Getting up at 2 a.m., strapping 60 pounds of camera gear on and trudging through thigh-high snow for miles in the Okanagan backcountry to find a giant chunk of ice to climb definitely isn香蕉视频直播檛 everyone香蕉视频直播檚 idea of a good time.
But for Penticton filmmaker Dave Mai not only is it a good time, it香蕉视频直播檚 a great story.
香蕉视频直播淲hen you think about ice climbing, the Okanagan is definitely not the first place you think of. Usually you would want to go to the Rockies where there is a constant subzero temperature to keep the ice from melting and falling apart, but here in the Okanagan it changes quite a bit. It fluctuates from minus 1 C to plus 3 C, back and forth, and that is not conducive at all. To be an ice climber in the Okanagan you have to be very patient and determined to find it.香蕉视频直播�
That feeling of being part of something so elusive, propelled Mai to create a documentary film about the sport and those who partake in it in the Okanagan. This is the first documentary for the self-taught filmmaker. The 13-minute film called Ephemera debuts at the Vancouver International Mountain Film Festival next month.
香蕉视频直播淭he name of the film is Ephemera, which means something that is significant that doesn香蕉视频直播檛 last long, and that pretty much sums up ice climbing in the Okanagan. I wanted to use ice climbing as a medium to tell a story of how nature fluxes and how there is no endlessness to anything.香蕉视频直播�
Mai, an experienced rock climber, slipped into the sport of ice climbing rather by coincidence.
A friend needed a partner to go climbing one day last winter and the 29-year-old didn香蕉视频直播檛 hesitate to join.
香蕉视频直播淚 said, 香蕉视频直播業香蕉视频直播檒l come.香蕉视频直播� We got out there and he pointed up to what looked like an icicle way up off Green Mountain Road,香蕉视频直播� he said with a laugh.
The pair hiked up to find a large ice formation and Mai got a quick lesson in ice climbing before they started up.
香蕉视频直播淚 was scared for sure,香蕉视频直播� he said. 香蕉视频直播淏ut, I think that香蕉视频直播檚 a metaphor for life. There are things that scare us but those are the things worth doing.香蕉视频直播�
After just a few hours on the ice he knew he wanted to experience the feeling again and film it.
The next time he went he brought his camera equipment and started taking raw footage. At that point he wasn香蕉视频直播檛 sure what he香蕉视频直播檇 do with it.
Last winter was a cold one, which extended the ice climbing season in the Okanagan. He climbed and shot hours of stunning footage all over the Okanagan including Christie Falls in Kelowna, Bear Lake in West Kelowna, sites in the North Okanagan and Naramata Creek Falls.
香蕉视频直播淭here香蕉视频直播檚 this adventure involved in finding it. There香蕉视频直播檚 this pretty small window you have to ice climb especially in the Okanagan. We do reconnaissance missions to scout potential climbing locations. Sometimes you go and you walk for hours and you get there and the conditions aren香蕉视频直播檛 right and you can香蕉视频直播檛 climb. You go home and think, 香蕉视频直播榳ell, that was a nice hike,香蕉视频直播櫹憬妒悠抵辈 he said.
Mai said there香蕉视频直播檚 only about a handful of ice climbers in the Okanagan that he knows about and that香蕉视频直播檚 what makes the story more obscure.
香蕉视频直播淭his definitely isn香蕉视频直播檛 a place that people come to to go ice climbing. It香蕉视频直播檚 that you香蕉视频直播檙e here and it香蕉视频直播檚 convenient for you to go here,香蕉视频直播� he said.
It wasn香蕉视频直播檛 until long after the ice melted that Mai figured out what he wanted to do with the hundreds of hours of footage he collected.
He found and applied for a filmmaking grant offered by the Vancouver International Mountain Film Festival and outdoor clothing company Arc香蕉视频直播檛eryx.
from on .
He received word in October he was the successful recipient of the $5,000 grant.
Through the fall and winter he香蕉视频直播檚 worked diligently to put the film together with the help of some his creative contemporaries in the area.
The film features prose from world renowned poet Shane Koyczan and music composed by Sam Welsch.
Among stunning video work including aerial footage, Okanagan climbers express their love for the sport and explain challenges faced because of the climate in the Okanagan.
香蕉视频直播淩eally when it comes down to it I think I made this film because I wanted to go ice climbing and I just happened to have a camera with me,香蕉视频直播� he said smiling. 香蕉视频直播淎 lot of time I香蕉视频直播檓 out there in the mountains and looking at this beautiful scenery and this landscape I香蕉视频直播檓 connecting with and I just wish some of my best friends were with me to share this moment with me and I guess I created this film so I could bring bak this experience back to share with everyone else.香蕉视频直播�
The Vancouver International Mountain Film Festival is an annual nine-day festival held in multiple venues including live presentations, films, photography and music. Films and photos are judged. The festival runs from Feb. 9 to 17.
