BANFF @Altitude

Former Banff Mountain Film Festival Director and multi-award-winning author Bernadette McDonald returns to share the powerful history behind her book  Alpine Warriors . In this episode, McDonald dives into the gripping story of Slovenia’s world-class climbers, detailing their rise from post-WWII hardship through national independence. It’s an essential listen for anyone who loves history, stories...

Junko Tabei made history as the first woman to summit Everest and complete the Seven Summits, yet her story remained overlooked in the English-speaking world for decades. To mark the 50th anniversary of her historic ascent, host Dina Mufti sits down with author Helen Rolfe and translator Yumiko Hiraki to discuss their book  Honouring High Places . This episode offers a rich mix of mountaineering l...

Recorded live at the 2015 festival, renowned author David Stevenson delivers a raw presentation reading from his book  Warnings Against Myself: Meditations on a Life in Climbing . Stevenson opens up about the emotional geography of a life spent in high places, tackling intimate questions about his personal relationships and the deep impact of lost companions in the mountains.  

Moderated by award-winning journalist Collette Derworiz,  Women on Ice  brings together top women scientists to reflect on their careers in extreme environments. Over the course of an hour, the panelists dive into the unique challenges they’ve overcome, the power of mentorship, and how storytelling and science intersect to inspire the next generation. Settle in for another great conversation from...

Opening the 2025 Fire and Ice Symposium, Bob Sandford, Senior Government Relations Liaison at the UN University Institute for Water, delivers a rousing, high-stakes address. In his brief but powerful talk, Sandford balances scientific urgency with profound optimism, delivering a rallying call for global climate action you won't want to miss.  

Recorded live at our 2023 festival, this energetic episode pairs snowboarder and  Protect Our Winters  founder Jeremy Jones with climber and guide Timmy O’Neill. What follows is a brilliant blend of lighthearted banter and soulful reflection. Over the course of an hour, the duo covers everything from "shralpinism" and Teton Gravity Research to environmental activism. They even have time...

In this deeply moving interview recorded after receiving a terminal cancer diagnosis, the late mountaineer and acclaimed author David Roberts holds nothing back. From achieving bold first ascents to drafting seminal climbing books in just nine days, Roberts reflects candidly on a remarkable life. Raw, honest, and completely unvarnished, this conversation offers an unfiltered look into the mind of...

What drives human beings to test their limits? In this 2025 panel, legendary alpinist Michael Kennedy moderates an intimate discussion featuring climbers Hélias Millerioux, Quentin Roberts, Alik Berg, Chantel Astorga, and Brette Harrington. Together, they explore the true cost of high-stakes climbing, diving into risk, personal motivation, grief, and the elusive quest for balance.  

From pioneering terrifying alpine first ascents in the 1980s and '90s to founding Gym Jones and training Hollywood actors, Mark Twight’s career has been remarkable. In this powerful presentation, Twight takes listeners beyond the public persona to reveal the intense, complex, and often dark story behind his success.   (Listener discretion is advised: this episode contains discussions of suicide an...

In 1988, Lydia Bradey became the first woman to summit Mount Everest without supplemental oxygen, kickstarting a legendary mountaineering career. In this 2025  Voices of Adventure , we sit down with Bradey for an unfiltered conversation. From triumph and fame to controversy and raw human complexity, Bradey puts it all on the table for an unforgettable look at a life spent on the edge.  

It’s climbers interviewing climbers in this star-studded episode! Host Kelly Cordes sits down with world-renowned big-wall legends Tommy Caldwell and Alex Honnold for an insider conversation on all things climbing. They talk about what "hard" really means, share the routes they love, and candidly discuss how they see their climbing careers evolving as they age.  

Author, spoken-word artist and adventurer Craig Childs has written more than a dozen books on science, nature and personal experience. In his book Atlas of a Lost World: Travels in Ice Age America, Child follows ancient migration routes on foot, pursuing early Pueblo passages across the American Southwest, and he traces the paths of first peoples as they migrated into the Americas during the late...

