Adventurous Croydon residents who dream of base jumping from the peak of Everest will find inspiration at the International Banff Mountain Film Festival, writes Greg Wilford.

The festival, which visits Fairfield Halls on March 7, promises to showcase a number of death-defying mountain sports and wondrous sights of the natural world.

The screening will include the acclaimed film Into the Empty Quarter, the chronicle of an expedition through the world’s largest sand desert in the Arabian Peninsula.

The journey was inspired by the British explorer Sir Wilfred Thesiger, who completed the journey, with the help of a camel, in 1959.

Those of us who share an aversion to sandstorms will be happy to watch from a safe distance as British adventurers Alastair Humphreys and Leon McCarron relive his journey. As unwelcoming as the arid plains of Arabia may seem, cinemagoers may also fear a much damper proposition: the Cuillin Ridgeline in the Isle of Skye.

London cyclists may empathise with trials rider Danny MacAskill as he takes on the perilous task of cycling along the dramatic Scottish mountain range in The Ridge.

It’s certainly a more vertiginous route than a commute along Addiscombe Road, although possibly only slightly riskier.

Artist and traveller Jeremy Collins managed to raise more than $70,000 (£45,500) through Kickstarter to fund his entry to the festival.

It follows his story over four years, as he travels to the Venezuelan Amazon, the China-Mongolian border, the northern reaches of Canada, and Yosemite Valley in California.

If these tales of adventure whet your appetite for real life thrills, you may be interested to hear about the Croydon Mountaineering Club.

Founded in 1971, the club holds indoor meetings on the second and fourth Wednesday of every month at the Dog and Bull pub in Surrey Street.

They are interested in a range of mountain sports, from the challenges of rock climbing, to the more sedentary thrills of hill walking.

Because of the distinct lack of imperious peaks local to us, the club has arranged a series of outdoor meetings across the UK.

Ranging from the Brecon Beacons in Swansea, to the Coniston copper mines in the Lake District, the outings look set to be a real treat for any outdoor enthusiasts, and a perfect accompaniment to the Banff Film Festival.