Silvia Vidal, guest star of the Pyrenees Mountain Film Festival

ByTravesía Pirenaica

The Catalan climber Silvia Vidal will be one of the main protagonists of the Pyrenees Mountain Film Festival next 16th February. The new reference event for mountain, adventure and nature films will feature the only Spanish woman recognised by the Golden Piolets, thanks to the support of the Aragonese Institute for Women. The Manuel Benito Moliner Cultural Centre will host the presentation on Wednesday 16th at 20:00h (free entrance until full capacity). "Magic Synchrony".a lecture/colloquium in which Vidal will discuss and project images of the first ascent to the west face of Cerro Chileno Grande which she herself made solo in 2020. The first edition of the Pyrenees Mountain Film Festival thus completes its programme, a multidisciplinary proposal of cinema on the big screen and first-class conferences, which will also be sponsored by the journalist, mountaineer and writer Sebastián Álvaro.

Sílvia Vidal (Barcelona, 1970) is one of the most internationally recognised Spanish climbers with more than 25 years of experience in expeditions and ascents to the most inaccessible and inhospitable corners of the planet. In 2021 it was distinguished with a 'special mention' at the Piolets d'OrThe most important awards in the world of mountaineering, making her the only Spanish woman to achieve this distinction. With unbreakable physical and mental endurance, Sílva has managed to overcome the world's greatest walls throughout her career in a totally self-sufficient manner: alone, without radio, mobile phone or GPS and without any kind of weather forecast. One of her main characteristics is the use of the artificial climbing technique, that is to say, she places a belay (pitons, crackers, cams, leads, etc.) in a crack or weakness in the wall, hangs from it and then climbs up to place another one to gain height. A laborious, slow, precise and exhausting job. Among his most outstanding achievements are new routes on walls and mountains in Alaska, Canada, Chile, India, Mali, Pakistan and Peru.

"MAGIC SYNCHRONY".

Sílvia will present one of her latest solo exploits in the Aragonese capital: "Magic Synchrony"; a new solo route between February and March 2020, alone on a 1,200 metre high virgin rock face known as Cerro Chileno Grande, in Patagonia.. An experience of a month and a half incommunicado and without any external help (radio, telephone or GPS). This new route involved weeks of expedition carrying 150kg of equipment and food, in an environment of glaciers that culminated in a wall that became her home for 33 days. Sílvia will recount anecdotes and magical moments that give the climb its name; a "confinement" in a 2 x 1.5 metre hammock without knowing that the world was really being confined to its homes due to the Covid-19 pandemic and with which she collided head-on on her return.

The presentation to be held by this benchmark in the world of mountaineering is added to the large number of presentations to be made by the programme of the first edition of the Pirineos Mountain Film Festival. The event kicks off on 16 February at the Teatro Olimpia in the Aragonese capital with the screening of the family film Flying togetherby French director Nicolas Vanier (Belle et Sébastien). On Thursday it will be the turn of The AlpinistRed Bull Media's super documentary tribute to Canadian mountaineer Marc-André Leclerc, a man who achieved the first solo ascent of The Corkscrew on Cerro Torre and the first solo winter ascent of Egger Tower.

This year, the event will be a showcase and in 2023 it will become an international competitive festival for short mountain, adventure and nature films. Its launch will also have an honorary sponsor: Sebastian Alvaro. This journalist, mountaineer and writer, in addition to supporting the initiative, will share his experiences and knowledge on the conference-colloquium Everest 1924, the enigma of Irvine and MalloryIt will take place on Friday 18 at 20:00h in the hall of the Faculty of Human Sciences and Education of Huesca (Calle Valetín Carderera 4), thanks to the collaboration of the University of Zaragoza.

The official selection of 10 films from the United States, France and Spain will be screened on Saturday 19. An amalgam of works that will immerse the spectator in a unique visual experience, with spectacular images on the big screen of disciplines such as skiing, climbing, mountain biking, close-range flying, snowboarding and kayaking. This session can be seen in all the provincial venues: Jaca, Barbastro, Boltaña and Benasque. Tickets for all these screenings are already on sale on the event's website: www.pirineosmff.com.

The Pirineos Mountain Film Festival is organised by the Fundación Festival Internacional de Cine de Huesca with the support of the Diputación Provincial de Huesca, Ayuntamiento de Huesca, Gobierno de Aragón, TuHuesca, Aramón, Fundación Deporte Joven del Consejo Superior de Deportes, Instituto Aragonés de la Mujer and Peña Guara as organiser of the sports activities in Huesca.