CANMORE – The rock-climbing history books just got a little bigger and the sport’s newest film tour has the untold stories of broken records and first ascents in store for a Canmore crowd.
On its world premiere, the Mellow Film Tour is making a stop in Canmore at artsPlace on Monday (March 30) featuring the next generation of climbers taking the sport to another level throughout four films.
Hosted by Bow Valley non-profit TABVAR, which raises funds to maintain and develop climbing routes, the tour kicks off with A Not So Mellow Adventure following top climbers Shawn Raboutou and Nathaniel Coleman as they grip ice tools for the first time and learn the ropes of climbing in an alpine environment from experts Jackson Marvell and Matt Cornell in remote corners of Alaska.
“It’s almost like an ice climbing bootcamp,” says Matthew Laird community engagement officer with TABVAR who is organizing the screening, noting the ice climbing film brings some humour to the lineup.
“I think [A Not So Mellow Adventure] kinda hits a little bit closer to home for Canmore and the Bow Valley area, just having such a large amount of ice climbing,” Laird added.
Next up, American sport climber Connor Herson comes onto the scene in Drifter’s Escape, documenting the world’s first proposed 5.15a traditional climb on the Stawamus Chief in Squamish.
Act two follows American and world cup climber Sean Bailey to a limestone crag in Phoenix, Arizona where he trailblazes North America’s first proposed 5.15d rated sport climb, Duality of Man, after four years of attempts.
Capping it off, the tour’s final film Excalibur features climber and Olympic silver medallist Brooke Raboutou in Northern Italy where she sends 5.15c – the first female to do so.
“The hardest female ascent to date was a great film to show the representation of what females are capable of in the sport and how they’re kind of right on par with hard men’s climbing,” said Laird.
With her ascent, Raboutou closed the gender gap even more as one letter grade now separates the hardest female first ascent on a sport climb with the hardest male first ascent at 5.15d.
“I think there’s a little bit for everybody,” Laird says of the films.
Starting as a climbing YouTube channel in 2019, Mellow has always featured some of the toughest climbs in an “MTV music video” style, focusing on raw footage and an artistic flair.
“I would say that there is slightly less of an emphasis on the storytelling element and just more rock climbing…Their YouTube videos are almost a little bit experimental in a way and [the tour] isn’t quite that,” Laird says of Mellow’s “niche” style.
“The cool thing about it, which is also on brand for Mellow, is some of [the climbs] are a year old, so Sean Bailey with the hardest sport climb in North America happened over a year ago … and all the athletes kind of kept very quiet about what they did until this film tour got announced and everything’s being released now.”
Giving back to the Bow Valley
Bringing the history-making climbs to a local level, all ticket proceeds from the screening will go back into TABVAR, Laird says, helping to fund the maintenance and setting of new climbing routes in the Bow Valley.
“Our No. 1 thing is to retrofit any of the existing hardware that is aging and then if we have funds left over, we go to fund new route projects,” he said.
Relying 100 per cent on donations, often from individual climbers, the proceeds help the group purchase hardware and gear for upkeep.
“TABVAR will have a booth set up with some old hardware and equipment and bolts so we can show [people] this is what a good new, modern bolt looks like, and this is what a bad bolt looks like,” Laird said, noting TABVAR hopes to continue educating the climbing community on the importance of replacing old gear.
“I think something like this to keep the awareness of TABVAR in the forefront of people’s minds, it’s just an excellent opportunity,” he added.
Doors open at 6 p.m. on March 30 with the screening starting at 7 p.m. For tickets, visit: artsplacecanmore.com
The Local Journalism Initiative is funded by the Government of Canada. This position covers Îyârhe (Stoney) Nakoda First Nation and Kananaskis Country.
By Leah Pelletier, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter
Original Published on Mar 30, 2026 at 08:17
Recent Comments