
Jeff is a visionary mixed climber from Chamonix. Join us as he describes the passion and enthusiasm that allows him to constantly push the boundaries of alpinism.
This year, Lowe Alpine and RAB bring you the Advanced Base Camp. Based on the Brewery Arts Centre lawn, they will be presenting a weekend of adventure and exploration-themed programme of music, talks and tasting sessions from the most remote regions on the planet.
Saturday 21 november
17:00 – 18:00 A PATAGonIAn FEAST with Andy Cave and friends
Join us for a free evening of Patagonian food from expedition chef Kieran Creevy, musing on the isolated region from Andy Cave and beer from our friends at Thornbridge Brewery. A night not to be missed!
Saturday 22 november
11:00 – 12:00 rAB PAr Ty rECoVEry SESSIon with Squash Falconer
Join world-leading female adventure athlete Squash Falconer for a hangover recovery session to remember. Free coffee recovery packs for all attendees!
13:00 – 14:00 EIGEr PArACLIMB Q&A/Behind the scenes
Director Euan Ryan is joined by members of the successful Eiger Paraclimb team for this mini lecture and Q&A on the expedition and resulting film.
11:00 – 12:00 BIG wALLInG ADVEnTurES with Calum Muskett
Calum takes us from the Arctic Circle to the tip of Patagonia as he offers every detail of life on the most remote big walls in the world.
Bootleggers have some amazing bands and DJs on over the weekend. Entry is FREE - you just need to show a valid ticket for the Festival.
Thursday 19 november
21:00 – 23:00 TBC
Friday 20 november
22:30 – 01:00 BLuEjuICE
Saturday 21 november
22:00 – 03:00 rAB PAr Ty ConTInuES - wITH GuSn8r
GusN8R (Sheffield Techno Institute, E.T.C, Climbing Works parties) will be bringing his finest vinyls, biggest beats and filthiest rhythms to the floor. With free entry for ALL KMF ticket holders - this is the perfect opportunity to ‘go big’. Don’t miss it.
Sunday 22 november
14:00 – 21:30 nInE LIVES
We’ve increased the number of venues this year to increase the film capacity and fit in even more speakers and live events than last year!
Most venues are suitable for walking (the exception being Kendal Wall) - use the guide below to ensure you have enough time to get between venues. 1 2 3
4 5 6 7
8
Brewery Arts Centre
The main hub of the event, the Brewery has 5 event venues in use over the Festival - the Theatre, two cinema screens, the Malt Room and the Studio.
Along with these venues, there is also the Basecamp Village and Lowe Alpine, Marmot and Blacks yurts.
The Shakespeare Centre
The Shakespeare Centre is hidden up one of Kendals many yardsyou’ll find it on Highgate next to The Shakespeare pub.
Kendal Town Hall
Upstairs in Kendal Town Hall you’ll find the Assembly Room - hosting Specialist Sessions, Lectures and Film Sessions. Downstairs, the Bindloss Room and Georgian Room are home to the Literary Events.
Kendal Leisure Centre
This year the Leisure Centre hosts of some of the biggest names ever at Kendal Mountain Festival. There will be an on site bar (open from 7pm before the Santa Cruz Bike Session).
Stramongate School
Stramongate School is located off Stramongate, up the alleyway next to Kendal Dental Care.
The Box
Kendal College’s stunning Arts and Performance venue is tucked away behind The Castle Dairy on Wildman Street.
Kendal wall
Driving out of Kendal on the Shap Road, you’ll see signs for Lakeland Climbing Centre as you pass the Ford Pye Motors showroom.
Bootleggers
Head to Bootleggers for the Rab After Party with DJ, GusN8R - the bar is on Finkle Street in Kendal town centre.
ruskins
Ruskins is the home of the KMF Jukebox and the laid back Rab After Party. you’ll find it on Highgate in the centre of Kendal.
10 Start a new journey... with flexible car hire!
K Village festival venues
Famous for her delicious cakes and wholesome food, Emma brings her cosy Kendal Café to the Town Hall.
09:00 – 18:00 | Sat & Sun
you’ll never be too far from a food or drink stop at this year’s Kendal Mountain Festival. As well as usual venues at the Brewery Arts Centre, there will be pop-up outlets at festival venues across the town.
Festival Media Partners, Sidetracked will be serving delicious food and drink all day in the Basecamp Village.
09:00 – 18:00 | Fri, Sat & Sun
Sponsors of the Arts and Literature events, Thornbridge are setting up shop in the Town Hall to help keep Festival goers hydrated.
Our KMF Festival Beer will also be available from the Brewery & Sidetracked Café.
12:00 – 21:00 | Fri, Sat & Sun
Hallsford Farm will be serving up their own farm produced food such as Burgers, Sausages, Roasts, as well as Hot & Cold drinks.
09:00 – 18:00 | Fri, Sat & Sun
As a major supporter of the Festival, the Brewery Arts Centre is proud once again to offer all Festival goers the chance to fuel up at our numerous venues.
The Intro Café and Bar serves coffees, teas, sandwiches, chocolate, cakes, wines and beers throughout the day.
