Backcountry film festival offers peek at physical fun

The Winter Wildlands Alliance Backcountry Film Festival, a January tradition for some, is moving to a new town and hopefully a larger audience Friday. The event co-sponsored by the Idaho Conservation League and Friends of the Scotchman Peaks Wilderness takes place Friday evening, but this year it will be at the Eagles Club in Coeur d’Alene instead of its traditional location in Sandpoint. “We’ve had great success putting the festival on in Sandpoint and decided this year to show it in Coeur d’Alene instead to reach out to more folks in the Coeur d’Alene area,” said Nancy Dooley, North Idaho Outreach Coordinator for the Idaho Conservation League. The festival has taken place for the last seven years, and was originally created to highlight Winter Wildlands Alliance’s efforts to preserve and conserve winter landscapes for “human-powered recreation” enthusiasts. Sharing hosting duties will be the Friends of the Scotchman Peaks Wilderness, a conservation group which, like the ICL, works to protect quiet recreation areas and wildlife habitat on local public lands. Funds from the Festival will remain in the hosting communities to support the sponsors’ local efforts to raise awareness of winter management issues, avalanche training and winter education programs. Perhaps the fact that the money raised stays 100 percent local is what makes the Festival so intriguing to locals. It not only can be a great night out, with breath-taking cinematography, mingling with your neighbors, and perhaps winning one of many prizes to be given away. The festival is also a great opportunity to become more informed about and contribute to local conservation efforts for very little out-of-pocket expense. Tickets are only $5 a person. “Our ticket price is lower than the average, which is $8 to $12,” said Dooley. “The films are as diverse as the backcountry experience and will put a smile on the face of even the most winter-averse viewer. Whether you like to ski, snowboard, kayak, bike or sip hot cocoa by the fire, there’s something for everyone.” The nine films, each about 10 minutes long, take viewers biking, skiing and rafting the Denali Traverse, barreling down a swift moving, icy river by kayak and skiing the unknown slopes of Morocco, just to name a few of the many great adventures these filmmakers—professional and amateur—were able to capture in full detail. Representatives from ICL and the Scotchman Peaks Wilderness will attend to give overviews of their organization’s current efforts on the many important issues affecting the North Idaho recreation and conservation fans, including protecting the Selkirk Mountains in the Panhandle National Forests, working collaboratively with many regional organizations on the creation of a new public access trail on Lake Pend Oreille, and generally protecting the clean air, water and public lands of the area. Information will also be available on the U.S. Forest Service’s new management draft plan for the Idaho Panhandle National Forests. Attendees will be invited, by the co-sponsors, to provide public comment on the plan, before and after the screenings. The night will also include a full no-host bar, the chance to win a raffle of two ski tickets to Silver Mountain with overnight accommodations, and door prizes which include a Patagonia down jacket, gift certificates to Sierra Trading Post, and miscellaneous winter gear. The Backcountry Film Festival will be showing at the Eagles Club, 209 East Sherman Avenue, in Coeur d’Alene. Doors open at 6 pm and films roll at 7 p.m. Tickets are $5 at the door. For more information go to , or to reserve tickets call 208-265-9565.