Arc’teryx Films in London
11th December 2025 | James Cove, Arc'teryx Film Festival, IMAX, London.
Last modified on December 15th, 2025
They are an annual fixture for our start to the season if PlanetSKI is in London. Four short films that make us dream of the season to come and pose important questions.
They were shown at the IMAX cinema near Waterloo in South London this week.
Arc’teryx film festival. Image © PlanetSKI
Arc’teryx film festival. Image © PlanetSKI
Refreshment is on hand ahead of the films.
Arc’teryx film festival. Image © PlanetSKI
The screen at the IMAX is the size of two tennis courts and is 26m by 22m.
Huge.
Arc’teryx film festival. Image © PlanetSKI
December 2024 was inspirational:
Here’s what was on offer this year as the film tour takes in nine venues in Europe.
In Europe it visits Berlin, Munich, Milan, Zurich, Manchester, Stockholm, Oslo, London and Paris.
These are this year’s films:
- Fifty-Fifty
- Elsewhere
- Between Days
- Mountains of the Moon
Check out the trailer for Mountains of the Moon:
Fifty-Fifty was doubly appropriate for me.
Firstly, it dealt with continuing to explore and push limits in the mountains as one’s age relentlessly marches on.
The respected alpinists, Ines Papert and Sarah Huenekin, are now 50-years old with their award-winning climbing days behind them.
I am now of pensionable age, and some of their comments in the film resonated with me.
“Age is an attitude, it’s just a number.”
“The concept of time shifts when you get older.”
“The more I get older the more I live in the present.”
“I don’t go to the mountains for success, I go for experience.”
“Aging is a privilege.”
“Physically I am not stronger, but I’m way smarter.”
For me ageing is revealing a few truths.
In the past I knew people that were injured in the mountains, and sadly some lost their lives.
However, the factors that determined the outcome were usually inside the control of those involved.
Today, I know friends whose health is deteriorating naturally with the passing of the years and others who have died from old age or terminal illnesses.
Factors outside their control.
My conclusions as a mountain man who started skiing at eight years old in 1966 and is now nearer to 70 than 60 are simple:
‘Health is precious and mortality is very real.
‘Life is not a dress rehearsal, so do it all while you still can and cherish the moment.’
Being in the mountains allows me to do that.
And the second reason why the film, Fifty-Fifty, was appropriate?
Much of the ice climbing was filmed on location in Canmore in Alberta in Canada.
I write this post one day after the Arc’teryx Winter Tour at 40,000 feet flying over Greenland.
I’m now on an Air Canada flight from Heathrow to Calgary as I head to – yes, you’ve guessed it – to Canmore in Canada.
Leaving on a Jet Plane. Heathrow to Calgary. Arc’teryx film festival. Image © PlanetSKI
I am based in Canmore near Banff for a couple of months until late February.
Skiing the nearby resorts of Lake Louise, Sunshine Village and Mt Norquay.
Plus Castle Mountain and Pass Powderkeg that are on the Indy Pass.
Then there’s the Olympic resort of Nakiska.
While one ‘resort’ in Alberta I want to find out about is Fortress Mountain.
It closed in 2004 and I visited in 2015 to go cat-skiing, while on an Alberta road trip.
I found one of the strangest ski areas I had ever visited.
It remained exactly as it was when it suddenly closed 11 years earlier after an avalanche.
Plus I will no doubt be undertaking a few road trips further afield in Canada to resorts such as Marmot Basin, Kicking Horse and Revelstoke.
Two comments from Ines and Sarah from the Arc-teryx Winter Tour will likely influence this trip:
“I don’t go to the mountains for success, I go for experience.”
“Physically I am not stronger, but I’m way smarter.”
Mountain adventures in Canada await.
I’m also leading PlanetSKI’s annual gear and equipment tests from Canada this winter as we focus on backcountry and cold weather gear.
Last season’s test came from the slopes of Japan:
The PlanetSKI team in Japan. Image © PlanetSKI.
We’re testing jackets, touring gear, heated gloves, trekking poles, belts with avalanche trackers, warm-weather socks, thermals, walkie-talkies, helmets, beanies, skis and much else besides.
And, of course, putting some gear from Arc’teryx through its paces.
It is a Canadian brand after all.
Perhaps I should get my hands on some new arc’teryx gloves:
Arc’teryx at the IMAX. Image © PlanetSKI
In Canada I doubt I’ll be pushing quite the same limits as the athletes in the four films at the Arc’teryx Winter Tour.
I want to continue my mountain visits for many more years to come, and getting older is also about recognising one’s limitations.
PlanetSKI: Number 1 for digital ski news
Your digital platform for ski news, resort information, travel, equipment rental, sport, money saving deals and everything connected with snowsports – web site, social media & more.
