Chris Davenport.

Two-time World Champion skier Chris Davenport is widely regarded as one of the premier big mountain skiers in the world today. Among his many ski mountaineering achievements, in 2007 Chris became the first person to ski all fifty-four of Colorado’s 14,000-foot peaks in less than one year. He has numerous first descents of peaks around the globe under his belt, and recently guided and skied on Mt. Everest Chris has been featured in more than thirty ski films by Warren Miller and Matchstick Productions.

Dani Reyes Acosta.

Honing her craft in the mountains through split boarding, trad climbing, and peak bagging missions on trips through Andorra, Argentina, Canada, Chile, Mexico, Peru and the USA, Dani constantly taps into the work ethic (and boundless energy) of her parents, first and fifth-generation lovers of the land who instilled in her a deep love of community, sustainability and climate.

Dr Daniel Scott

Daniel’s research interests are in the interface of global change (environmental, demographic, economic) and sustainable tourism. A particular focus has been on two-way interactions of climate change and tourism, understanding the implications of a changing climate and climate sensitive environmental systems for tourism at the tourist, operator, destination and tourism region scales, as well as the contribution the global tourism sector makes to climate change through greenhouse gas emissions and land use change.

End of Life.

The big question for all manufacturers of outdoor gear at the moment is “end of life”. Technology to break down plastics in all forms is fast catching up with the ability to create new forms in the first place.

Companies like Scarpa have been saving their plastic for years in the hope there will be a way of recycling or reusing them in the future, and it seems that time is almost here. How can we reuse waste and fully return gear into a circular economy?

Cloud Catchers.

High in the hills of Morocco, the last glaciers melted 10,000 years ago. People here depend on the melting snow that comes each season to water their apples and walnuts. Unfortunately the snow has been sporadic at best. We head to the highest point in North Africa, Mount Toubkal, to see what this years winter water supply has been like. From here you can see the Sahara desert and the farms of the Imlil valley. We talk to local farmers about their plans for a changing future.

Where the Rubber Meets the Road.

A study found that in the USA alone, 1.8million tons of microplastic is worn off vehicle tyres each year. They are washed into sewers and then into waterways and the ocean. Vehicle tyres and shoes are made from very similar materials. We know our running shoes wear down over time and end up in landfill. But how long so they take to wear down, and where does the material that comes off them end up?This study is to find out how much microplastic is generated by our running shoes and left on the mountains and trails that we run on.

Rifugio.

At the moment, alpine huts have their brown waste choppered out, and their grey waste is pumped back out in to the valley or on to the glacier. We don’t really know what’s in that waste that gets back on to the glacier. In all likelihood there are microfibres from garments and certain oils and fats from soaps.

This film would look at how we can take a team of scientists to measure the output from select mountain huts and write a paper on refuge output in alpine environments.

Three D.

Svinafellsjokull is an outlet of the Vatnajokull, the largest Ice Cap in Europe. Our team hike high up to circumnavigate the glacier to 3D map the glacier itself with drone technology. Making a 3D model of glaciers this size is rarely done because of the sheer size of them. But this data can be used by scientists and students alike to create an actual walk around of the glacier itself. This film mixes technology, science, ice caves and ice caps. All this while camping high on an ice cap in Icelandic winter.

Laurislava.

Madeira is home to the Laurisilva, which is an outstanding relict of a previously widespread laurel forest type. It is the largest surviving area of laurel forest and is believed to be 90% primary forest. It contains a unique suite of plants and animals, including many endemic species. Huw James heads to this tiny island in the Atlantic Ocean to speak to the scientists there and find out how they’ve managed to keep their forests intact since the Jurassic period.