Regular readers of Dan's World — and statistics suggest the number is moving steadily towards double figures — will recall my maiden skirmishes with the art of skiing earlier this year, riding the gauntlet of the French Alps under the guidance of two lunatic South Americans clearly intent on trying to kill me. They didn't manage it (although the four hour trek to Switzerland was a close call), though, and I emerged with a definite taste for life on the slopes, and clear vision of leading Zimbabwe's squad to the 2010 Winter Olympics in Canada, skis in hand.

As adrenaline sport goes, though, skiing's about as extreme as I get; golf in a Humewood gale or hockey for the Mighty Dodos against Scott Edkins and his Café del Mar savages, is probably next on the list. But for a small slice of the planet, hurtling down the piste in Les Gets with a pair of deranged Argentineans would barely raise the pulse; real adrenaline requires endeavour of a fringe suicidal nature even the aforementioned Solsonas would blanche at. And now's the perfect time to get a feel for life on an edge most of steer well clear of, as the Banff Mountain Film Festival has arrived for another year.

Well established as the definitive collection of short, extreme sport films set in and around mountains, this year's death-defying cinema includes just one brief piece on skiing (a double amputee on skis), but does have a number of vivid tributes to people for whom life appears to be an expendable commodity. And no more so than in the festival's longest contribution this year: a documentary about a blonde, blue-eyed Norwegian base jumper, who, in the company of a wild-eyed and slightly obsessive American, spends her life throwing herself off assorted cliffs for a 20-second thrill that the majority of us would happily skip.

What makes this particular piece fascinating is the depth of interview with family and friends who hate Karina's (the Norwegian in question) obsession. It's all to easy to reflect on the thrill, the danger, the living on the edge — as a later piece on deep-water soloing (rock climbing above water with no equipment) does — but this particular film captures the impact on relationships that a love affair with a potentially lethal sport can have.

There's a twist to this particular tale, one I won't spoil, as hopefully a few of you have tickets booked and will be off for some vicarious thrill seeking; amongst your rewards for going will be several suggestions that there really can't be much to do in Canada if extreme unicycling has taken off. It's bizarre, although there's no denying the inherent challenge: hopping and skidding over rocks and streams and down slopes on one wheel is more Jackass than adrenaline sport, although the level of skill required is undeniable.

Equally skilful, and most visually breathtaking, is the mountain biker who erects a trail in a stretch of British Columbian forest slated for clearing, and makes his environmental statement by carrying off a finely choreographed dance through obstacles and hurdles set up amidst the trees. The ability to balance on one wheel, and hop a couple of metres from stump to stump, is dazzling; that he dubbed the film 'Trial and Error' suggests there were multiple bruises in the preparation, and the introduction backs that up.

It's not quite as arresting as last year's festival (and two slightly bizarre animated pieces sit slightly awkwardly in the selection; the first one lost me entirely, and the second seemed to suggest that letting badgers control ballistic missiles isn't a good idea, a conclusion I probably could have reached on my own), but it is a vivid illustration both of extreme sport, and the people for whom it has an appeal they can neither fully explain, nor ever escape. Tumbling over 40-foot waterfalls in plastic canoes, base jumping off a mountain in Mali, hanging off a rock arch by fingertips, with a jellyfish-laden sea below Great to watch, but skiing's as far as I'll, I reckon. Check out the festival if you get a chance; you might just discover your inner base jumper by the time you're through.

  • Contact Dan at dan@metropolis.co.za

    • Win with iafrica.com's Banff Mountain Film Festival competition
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