Tahoe City’s Tahoe Art Haus & Cinema screens documentary about British Columbia’s iconic Jumbo Valley, and the fight to save its wild places

Alpenglow Sports has partnered with Patagonia and Sweetgrass Productions to present “Jumbo Wild,” a unique documentary film highlighting the 24-year fight over the future of British Columbia’s iconic Jumbo Valley. The film documents the tension between the protection of wilderness and the backcountry experience and the ever-increasing development interests in wild places, specifically the proposed 1500-acre Jumbo Glacier Resort in British Columbia’s Purcell Mountains. Set against a backdrop of incredible backcountry ski and snowboard footage, Jumbo Wild documents all sides of a divisive issue bringing the passionate local fight to protect the Jumbo Valley to life for the first time.

“The desire to protect wild places is a common thread among mountain athletes living in Lake Tahoe,” according to Brendan Madigan, owner of Alpenglow Sports. “We love the way Patagonia and Sweetgrass Productions are driving activism through film and sincerely felt the Jumbo Wild story needed telling within our community,” added Madigan.

The geography, recreation opportunities and physical nature of the rugged and remote Jumbo Valley lie at the heart of the debate. Located at the headwaters of the Columbia River, Jumbo Creek cascades out of deep snowpack, past crumbling glacial ice, wildflowers and grizzly tracks. The Jumbo Valley has long been revered for its beauty, and to the Ktunaxa Nation, it is known as the home of the grizzly bear spirit.  Part of an important international wildlife corridor, the Jumbo Valley is one of only two areas in North America where grizzly bears can freely roam between Canada and the U.S.

In 1991, Oberto Oberti, an Italian-born Vancouver architect, and Grant Costello, a former Canadian ski coach, had a grand idea: They proposed building a ski resort with 20 chairlifts and a village in the remote, and striking, Jumbo Valley, located five hours west of Calgary.

For decades, First Nations, conservationists, backcountry skiers and snowboarders have fought the proposed large-scale ski resort deep in the Purcell Mountains of British Columbia. After 24 years of opposition, the fight still rages on. Twenty-four years since it’s inception, Jumbo Glacier Resorts has yet to build a single lift tower. However, their dream, despite turning in to one of the most contentious development issues in the mountain world, has not died.

Jumbo Wild is set against a backdrop of incredible backcountry ski and snowboard footage, created by Sweetgrass Productions, producers of the award-winning “Afterglow” and “Valhalla.” The film documents all sides of a divisive issue bringing the passionate local fight to protect the Jumbo Valley to life, in film, for the first time. 

Patagonia ambassador and former U.S. Ski Team member Max Hammer will host the evening. The screening will take place at 7pm Tuesday, October 20th, at Tahoe City’s iconic Tahoe Art Haus & Cinema.

Tickets are $5 and can be purchased at tahoearthauscinema.com. All ages are welcome and encouraged to attend.

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About Alpenglow Sports
Alpenglow Sports is an original California Mountain Shop that has been providing locals and visitors with inspiration, local knowledge and the best equipment to enjoy the great outdoors for over thirty-five years. Based in Tahoe City, Alpenglow Sports takes pride in being community-minded and socially and environmentally responsible to ensure Lake Tahoe stays one of the best places to play, visit, and live in California.

For additional information, please contact Brendan Madigan at Alpenglow Sports 530.583.6917 or brendan@alpenglowsports.com.

About Sweetgrass Productions
Sweetgrass Productions is a collection of filmmakers, adventures, dreamers, and artists. From lonely nights at 20,000 feet to backyard BBQ’s, they seek to capture the indescribable, the surreal, and the moments in between that send the electricity right up the spine and into one’s smiles. They don’t deny the draw of cinematography, the thrill of a challenge, and the beauty of caressing light and shadow into the moving picture. They hope that on the wings of their films, babies are born and dictators are overthrown, laughter is heard, tears shed, and smiles shared in the dusty beds of backroad pickups. That through the strange alchemy of aesthetic, story and stoke, their films inspire people to explore the mystery of their own canvas.

About Patagonia
“Build the best product, cause no unnecessary harm, use business to inspire and implement solutions to the environmental crisis.”

Patagonia grew out of a small company that made tools for climbers. Alpinism remains at the heart of a worldwide business that still makes clothes for climbing – as well as for skiing, snowboarding, surfing, fly fishing, paddling and trail running. These are all silent sports. None require a motor; none deliver the cheers of a crowd. In each sport, reward comes in the form of hard-won grace and moments of connection between us and nature.

Patagonia’s values reflect those of a business started by a band of climbers and surfers, and the minimalist style they promoted. The approach they take towards product design demonstrates a bias for simplicity and utility. 

At Patagonia, a love of wild and beautiful places demands participation in the fight to save them, and to help reverse the steep decline in the overall environmental health of our planet. We donate our time, services and at least 1% of our sales to hundreds of grassroots environmental groups all over the world who work to help reverse the tide. 

The company readily admits that their business activity – from lighting stores to dyeing shirts – creates pollution as a by-product. As such, they work steadily to reduce those harm by using recycled polyester in their clothes and only organic, rather than pesticide-intensive, cotton.

Staying true to core values during thirty-plus years in business has helped Patagonia create a company which they are proud to run and work for. Their focus on making the best products possible has brought tremendous success in the marketplace.