Second Annual Barry Corbet Film Festival announces festival winners

“Someday Somebody Will Ski That”, “Second Thoughts”, “The Obscurist” win People’s Choice Awards; “The Obscurist” wins Grand Prize

Jackson, Wyo – Alpinist Magazine—a quarterly publication dedicated to world alpinism and adventure climbing—announced today the award winners from the Second Annual Barry Corbet Film Festival (BCFF), held January 19-21, 2006, in Walk Festival Hall, Teton Village, Jackson Hole, Wyoming. The People’s Choice awards, decided each night by audience ballots, went to two world premiers and a contemporary surf film by a cinematographer who emerged from a medically induced coma the week of the show. The Grand Prize was won by a cinematographer who completed his film the day before he debuted it in person before a full house.

Snow Night’s People’s Choice Award went to the world premier of “Someday Somebody Will Ski That”, the ode to Corbet’s Couloir by Peter Pilafian. Pilafian, an organizer of the BCFF, finished his final edit of the film the day of the debut, and rushed it to the Walk Festival Hall during intermission. Its mix of historical footage, riveting narration and hilarious anecdotes had the SRO-capacity crowd in the 965-seat Hall on their feet.

The People’s Choice Award for Surf Night, held Friday, January 20 before a full house, went to Timmy Turner for his film “Second Thoughts”. The coming-of-age surf film was lauded by the audience for its realism, its non-commercial depiction of surfing and its incredible footage of barrel riding. In late December 2005, Turner was put into a medically induced coma by doctors when a sinus infection spread to his brain. He emerged from the coma the week of the BCFF, and the Festival organizers obtained permission to show his film to conclude the evening’s lineup four days before the start of the festival.

Stone Night’s People’s Choice Award went to Peter Mortimer for the world premier of “The Obscurist”, which chronicles the eccentric art of offwidth climbing as pursued by eccentric climbers Cedar Wright and Ivo Ninov. Mortimer finished editing the film on Friday, January 20, and flew up to present it in person before another maximum capacity crowd. As Yvon Chouinard commented upon taking the stage after Mortimer’s screening, “Now that’s a double shot of espresso to wake everybody up!”

Festival organizers agreed. They gave Mortimer The Second Annual Barry Corbet Film Festival Grand Prize—which consisted of a $500 cash prize and a Nemo Tenshi tent valued at $675—for “The Obscurist”, which chronicled the first ascent of the best undiscovered upside-down offwidth roof crack in the Valley.

“We were overwhelmed by the attendance and positive energy,” said BCFF founder and director Christian Beckwith of the Festival. “Every night was maximum capacity, and the cocktail hour was one of the best parties in Jackson. The fact that we were able to complement the great turnout with a donation to Central Asia Institute made the Festival’s success that much sweeter.” All proceeds from the BCFF were donated to Central Asia Institute (CAI); CAI founder and director Greg Mortenson drove down from his home in Bozeman, Montana, on Saturday, January 20, to accept a symbolic check for $5,000. “Even more than the money, the exposure for Central Asia Institute was tremendous,” Mortenson said.

Hightlights from the festival included fabled big-mountain ski legend Doug Coombs rappelling in from the Festival Hall ceiling to MC Snow Night, and the standing ovation received by Bill Briggs, the first person to ski the Grand Teton, as he held aloft the skis he used to make the first descent. On Surf Night, surf legends Mickey Muñoz and Yvon Chouinard captivated the audience with their masterful connection of skiing, surfing and climbing. On Saturday, the panel symposium, “Playing with Style”, moderated by Charlie Craighead, with panel members Chouinard, Muñoz, Coombs, author Ted Kerasote, professional skier Charlotte Moats and world-class climber Nancy Feagin, explored the changing landscape and impacts of the adventure lifesyle.

That evening, Chouinard concluded the festival with a presentation of the seminal film, Mountain of Storms, which chronicles the 1968 journey from Ventura, California to El Chalten, Argentina, that resulted in a new route on Patagonia’s Fitz Roy, the naming of Chouinard’s company, Patagonia, and the birth of the adventure lifestyle.

The Barry Corbet Film Festivel is a unique mountain gathering that honors Jackson Hole mountaineering legend Barry Corbet’s athletic and artistic spirit with a series of films that evoke the joys of deep snow, wild water and steep stone. Each night of the festival featured more than two hours of films by the best adventure filmmakers in the world.

The BCFF was formally opened on Thursday, January 19, by Jackson Mayor, Mark Barron, who earlier in the week had declared the day Barry Corbet Day in the town of Jackson.

All proceeds from the event were donated to the Central Asia Institute (www.ikat.org) in support of their Education Disaster Fund (EDF) for ‘on the ground’ relief efforts following Pakistan’s catastrophic earthquake.

Doors opened each night at 7 p.m. for pre-film cocktails. Films began at 8. Afterhours parties on Friday and Saturday nights at Vertical were included with tickets.

Barry Corbet was a Jackson Hole legend who made the first ski descent of Buck Mountain and named the infamous ski run Corbet’s Couloir at the Jackson Hole Mountain Resort. A former Snow King ski instructor, Exum Mountain Guide, and founder of the Jackson Hole Mountain Guides, he was also an American climbing legend who helped put the first American team on Everest. “An athlete beyond compare,” as one of his fellow guides called him, Corbet combined the pursuits of exploration and exhilaration in an exemplary fashion.

In 1968 while making a ski film, Corbet was gravely injured in a helicopter crash.

After the accident, which left him partially paralyzed, he made several films about living with disabilities, wrote a book, Options: Spinal Cord Injury and the Future (now in its tenth printing) and founded New Mobility, the leading magazine for the disabled. As one of his colleagues from that magazine said, “Because of his spinal cord injury, Barry kind of had two lives. And he lived more fully in both of them than most of us do in one.”

The Second Annual Barry Corbet Film Festival was supported by Patagonia, Exum Mountain Guides, Jackson Hole Mountain Resort and a number of Valley businesses and inviduals. It was powered by Base Camp Communications.

About Alpinist Magazine:
Hailed by Italian climbing legend Reinhold Messner as “The best climbing magazine in the world today,” Alpinist Magazine is an archival-quality, quarterly publication dedicated to world alpinism and adventure climbing. The pages of Alpinist capture the art of ascent in its most powerful manifestations, presenting an articulation of climbing and its lifestyle that matches the intensity of the pursuit itself. Alpinist has been awarded two Maggie Awards, for Best Quarterly/Consumer Division and Best Overall Design, and was featured in a seven-page article in Outside Magazine (“The Purists”) in March 2005. The magazine’s editorial and publishing offices are based in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, and online at www.alpinist.com