Banff!

The Banff Mountain Film Festival World Tour came to Bloomington last weekend. Deciding I wasn't really in race shape, I skipped out on the Knobscorcher race in North Carolina and sat my butt at a theater watching other people do really cool things like extreme downhill skiing, kayaking, biking, etc.

While several friends had recommended seeing the show, it was a picture of Ryan Leech in the paper that caught my eye. He's a world-class trials rider; during a 6-month infatuation with trials riding, I saw many of his videos. A segment of his newest video, Crux, was playing at the Film Festival. His website shows some awesome videos. There's also a good one on You Tube.



If I ever find a Genie in a bottle, I'm using one of my wishes to possess these rad skillz. I guess my second wish will be used to summon the courage to go actually perform the tricks.

The final video, The Red Helmet, was a winner of the Best of Nissan Outdoor Games and is also available on YouTube. The kid is cute, the athletes daring as ever, and the video is just well made. I even liked the song choice to accompany the shots. Most of all, I thought it was rather motivating.



Jump in! Let's take some risks.