The Banff Mountain Film Festival arrived in town once again last Friday, and for the sixth straight year wowed a sold-out crowd in the Kennedy auditorium — the most exciting thing to happen in that room since Professor Fahey pulled out his guitar and tie-dyed t-shirt in the middle of class. The Banff Mountain festival is an international film extravaganza hosted each October in Banff, Canada, which is near Calgary. (The skiing/boarding is mad excellent there, I highly suggest you go. Or go in October and check out the festival!). They get over 200 entries from 30 countries, and once all the awards are decided, they take about 30 of their favorites on the road — stopping everywhere from Ithaca to Hong Kong.

The theme: the great outdoors. The films fall under several different categories including mountain culture and outdoor adventure and range from 20-minute exposés on the effects of climate change on artic seabirds to hour-long documentaries featuring the last nomadic peoples of the world. It’s culturally bad-ass, if you will. Twenty-seven films are on tour this year, and 10 of them were shown Friday night in Kennedy, picked out by voters through Cornell Outdoor Education.

As usual, the entire three-hour long show was enthralling, with collective gasping, wincing, cheering, clapping and laughing throughout. In some ways, I think this year was even better than last. A couple of the films shown in 2009 felt forgettable or repetitive. None seemed that way this year. The 10 films this year touched on a variety of subjects — mountain biking, powder skiing, climate change, ice-climbing, an epic bicycle journey, Nordic skiing, kayaking, speed-flying, rock-climbing and off-road unicycling. Yes, you did read that last one correctly.

The powder skiing from Japan was crazy — they were literally sunk to their waists while bombing on skis. The ice-climbing film was ridiculous. The waterfall they were attempting was far from completely frozen. The Nordic skiing had cross-country ski tricks (not kidding), like you’ve never seen them before. I loved them all. But let’s talk about a few of my favorites.

Every year, there is one longer film that generally deals with people and culture — everything from remote villages, to backpacking through Asia. This year it featured the journey of Dominic Gill, called Take A Seat. Gill biked an epic two-year route from the northernmost village in Alaska to the southernmost point of South America, but he didn’t do it all by himself. Gill rode a tandem bike, and picked up random strangers along the way to help him finish his journey. Some, like a Canadian politician, rode 40 minutes, while others, like the Brazilian couple who completed his trip with him, rode for days. The film is both moving and hilarious. It made us laugh, at the same time that it strengthened our belief in the goodness of humanity, as we saw person after person, family after family help out Gill along his way. Hilarity in point: a partner cycling across a dried-out salt-water lake with Gill says, “I imagine this is what it would feel like if you had to walk across a gigantic wedding cake, and you’re tiny.” And humanity in point: an Argentinian sheep-farmer who lived in a house the size of your freshman dorm room put up Gill and his two companions on his floor for the night and fed them… sheep; and lent them blankets made of… sheep. It was truly a touching film.

The speed-flying film, entitled Mont-Blanc Speed Flying, was another of my favorites. A) because this new sport is the coolest f-ing thing I have ever seen, and B) because it was beautifully rendered and directed. Speed-flying is parachuting and skiing together — you fly down giant mountains on skis, with a half-size parachute strapped to your back so that every time you hit a jump you get borne aloft. It has become my goal to try this someday (on a snowboard). The film was shot in one continuous stream, and in absolute quiet, except for the classical piano music playing in the background. It was total, beautiful serenity.

The rock-climbing video this year was very different from years past — it featured the world’s best free solo (without ropes or gear) climber, making the first ascent of 2,000 ft. Half-Dome in Yosemite National Park. I was so absolutely nervous for this kid, who looks like your average awkward nerd on the ground, that I actually had to hide my eyes a few times. It is basically the most impressive feat of athleticism and mental concentration I have ever seen. Find it. Watch it.

I’ve attended the Banff Film Festival showing in Ithaca every year of my Cornell education, and when I realized that I wouldn’t be here to see it next year, I was sooo sad. Lucky for me, they have a showing in Boston (I checked). So, moral of the story, if you even mildly enjoy outdoor activities, you will more than mildly enjoy Banff, so go before your four years here are up. (I move to add this to the list of 161 things to do at Cornell). Or if you’re leaving, find a showing near you because it’s totally, totally worth it.