14 Peaks breaks Kendal Mountain Festival ticket record with European Premier

The European premier of 14 Peaks: Nothing is Impossible broke the Kendal Mountain Festival record for the most tickets sold for an event.

The mountain community were welcomed to the hall the watch the first screening in the UK or Europe of the film. Kendal Mountain Festival is the foremost festival for outdoor lovers and adventure fans in the UK, making it the perfect location to launch 14 Peaks in Europe. Now in it’s 41st year, the festival saw a welcome return of more than 20,000 festival goers after last year’s Pandemic hiatus.

The Kendal team said that 2021 marked a more ‘more inclusive tone with a greater range of speakers.’ Before the main event Nimsdai travelled to BBC Salford Quays for appearances on BBC 5 Live and BBC Breakfast where he spoke passionately about the project, as well as the effects of climate change that he had seen during his 9-year climbing career in the big mountains, including glaciers that are now lakes.

Nimsdai and director, Torquil Jones, followed the screening with a Q&A. After the most successful event in the festival’s history, Nimsdai spent four hours talking to fans, signing autographs and copies of his book ‘Beyond Possible.’ He said: “There was a huge line of people and so I made sure I stayed until everyone had a chat or got a photo. People came from so far away to support me, so I wanted to make sure everyone got to say hello.”

The reaction shouldn’t have been a surprise given how well the film was received by a special audience of BAFTA members, family, friends and 14/7 sponsors in London earlier in the week. The screening at SoHo Hotel, was attended by MPs, celebrities and friends including UK special forces, and SAS: Who Dares Wins stars Ant Middleton and Anthony 'STAZ' Stazicker, entrepreneur and Made in Chelsea star Spencer Matthews, and former Olympic, World, European and Commonwealth champion Victoria Pendleton.

The screening was followed by a sold-out cinematic run to the public at Bertha Dockhouse. The film proved such a hit that the run was extended to give as many people as possible the ultimate 14 Peaks cinematic experience.