Thrills and Spills

FRI, 4/1

In this season of puckless hockey and spotty snow, the good hosers to our north are helping fill the void with the Radical Reels Film Tour, a spinoff of the Banff Mountain Film Festival that is dedicated specifically to adrenaline-sports cinema.

Five years ago, the decades-old BMFF found itself overwhelmed by hard-core submissions from skiers, snowboarders, climbers, kayakers, BASE jumpers, mountain bikers, and Warren Miller addicts in general. So the fest changed its format from merely incorporating heart-pounding films into the grist of its tamer mountain cinema to setting aside a special screening for those dynamic movies and the thrill junkies who love them. Thus was Radical Reels born.

The new festival complements Banff Mountain's world tour, circumnavigating the globe and filling action-crazed urbanites with snow envy. It descends upon Golden tonight at 7 p.m., beckoned by REI and the Colorado Mountain Club, which will host the fest at its headquarters in the grand American Mountaineering Center, 710 Tenth Street.

"The extreme parts of the Banff Mountain Film Festival, packaged together, make for a really fun evening of heart-stopping thrills, so for those who've had their fill of films documenting the environmental impact of the trans-Canada pipeline or the mating habits of ice crystals, it's time to strap on the helmet and tighten the theater gaiters," says the CMC's Julie Beckwith.

Don't miss tonight's showing; it's the tour's only Front Range stop. Tickets are $10 and available at any Denver or Boulder REI location; proceeds benefit the Colorado Mountain Club. For more information, visit www.banffcentre.ca/mountainculture/ or call the CMC at 303-279-3080. -- Ben Hiller

Let's Go Halvesies
A half-marathon and relay splits the burden.
SUN, 4/3

Some people might characterize the organizers of the 3rd Annual Platte River Trail Half Marathon and Buckhorn Exchange Relay as "sadistic." That's because at the end of the 13.1-mile race -- which starts today at 9 a.m. at the Littleton Center, 2244 West Berry Avenue in Littleton -- participants will be rewarded with bratwurst, pot roast, beans, chips, rolls, potato salad and various drinks. I know that the first thing I always feel like doing after a long run is sucking back a sauerkraut-covered brat. Shoot, while we're at it, make my drink "cookie dough."

Fortunately, the event is a half-marathon anda relay, which means that those of us without superhuman stomachs can run the race as a three- person effort, with two five-mile legs and one 3.1-mile stretch. That's really only mildly sadistic. So put your poorest-shape team member on the shortest leg, and get ready to eat. Online registration for the event ends April 1; the cost is $35 for a solo effort, $55 for a team. Race-day registration (add $10 to each fee) begins at 7:30 a.m. For more information, visit www.platteriverhalf.com. -- Adam Cayton-Holland