In 2019, we kicked off the Festival with a fabulous panel of folks working to bring diversity to climbing and bridge gaps to create a richer, more welcoming and inclusive outdoor community where everyone is celebrated. The discussion featured Kai Lightner, Mikhail Martin, Dr. Erynne Gilpin and Bethany Lebewitz. Kai Lightner is a professional rock climber who started the organization Climbing for C...

Beth Rodden is one of the best rock climbers of our time, and a globally recognized ambassador for the outdoor community. She has achieved a number of notable free climbs on El Capitan and also established the most difficult first ascent of a crack climb ever done by a woman. She has been climbing for thirty years, and she hopes to be climbing for thirty more. In 2024, Rodden’s memoir A Light thro...

As a physician and pioneer climber, Dr. Tom Hornbein combined his love of mountains and medicine to shape an illustrious career. He spent his life examining the physiological effects of high altitude on the body. He made his first ascents in his native US and in the Himalayas, most notably the West Ridge of Mt. Everest in 1963. As an author, he wrote Medicine for Mountaineering and Everest: The We...

For J.R. Harris, his real adventures and life began in 1966 when, as a young New Yorker, he impulsively drove his VW Beetle across the country to the very end of the northernmost road in Alaska. He was searching for an answer to a simple question: “What is it like to be way out there?” Harris is the author of Way Out There: Adventures of a Wilderness Trekker, an account of his extraordinary exploi...

Catherine Destivelle is one of the most celebrated alpinists of all time. She was climbing some of the highest peaks in the Alps by the age of 17 and was unbeatable at world cup competitions in the late 1980s. After leaving the world cup circuit, she was ultimately drawn back toward her roots in alpine climbing. She has made solo winter ascents of the Eiger, the Grandes Jorasses, and the Matterhor...

Jimmy Chin is no stranger to the Banff stage and screen, with a resume of films such as Meru, Free Solo, The Rescue, and Wild Life that have all been finalists and award winners at Banff. Chin started climbing in college, embracing the dirtbag life before picking up a camera and kicking off his photography and film career. His long list of accomplishments includes being part of the first American...

In 2023 we had the joy of welcoming Mingma G Sherpa to Banff to join us for our Voices of Adventure series. Mingma G began climbing at the age of 20 and has become a prominent member of the international climbing community. His list of accomplishments is long and impressive—six summits of Everest, four summits of Manaslu, as well as summits on Kanchenjunga, Annapurna, Lhotse, Dhaulagiri, Nanga Par...

In this episode, we explore the climbing world of Lynn Hill, a true icon of the sport. Lynn is known for smashing records in the '80s and '90s and was a key player in the Yosemite climbing scene. She was the first person to free climb “The Nose” on El Capitan in Yosemite as well as the first woman to redpoint 5.12d, 5.13a and 5.14a. Her career is nothing short of extraordinary! We welcomed...

Cory Richards returned to the Banff Centre Mountain Film and Book Festival in 2024 to talk about his book The Color of Everything: A Journey to Quiet the Chaos Within. Cory is joined by fellow alpinist Jack Tackle to dive into Cory’s career as a renowned climber and National Geographic Photographer. In both his book and this episode, Cory looks back at success and what the cost of fame means while...

Let’s dig into the hard alpine climbs of Steve Swenson as he sits down for an interview with Geoff Powter. Steve is known for his kind and warm personality and advocates for mentorship systems in the outdoors. His climbing achievements are top-notch, and he is one of only a handful of people to have won the coveted Piolets d'Or twice. In 2012, Swenson along with Mark Richey and Freddie Wilkins...

In 2018, Kate Harris presented her award-winning book Lands of Lost Borders: Out of Bounds on the Silk Road. Harris’ deep dive into adventure travel won her the Travel Adventure Book Award at the Banff Mountain Book Competition, as well as the 2019 RBC Taylor Prize for Literary Non-Fiction and the 2019 Boardman Tasker Prize for Mountain Literature. Her weaving of travel narratives and personal ref...

The Banff Centre Mountain film and Book Festival is world renowned for bringing the top adventurers from around the world to celebrate mountain culture and share their stories on stage in Banff, Canada. Each episode we’ll dig through the festival archives to revive some of our favourite presentations. Over the years we've spoken to hundreds of incredible adventurers who've shared their spectacular...