Open whenever the Brewery is open during the Festival
The Warehouse Café is a super-chilled, relaxed lounge where you can slurp a cappuccino or quaff a pint of lager while munching on a locally-made cake or fresh scone. Whatever mood you’re in when you arrive, you can’t help but relax in the cosy atmosphere of The Warehouse Café.
Open from 8am all weekend
The Grainstore is offering lunchtime sandwiches and hot snacks and in the evening sample our new Brewery Tapas or our famous Brewery Pizzas. Food available all day throughout the Festival. Come feast on a tasty lunch to keep your energy levels high…or maybe try a more substantial dinner in the Grainstore’s comfortable surroundings.
Tapas evening menu served from 5pm
The Vats Bar offers an ideal meeting and drinking place as well as light meals and refreshments throughout the Festival. By far the busiest bar in Britain over the KMF weekend, it also doubles as one of the best rest stops on the Festival circuit. Come in and try guest beers and one of our famous pizzas while you peruse the event programme.
Fri & Sat: 12:00 - late (the next morning!) Sun: 12:00 - 22:30
Community Action Nepal (CAN) is a UK based charity whose aim is to help the mountain people of Nepal. Founded by Doug Scott CBE, who in 1975 made the first British ascent of Everest, CAN is supported by mountaineers and mountain-lovers from across the globe. CAN’s Kathmandu office and Nepali staff make our projects happen on the ground. Funds are raised from donations, fundraising events, sales of Nepali goods, grants and Doug Scott’s lecture tours.
Anevay make wonderful, portable wood burning stoves that they will be demonstrating during the Festival outside the Basecamp Village. Their log burners are perfect for a variety of situations; BBQs on the beach, campsite cooking, an alfresco tea in the garden or inside your bell tent, camper van or garden shed. Anevay also have humanitarian values at their heart and their core products have been deployed and used worldwide in a wide variety of disaster situations. They will be providing mugs of warming chai through the Festival in return for a donation to CAN (Community Action Nepal). Pop on by, say hello, warm up your hands by a stove, and help a deserving charity.
Famous for her delicious cakes and wholesome food, Emma brings her cosy Kendal Café to the Town Hall.
09:00 – 18:00 | Sat & Sun
you’ll never be too far from a food or drink stop at this year’s Kendal Mountain Festival. As well as usual venues at the Brewery Arts Centre, there will be pop-up outlets at festival venues across the town.
Festival Media Partners, Sidetracked will be serving delicious food and drink all day in the Basecamp Village.
09:00 – 18:00 | Fri, Sat & Sun
Sponsors of the Arts and Literature events, Thornbridge are setting up shop in the Town Hall to help keep Festival goers hydrated.
Our KMF Festival Beer will also be available from the Brewery & Sidetracked Café.
12:00 – 21:00 | Fri, Sat & Sun
Hallsford Farm will be serving up their own farm produced food such as Burgers, Sausages, Roasts, as well as Hot & Cold drinks.
09:00 – 18:00 | Fri, Sat & Sun
As a major supporter of the Festival, the Brewery Arts Centre is proud once again to offer all Festival goers the chance to fuel up at our numerous venues.
The Intro Café and Bar serves coffees, teas, sandwiches, chocolate, cakes, wines and beers throughout the day.
Open whenever the Brewery is open during the Festival
The Warehouse Café is a super-chilled, relaxed lounge where you can slurp a cappuccino or quaff a pint of lager while munching on a locally-made cake or fresh scone. Whatever mood you’re in when you arrive, you can’t help but relax in the cosy atmosphere of The Warehouse Café.
Open from 8am all weekend
The Grainstore is offering lunchtime sandwiches and hot snacks and in the evening sample our new Brewery Tapas or our famous Brewery Pizzas. Food available all day throughout the Festival. Come feast on a tasty lunch to keep your energy levels high…or maybe try a more substantial dinner in the Grainstore’s comfortable surroundings.
Tapas evening menu served from 5pm
The Vats Bar offers an ideal meeting and drinking place as well as light meals and refreshments throughout the Festival. By far the busiest bar in Britain over the KMF weekend, it also doubles as one of the best rest stops on the Festival circuit. Come in and try guest beers and one of our famous pizzas while you peruse the event programme.
Fri & Sat: 12:00 - late (the next morning!) Sun: 12:00 - 22:30
Community Action Nepal (CAN) is a UK based charity whose aim is to help the mountain people of Nepal. Founded by Doug Scott CBE, who in 1975 made the first British ascent of Everest, CAN is supported by mountaineers and mountain-lovers from across the globe. CAN’s Kathmandu office and Nepali staff make our projects happen on the ground. Funds are raised from donations, fundraising events, sales of Nepali goods, grants and Doug Scott’s lecture tours.
Anevay make wonderful, portable wood burning stoves that they will be demonstrating during the Festival outside the Basecamp Village. Their log burners are perfect for a variety of situations; BBQs on the beach, campsite cooking, an alfresco tea in the garden or inside your bell tent, camper van or garden shed. Anevay also have humanitarian values at their heart and their core products have been deployed and used worldwide in a wide variety of disaster situations. They will be providing mugs of warming chai through the Festival in return for a donation to CAN (Community Action Nepal). Pop on by, say hello, warm up your hands by a stove, and help a deserving charity.
Proud