Gorton Center and Lake Forest Open Lands present… Indomitable Spirit Medley!

Social impact and exciting stories that include hiking, climbing, skiing, all in one program! This collection of short films tells stories of those who did not give up, back down, or let their challenges define them. Come enjoy an eclectic film program right here in our John and Nancy Hughes Theater!

Indomitable Spirit Medley films: 

Mink!

Told by her daughter Wendy, Mink! is the story of the remarkable Patsy Takemoto Mink, a Japanese American from Hawaii who became the first woman of color elected to the U.S. Congress, on her harrowing mission to co-author and defend Title IX, the law that transformed athletics for girls and women in America.
USA/ Duration: 20 min
Directed by: Ben Proudfoot

Pass It On: Tami Knight

Pass It On celebrates three locals who spread their love of Squamish climbing into the fabric of the broader community. In this short segment, we get to meet the charming Tami Knight, a route developer of the late ‘70s and ‘80s.
Canada/ Duration: 4 min
Directed by: Jen Randall

Inseparable: Myia  

As one of only 30 fluent Sḵwx̱wú7mesh (Squamish) language speakers left in Sḵwx̱wú7mesh Úxwumixw (Squamish Nation), Myia Antone teaches as a way to preserve her language for generations to come. Seeking to learn more about her culture and language, Antone uses her mountain bike as a needle weaving through her ancestral lands and language. While biking with other Indigenous women, Antone utilizes the Sḵwx̱wú7mesh language to point out geographical features and native plants on rides. Weaving complex conversations through nuanced layers of generational trauma, Inseparable: Myia ultimately paints Indigenous joy and community as vital elements for a path forward.
USA/ Duration: 12 min
Directed by: Andrew Harrison Brown

Beyond the Summit

After becoming the first person to ski the Seven Summits, team athlete Kit DesLauriers found herself searching for purpose beyond herself. Through an epic adventure of athleticism, survival and conservation, she found it. Beyond the Summit explores her two weeks of traversing the Arctic on skis, telling the story of a diminishing snowpack in one of the most pristine wilderness areas in the world: the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.
USA/ Duration: 33 min
Directed by: Natasha Mynhier

Advennture

Although separated by the Atlantic ocean, longtime friends Sämi Ortlieb and Rob Heule find common ground through shared ski experiences from their respective homes in Glarus, Switzerland and Alberta, Canada.
Switzerland, Canada/ Duration: 5 min
Directed by: Sämi Ortlieb

Renaissance