Credit: From the film The Unbearable Lightness of Skiing. Photo by Greg Hill

Greg Hill is used to moving up in the world.

Renowned for his backcountry skiing, one of his biggest achievements was gaining one million feet of vertical in a single season, a feat that included 40,000-feet in a single day, 40 separate peaks, 37 days of 10,000 or more feet, and 145 days in the backcountry. Greg’s accomplishment involved no helicopters or lift lines, only skins on his skis for traction and an immeasurable amount of will power.

An experience with a new medium now has his adventures travelling around the world.

The resident of Revelstoke, B.C.’s first submission to the 2008 Banff Mountain Film Festival was not only chosen as a finalist, but also as an integral part of the World Tour – not bad for a “basement” film producer.

“I climb mountains to be in these amazing places, so I thought I might as well try to communicate it with other people and inspire them to get out there and enjoy,” explains Greg. “I made a couple of YouTube videos before, but this was my first real attempt at a film. There’s still quit a few [film editing] buttons that I’m intimidated by. I don’t know what they do and I don’t ever want to touch them,” he adds jokingly.

For years, Greg has been publishing an internet blog in order to chronicle his escapades. “I started to feel that video had the capability of making people feel like they are right there beside the person. You can hear the wind or how hard they are breathing.”

Greg’s movie, The Unbearable Lightness of Skiing, follows three of his exploits and includes the best footage from the season. “I try to not let it interfere with what we are doing. We don’t set things up. I’m always trying to let things happen as they happen and be quick enough to catch it. If you’ve ever skied or done anything with photographers they are really annoying and you never get anything done,” he says with a laugh. “I’ve got a lot of energy so if I see I can get a good angle by hiking in the distance as my friends go forward, I’ll do that.”

Lots of energy is a modest statement. Greg put in over 100 days in the backcountry this winter. In his most recent adventure, he completed a 30-kilometre, 5-day traverse which boasted some “ups and downs,” including a blown knee at 10 000-feet leading to a heli-evacuation, a wicked descent of Purity Mountain and an avalanche on Pristine Mountain in British Columbia. To have Greg sum it up in one word, “epic.”

This season also included a tour that he had been looking at for 10 years.

“There are a lot of things that I haven’t done that I’m slowly waiting for the perfect day to do, or the day that’s right for me to go and do. Safety is always first. You want to come back and tell your stories,” he says, explaining the journey in detail, including a 150-foot waterfall repel.

An assistant ski guide for the past five seasons, Greg took part in a week-long full ski guide exam at the end of this winter. The eventual goal is to use his local experience in Revelstoke and Rogers Pass and provide people with “great experiences.”

When he’s not guiding, he plans to continue crossing adventures off his list and creating videos to share his journeys. One can only hope he will reappear at the Banff Mountain Film Festival and World Tour to showcase his local adventures on the world stage. “It’s an inspirational night,” Greg says. “People from all over the world are going on these amazing adventures and we get to see them do what they do.”

Patsy Murphy (2nd from right) and Amélie Peck (far right) at the 2008 Banff Mountain Festivals

Despite the musical distractions at the Calgary Folk Festival, Mountain Culture staff member Amélie Peck took note of stations with volunteers sorting recyclables and biodegradable waste to be composted. Fellow staff member Patsy Murphy encountered the same situation at the Canmore Folk Fest. Their keen eyes and interest led to the launch of the Towards Zero Waste program at the 2008 Banff Mountain Festivals, which diverted a total of 622 kilograms from the landfill – 93 per cent of what was collected.

“We let everyone involved know that this is what we want to do. Everybody got on board and really helped out,” says Peck. “The bar has been set for next year.”

The Banff Mountain Festivals is the latest in a series of special events in the Bow Valley that have committed to keeping at least 80 per cent of their waste from going to landfill disposal. To do so, a total of four Resource Recovery Centre stations were set-up around campus. “The idea was that people had to think about what they had to do with their waste. They had an item and they had to figure out which bin to place it in,”adds Peck.

The most recycled item throughout the nine day event was returnable beverage containers, weighing approximately 240 kilograms (almost 40 per cent of what was collected). Organics and compostable items, mixed paper, and cardboard each accounted for 15 to 20 per cent of the materials.

To manage the program, more volunteers than normal were needed to ensure that streams weren’t contaminated, and that bins were emptied and weighed. Along with Festival volunteers, Mountain Culture partnered with Banff Community High School’s Green Team. The Banff Centre custodial and food and beverage staff also played key roles. “It was a huge educational tool for everyone and we had a really good response,” says Murphy.

The program was organized through Peter Duck, regional Towards Zero Waste coordinator with the Bow Valley Waste Management Commission who was on hand to clear up any misconceptions. He said the most commonly misunderstood item was corn-based compostable food ware because it looks like plastic. “When people start talking about waste diversion at a high profile event like the Banff Mountain Festivals it creates a huge profile in the community,” says Duck. “The message gets out that this isn’t garbage anymore, there is a huge amount that you can capture and significant results can be achieved.”