Now in its 15th year, the European Outdoor Film tour UK visited Glasgow yesterday and is in Edinburgh tonight before heading back down to England. The line up of films includes the usual mix of extreme adventure, bonkers thrills and spills and general outdoors madness and action.
I do feel as though the films become more extreme and a lot more bizarre as the years go by but there are usually a few short films in the two our line-up that capture my imagination, take my breath way or make me wonder “what if”.
In this year’s EOFT I most enjoyed:
TAMARA: AT THE PEAK OF EMOTIONS
The film tells of intrepid adventurer Tamara Lunger who has climbed many of the world’s highest peaks without use of oxygen and this time had her sights set on 8,000m K2. A few hundred people have made it to the summit, including around 20 woman, but 80 climbers have lost their lives trying.
Tamara Lunger on K2
In 2014, the 28-year-old made her way to Pakistan with alpinist Klaus Gruber to take on the biggest challenge of her mountaineering career. The up-close-and-very-personal film reveals her deepest fears, passions, lows and highs. It was a captivating and awe-inspiring film. She reached the summit of K2, just in case you are wondering.
1H 46MIN: DANI ARNOLD ON THE MATTERHORN
Dani Arnold on the Matterhorn.
Dani’s fast-paced ascents of so many massive climbs is truly amazing. The film shows how he breaks one speed record after another. In 2011, he also took 20 minutes off Ueli Steck’s best time for the Eiger North Face. The inspiring film about the fairly modest man (modesty is quite rare thing in adventure films) follows his bid to speed climb the Matterhorn. And, he does it in 1:46 (which is quicker than many people take to do a half marathon).
A LINE ACROSS THE SKY: WALKING THE LINE IN PATAGONIA
It’s not often that you see Alex Honnold on a rope but in this film he takes on a huge route, the Fitz Roy Traverse in Patagonia, with fellow climber Tommy Caldwell and a rope is most definitely needed. The pair reveal the highs and lows of traversing this famously challenging route.
I’d seen this film before at the Reel Rock Tour but it’s still an epic. See my review
BURN IT DOWN: FAST DESCENTS IN DOWNHILL PARADISE
I squealed out loud when skateboarder James Kelly came off his board riding a top speed on a winding road in western Sierra Nevada. He seems effortless when he rides these roads at a scarily fast pace of 70km per hour. It must have hurt an awful lot when he came off.
Other films that I also enjoyed in the EOFT included:
- UNBRANDED: ACROSS THE USA ON WILD MUSTANGS
- UNREAL: ESCAPE ON TWO WHEELS, FLEEING REALITY
- ONEKOTAN – THE LOST ISLAND: SKIING THE VOLCANO (Two of the trio that headed off to a remote volcano in the middle of one of the coldest regions in Russia turned up at Glasgow and were interviewed by the extremely enthusiastic EOFT host. This was a nice touch.)
- MASTERS OF SLACK: BOUNCING ON A SLACKLINE
For more details see EOFT films on tour.