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Mountain Movie Fest aims to pump up ski season, protect winter

For the second year, the local film festival will be donating a portion of ticket sales to Protect Our Winters Canada
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Caitlin Foisy and Lindsay Earle are excited for the second-annual Mountain Movie Festival in support of Protect Our Winters Canada.

Kickstarted by a pre-winter tradition, Mountain Movie Festival Collingwood is returning to local screens for the second year in a row. 

The festival, started by Collingwood resident Lindsay Earle, aims to preserve the family tradition of watching ski movies before the start of ski season, and also to protect the winters required to make ski season happen. 

Based around three film screenings, the festival aims to get people excited about the upcoming season, and also to support the work of Protect Our Winters Canada. 

The inaugural festival last year raised $2,600 for the charity’s Hot Planet, Cool Athletes program, which brings pro-athletes into schools to talk to students about the importance of climate change, individual actions to reduce carbon footprints, and what everyone can do to protect winters. 

“The money we raise stays in Canada for education initiatives,” said Earle. “They share the message that one person can make a difference on climate change, and what steps we can take so we continue to enjoy the winters we have in our backyard.” 

The idea for the festival is to encourage people to enjoy and protect the natural environment we have in the Collingwood area, where skiing and snowboarding are possible because of the temperature and terrain. 

Supporting Earle’s festival is Caitlin Foisy, the Ontario community marketing manager for Salomon. Her company is hosting the Salomon Quality Ski Time Film Tour screening as part of the festival, which will show clips from various films to encourage people of all ages, abilities, and financial means to try downhill skiing and snowboarding. 

Many of the athletes featured in the Salomon film tour are ambassadors for Protect our Winters, including Cody Townsend, who is on a mission to climb, then ski, the 50 classic ski descents of North America as listed by the book of the same name. 

This year’s Quality Ski Time film will be screened Nov. 16 at the Simcoe Street Theatre at 7 p.m., with limited tickets available for sale. 

The first film of the festival shows tomorrow (Nov. 4) but it’s sold out. Teton Gravity Research’s film Magic Hour will be playing on the screen at Simcoe Street Theatre at 7:30 p.m. 

The final film of the festival will be 73rd Warren Miller Entertainment film, Daymaker. The local screening of the annual ski season traditional film is thanks to Andrea and Kevin Nash, who have been bringing the annual Warren Miller films to Collingwood for 10 years now as a fundraiser for the Collingwood General and Marine Hospital Foundation. The goal is to raise $100,000 over the 10 years for the hospital. 

While the 8 p.m. Nov. 12 gala event is sold out, Daymaker will also play at the Gayety Theatre on Nov. 12 for a matinee at 1 p.m. and tickets are still available. 

In addition to a portion of ticket sales supporting Protect Our Winters Canada, the Collingwood Brewery will also be donating $1 from the purchase of every Downhill Pale Ale sold at the brewery from Nov. 4 to Nov. 12. 

For more about the festival, visit mountainmoviefest.ca

For more about Protect Our Winters Canada, and the Collingwood chapter of the group, click here.


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Erika Engel

About the Author: Erika Engel

Erika regularly covers all things news in Collingwood as a reporter and editor. She has 15 years of experience as a local journalist
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