Lake Placid, NY (Wednesday, January 28, 2004) - From ice climbing in France to extreme skiing in the Rockies, from the nomadic lives in Siberia to the climbing adventures of Biscuit the dog, this year’s Banff Mountain Film Festival World Tour captures the spirit of mountain adventure when it returns for its sixth year to Lake Placid, 7 PM on Sunday, February 8, 2004, at the Lake Placid Center for the Arts.

This year’s selection of 2½ hours of magnificent cinematography tells powerful stories that reflect a wide range of mountain experiences and portraits, from mountain sports, to mountain culture and the environment. Janica Kostelic (23 min.) tells the story of an Olympic ski hopeful from Croatia, trained by her father who was left jobless and penniless by the civil war of 1991 in Yugoslavia They would drive to Austria to train and would have to live in their car and train on closed or backcountry slopes. They arrived in Salt Lake City with no expectations of what would happen when they took on the titans of Olympic of Alpine skiing. Exploring the Heights (47 min.) brings moving stories by Dr. Charles Houston, a veteran mountaineer, from early expeditions to the world’s highest mountains. Biscuit (3 min.), profiles a small dog with a big appetite for rock climbing.

These are the best of the films from the three-day annual Banff Mountain Film Festival held each November in Banff, Alberta. This year, the festival received 300 entries for the competition representing 30 countries. The Film Festival is now on world tour to more than 210 cities and towns in North and South America, Africa, Europe, Asia and Australia.

Tickets are available at High Peaks Cyclery, 331 Main Street, Lake Placid, (518) 523-3764, daily 10 am to 6 pm ($14 in advance or $17 at the door, if still available).