The 5Point Film Festival returns to Winter Park on Saturday, Aug. 2 with an array of eight new adventure short films to inspire viewers pursuits. Films will be shown under the stars at Rendezvous Event Center starting at 6:30 p.m.

The event will be hosted by the Never Summer Senders, Grand County’s non-profit youth rock climbing program. Since 2019, the program has organized the festival in Winter Park. Most of the films run between two and 20 minutes in length.

The films that will be shown all tackle a wide range of topics and films take place across the world. This year’s schedule of films includes “Drop the Mic” directed by Scott Secco. It is a mountain biking film about professional mountain biker Eliot Jackson’s smooth, powerful and improvisatory riding.

Another film, titled “Welcome to the Pit” directed by Seth Gillis, follows Steve Matthews as he builds the first and only rope tow in Yellowknife, the capital city of Canada’s Northwest Territories, in 2011.

“Annika – Where She Lands” is a film directed by Mike Schwartz. It follows Annika Malacinski as she pushes for gender equality as a U.S. Nordic Combined skier. She manages a balancing act of advocating for gender equality in the Olympics and competing as a skier.

“Ask the Girls in Cairo” directed by JP Micallef is a story about young female skateboarders, drifters and motorbike riders rebelling against Egypt’s gender standards. The short film celebrates the unflinching optimism and strength of these young women and how they refuse to bow to the expectations placed on them.

Other short films that will be shown are Kai Lightner’s “Death of Villains,” “Mighty Goes West” by director Thomas Woodson and “Miles Between Us, Miles To Go” by director Jedidiah Jenkins.

Attendees should expect to leave the film showing feeling inspired and ready for an new adventure.

To learn more about each film, visit 5PointFilm.org/films.

Rock climbing with Grand County young people

The Never Summer Senders climbing team is open to all abilities for third-graders at up. Athletes work on building technique, endurance and strength in both indoor and outdoor rock climbing with an emphasis on fun and safety.

During the summer, participants climb mostly outdoors, before heading indoors to prepare for the winter and spring competition season.

“I’ve been climbing for 25 years or so,” says Never Summer Sender president Chris Michalowski. “It’s a really big part of my life. It shaped me a lot. It’s a sport about mentorship. That’s a huge part of it. So being able to provide that experience to younger climbers and get into the culture, hopefully they have it as a lifelong sport as well.”

Michalowski sees the rock climbing as a beneficial physical, mental and emotional activity for young people.

“I think psychical benefits are great,” he said. “The kids at that age are developing motor skills, so it helps them with strength and balance. Being able to accept failure is a key piece. Most of the time when we’re trying hard things, we’re not able to do them if we reach our limit. We talk about embracing the challenge and getting excited for that.”