Karen Darke in the Himalaya

Karen Darke in the Himalaya

Disabled athlete Karen Darke will be one of the star speakers at this week’s Edinburgh Mountain Film Festival, which features many tales of triumph over adversity.

Ms Darke, who became paralysed from the chest downwards after a climbing accident at the age of 21, is now a successful cyclist in the Paralympian Team.

Also on the bill is American mountaineer and photographer Cory Richards, who was a high-school dropout at 14 but found his path through climbing. He endured horrendously cold weather and survived a major avalanche while making the first winter ascent of 8,035m Gasherbrum II.

Other speakers include top climber Tom Randall, who built a ‘climbing dungeon’ in his basement so that he could train for Century Crack, the world’s toughest off-width crack climb; and Dave Cornthwaite, who found the pain of the daily grind too much to bear so quit his job to embark on adventures as varied as skateboarding across Australia – 3,618 miles in 156 days – and swimming the length of the Missouri River, a total of 1,001 miles in 58 days.

As well as the speakers, films include the epic Valley Uprising, which tells the story of climbing in Yosemite and has won scores of awards at festivals across the world while The Limbless Mountaineer tells the story of Edinburgh mountaineer Jamie Andrew’s dream of climbing the Matterhorn, and the climber will be there to introduce the film.

Stone Free features legendary solo climber Julian Lines climbing and falling in the Highlands. Snowsports fans can enjoy films shot in venues as diverse as Alaska, the New Zealand Alps, Baffin Island and the Cairngorms. A series of mountain-bike films and adventurous journeys in wild places complete the bill.

Festival director Stevie Christie said: “There are many great films to be excited about this year, from five-minute shorts to feature-length epics, and the variety will make for a great event.

“Whether you are a committed outdoor enthusiast or more of an armchair fan, or if you simply enjoy hearing enthralling stories set against incredibly beautiful scenery, there is something for you at the EMFF.

“This is the place to come at the start of the year to marvel at these stories and to get inspired to make this the year for your big adventures too.”

The festival, now in its 12th year, runs from 6-8 February. More details are on the Edinburgh Mountain Film Festival website.