In 2023 we had the joy of welcoming Mingma Gyalje 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 Parbat, Gasherbrum I & II, Broad Peak, a solo ascent and new route on Mt. Chobuje. One of his biggest achievements was being one of the team leaders on the first-ever Winter ascent of K2. In conversation with local Bow Valley host Geoff Powter, Mingma G talks about his K2 ascent and cleaning up garbage left on Everest with his three sisters. Since this recording in 2023, Mingma G has become the first Nepali to climb all fourteen 8000’ers without supplemental oxygen.

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 Lynn Hill to the Banff stage in 2016, and we are excited that she will be returning for our 50th anniversary this year. This episode is in conversation with renowned writer and climber Greg Child.

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 trying to deal with addiction.

Content Warning: Cory and Jack talk about the darker side of trauma—some content deals with issues that are related to drugs, mountain trauma, and suicide.

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 reflection as she travels across the borders of the ancient Silk Road on her bike with her pal Mel Yule, pulls you into a world of true adventure! Lands of Lost Borders: Out of Bounds on the Silk Road is available at your local bookstore.

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 Wilkinson, made the first ascent of Saser Kangri—at the time, the peak was the second-highest unclimbed mountain in the world. It was Swenson’s first win at the Piolets. In 2019, Swenson, along with Graham Zimmerman, Mark Richey, and Chris Wright, made the first ascent of Link Sar, which earned them the 2020 Piolet d'Or prize. Check out his book entitled Karakoram: Climbing Through the Kashmir Conflict at your local bookstore.

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 and moving stories. We’ll go back in time and hear stories from some of the world’s top mountain athletes, adventurers and storytellers such as Lynn Hill, Jimmy Chin, Cory Richards and many more.