I’m new to this. This, being the film world. Two years ago was my first time at MountainFilm in Telluride. I was there as a judge for the Charlie Fowler Award, which meant I got to have seats reserved, intense philosophical and conceptual conversations after every viewing, catch food in-between flicks, and do it all over again the next day. Last weekend was no different, except for the seats. This time, I stood in line. The only film I got into early was my own—Waypoint Namibia, and I sat in the back and watched a festival cut of the film Chris Alstrin shot and we worked on creating exactly one year ago to the date of the viewing at Telluride.

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Happy Memorial Day Weekend! We’re hoping that you get out and play this weekend and appreciate some of your favorite wild places and the wildlife that live there.

We’re spending our Memorial Day weekend in our beautiful backyard — Telluride for Mountainfilm. Currently in its 32nd year, the Mountainfilm Festival is a four-day, six-senses experience of art, adventure, culture and the environment. It attracts filmmakers, photographers, conservationists, mountaineers and explorers from around the world. The theme for this year’s festival is “Extinction.” It’s amazing to get so many people that are so passionate about important causes together in one place and we’re excited to connect with amazing people and organizations like Chris Jordan, Tim DeChristopher, Timmy O’Neill, Sweetgrass Productions and iLCP

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In my mind, it was in the middle of the Miss USA pageant when I first saw the ad.  A cadre of young girls in leotards burst through a door and waved ribbons and moved their arms around with weighted wristbands. It was horrifying, even without the music.

“Get in shape girl, you know the feeling.”

“Get in shape girl, it’s so appealing.”

I was seven. It was right around the age when I cornered Reed in the coatroom and pinched him for saying mankind instead of humankind. I have no idea where this behavior came from. Nor do I understand why it was okay in my mind to watch the Miss Universe pageant and keep my own score (I was convinced the judges had it out for us Midwesterners), but the actions of Hasbro Toy Company were offensive. Fitness in a package? In the same aisle as Barbie? (In the same aisle as the Barbie I wanted?)

Today, over 25 years later, I bought my first set of 2 pound weights. Pink ones. It was all they had. They are all I am allowed to use, for now. Currently, I lie on the floor and wave them around above my head, hips, I make snow angels on every imaginary plane intersecting my body. If I move them for long enough, I am convinced, I will feel something.

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Don’t have plans for Memorial Day Weekend yet? Then you might want to consider putting Mountainfilm on your list. The festival, being held May 28th-31st this year, recently announced some of the selected films that will be screening during the epic four days in Telluride, CO. We’re pretty excited about all of them, but here are a couple of our top picks (complete with trailers!).

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Here at Osprey, we get to take part in a lot of great festivals. Over Memorial Day weekend, right here in our backyard, we get to support all the good things happening at Mountainfilm. An extended weekend of film, art, activism and great people, Mountainfilm is a celebration of culture, sustainability and the environment, all the in the beautiful setting of Telluride, Colorado.

Known for its annual selection of great films, Mountainfilm isn’t just about movies. The festival also features the Moving Mountains Symposium, which each year features a different theme. This year they’re tackling the Extinction Crisis, bringing in speakers like Dave Foreman, Dr. Thomas Lovejoy, Rick Ridgeway, Maya Lin, Greg Carr, Cristina Mittermeier, Joel Sartore and Paul Nicklen.

Why focus on extinction and the loss of biodiversity?

“The statistics are staggering. We’re currently experiencing the worst spate of species die-off since the loss of dinosaurs 65 million years ago. It’s estimated that a species dies off every 20 minutes. Some scientists predict that between 30 and 50 percent of all species will be extinct by mid-century,” says Festival Director David Holbrooke.

That might sound grim, but there’s a lot of positive work currently going on to combat the crisis, and Mountainfilm hopes the symposium will shed some light on many of those projects.

We hope to see you there!

Learn more about Mountainfilm, including information on tickets and lodging by going to the festival’s website.

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You still have a couple more days to win an Osprey Talon 44! All you need to do to win is submit your photo(s) to the Mountainfilm Flickr Pool. Make sure your photo has a title and a description. The photo should represent Mountainfilm’s mission: educating and inspiring audiences about issues that matter, cultures worth exploring, environments worth preserving and conversations worth sustaining.

Every week leading up to the contest, Mountainfilm will feature a photo on their blog, The Conversation. This week, they chose a photo of Beartooth Mountain Highway (above).

From The Conversation:

We chose this photo of the Beartooth Highway because it represents a critical dilemma we face in preserving beautiful landscapes and yet making them accessible to everyone. As the highway provides access to Yellowstone and has been dubbed the most beautiful highway in America, it certainly must suffer from congestion and (relatively) heavy traffic during the high season. However, it is also critical that Americans, and people worldwide, have access to such an important part of our heritage and the ability to appreciate its beauty. Thus, the image pertains to both an issue that matters and an environment worth preserving.

We know you’re no stranger to inspiring and beautiful wild places, so dig through your photos and submit one today. You could win a sweet Osprey pack and because there’s no better way to be inspired by the Mountainfilm mission than actually being there, for the grand prize they’ll be giving away a VIP festival package including lodging!

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Here at Osprey, we’re all about exploring wild places to find new adventures, and protecting those special places so that future generations have the opportunity to do the same. And that’s why we’re proud to sponsor Mountainfilm. Leading up to the the festival in May, Mountainfilm is launching a photo contest to capture what the mission of the event is… Check it out.

From the Mountainfilm blog:

Mountainfilm is dedicated to educating and inspiring audiences about issues that matter, cultures worth exploring, environments worth preserving and conversations worth sustaining. That’s our mission statement and we think it nicely captures what we’re about. We wonder what it may convey to others.

To help us find out, we’re launching a contest leading up to our 2010 festival to find photos that communicate either all or any part of our mission statement. What kind of photos do we expect to find? Anything from inspiring adventure photos to landscape shots of beautiful natural spaces to portraits of people taking action and working for positive change. The contest theme is broad because we want to see all the ways that our mission may speak to you.

As incentive to enter our Mountainfilm Photo Contest, we’re offering a chance for a little fame and fortune. Every week leading up to the contest, we’ll be featuring a photo on our blog, The Conversation. We’ll also be giving away prizes each month of the contest to photographers whose images especially resonate with us.

This month, we’re giving away three Osprey Talon 44 packs! And because there’s no better way to be inspired by the Mountainfilm mission than actually being here, for our grand prize we’ll be giving away a VIP festival package including lodging! Visit the Mountainfilm blog to learn more and check out the other sweet gear up for grabs in the coming months!

Entering is easy! To submit, upload your photo(s) to the Mountainfilm Flickr Pool. Make sure your photo has a title and a description. We look forward to seeing your work and, we hope, seeing you in May!

Conservation, Osprey Culture adventure, Conservation, film, mountainfilm, outdoors