Hello from Banff!

Greetings from chilly Canada! I've been in Banff just over 12 hours and already it's been quite a whirlwind of activity. I got to the hotel last night to find that my welcome pack included an invitation to a reception for the Banff Mountain Photo competition which had started 15 minutes previously but was only ten minutes away. So I scooted round there, and was glad I did, as I met lots of people involved in running the film festival, and also saw some great photos. Then a couple of the festival guys and I shared a taxi up to the Banff Centre to watch some films, which were screening in the Eric Harvie Theatre where "Lines of Flight" screens later today - it's huge! I hope there's a good turn-out so the audience isn't like a few peas rattling round in a tin. The first film was "La vie de Guy Lacelle", about one of the world's leading ice climbers who died in an avalanche in 2009 - a very emotional moment for the producer who introduced the film. Secondly, "Nanga Parbat", a German drama about Gunther and Reinhold Messner's first ascent of the Rupal face of Nanga Parbat, quite gasp-inducing in places.

I'm beginning to wish I'd booked to stay for the whole of next weekend - turns out the film festival events are concentrated on next Saturday and Sunday, and I leave on Saturday afternoon. Am wondering how much it would cost to delay my flight by two days, and how much I dare push my luck at work.

And in other news, the website is a bit more up to date at long last, and don't forget that you can follow @LinesOfFlight on Twitter for festival updates.