The Teton Climbers’ Coalition announced the full program for its inaugural AlpinFilm, which will be held Jan. 13-14, 2023, at the Jackson Hole Playhouse in downtown Jackson, Wyoming.
The film festival, which is serving as a fundraiser for the TCC, will feature five films each night and kicks off the organization’s 2023 centennial celebration of the first female ascent of the Grand Teton. Doors open at 6 p.m. each night for a pre-party at the Playhouse Saloon; films begin at 7.
The festival will be presented both in-person and virtually. Those who buy in-person tickets will automatically receive links to the virtual presentations.
Tickets, which may be purchased here, are $25 for one night or $40 for both nights. Virtual passes are available for $20 for one night and $30 for both nights.
In keeping with the centennial celebration, the program will begin with “Moving Mountains: A Panel Discussion on Women in the Tetons,” which will be held on Friday, January 13 from 5-6 p.m. Doors open for the free, public discussion at 4:30 p.m.
Following the panel, AlpinFilm will begin at 7 p.m. with a mix of short, medium and feature-length films.
Madison Rose Ostergren will open the festival with a presentation of Fuel, which she created with filmmaker Iz La Motte. The film follows Madison as she learns to embrace her own personality in a world that often pushes individuals to fit into specific boxes.
Other films to be screened on the festival’s first night include Ben Tibbet’s The Traverse, which follows ski mountaineers Valentine Fabre and Hillary Gerardi as they attempt to become the first women to ski the Haute Route non-stop from Chamonix to Zermatt.
Directed by Jim Aikman, Annapurna ‘78 documents the American all-female expedition to the tenth-highest mountain in the world. Henna Taylor’s A Thousand Ways To Kiss The Ground offers a poignant, stirring and ultimately uplifting ensemble of voices from the American climbing community as they discuss the loss of loved ones to climbing. The film Clean Mountains, by Dutch filmmaker Geertjan Lassche, recounts the impact of the pandemic on a famous Sherpa community that decides to climb Mount Everest to clean the garbage left behind by others – thus restoring the holiness of the mountain and calming the gods.
AlpinFilm’s second night of film includes similarly inspiring films.
Presented in person by Tetonia residents Erik Boomer and Sarah McNair-Landry, A Baffin Vacation follows the pair on a bold, multi-sport, 45-day expedition through the remote landscape of Baffin Island as they learn to climb on a virgin big wall and kayak its outrageous, unexplored rivers.
This is Beth follows rock climber Beth Rodden, one of the most prolific athletes in climbing history, as her struggle with body image leads to a rediscovery of her love for her sport and herself.
Presented virtually by Jean Dempsey, the second female climbing ranger in both Grand Teton National and the country, the short film Jean documents her remarkable journey from being one of the world’s best female rock climbers to lying paralyzed in a hospital bed, in a coma, with a massively fractured skull, and ultimately back to a fully realized life.
The Cuddle is the hilariously inspirational story of legendary climbers Alex Honnold and Tommy Caldwell as they embark on a massive link-up of 17 alpine rock routes in Colorado’s Rocky Mountain National Park that pushes them to their limits—and into each others’ shivering arms.
Alastair Lee’s Climbing Blind tells the incredible story of blind climber Jesse Dufton and his no-sight onsight lead of the Old Man of Hoy, a sea stack on the west coast of Scotland’s Orcadian island of Hoy.
AlpinFilm is being presented by Teton Mountaineering and is made possible by the generous support of REI, Four Pines Physical Therapy, NeVille Asbell Real Estate, Spackmans and Associates, The Virginian, Jackson Hole Mountain Guides, Orange Theory, Snake River Brewing, and Great Northern Coffee Company.
A silent auction will feature different items each night, allowing audiences to bid on everything from climbing equipment from Black Diamond, Trango and Sterling Ropes to a physical therapy sessions from Prax PT, a day of backcountry skiing with Exum guide Christian Santelices, yoga punch passes from Inversion Yoga and a dinner for two with Fine Dining Group.
All proceeds from AlpinFilm and the silent auction will go to the non-profit TCC, which stewards, advocates and engages on behalf of Teton climbers.
“More than a showcase of adventurous acts, AlpinFilm explores the reasons we embark on our adventures in the first place,” said TCC board chair Christian Beckwith. “We’re excited to put together two inspiring nights of film for our community.”