Before Stacy Bare became the executive director of
Friends of Grand Rapids Parks in early 2002, he was a filmmaker, an adventurer, and an advocate for the power of the outdoors to heal.
His work in adventure film has taken him from war zones to remote mountain ranges, where he sought to reshape narratives surrounding veterans, trauma, and community. Now, his past and present are coming together in a powerful way.
On March 20, Wealthy Theatre will host the
Fresh Coast Film Festival, marking its third year in Grand Rapids. The West Michigan event is a spinoff of the original festival, held each year in Marquette.
The event, presented by Friends of Grand Rapids Parks, will feature a screening of the award-winning “
Champions of the Golden Valley,” a 2024 film Bare conceptualized and initially produced. It was directed by Ben 'Sturge' Sturgulewski with the final version being produced by Katie Stjernholm.
The documentary follows some of Afghanistan’s ski community, a group of athletes from rival ethnic groups who come together for a backcountry ski race. The film highlights a compelling story of resilience but also brings Bare’s filmmaking journey into focus.
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Courtesy of Fresh Coast Film FestivalStacy Bare (left) speaks at the Fresh Coast Film Festival. His past as an adventure filmmaker converges with his leadership at Friends of Grand Rapids Parks through the Fresh Coast Film Festival.
Before he came to Grand Rapids, Bare’s life was shaped by two major forces: the military and the outdoors. As an Army veteran who served in Iraq, he experienced firsthand the complexities of war. But it was his post-service experiences that led him to a different kind of mission: using adventure and storytelling to foster healing.
“I’ve worked on a handful of film projects over the years through a little company I started called Adventure Not War,” Bare says. “The idea was, how do I return to all the places I’ve been to war but seek a different narrative? What’s the story of adventure? What’s the story of connecting with people in a way that doesn’t involve holding a rifle or doing land mine clearance?”
His films have taken him to Afghanistan, Kyrgyzstan, Iraq, and Angola, where he has explored how outdoor recreation can transform lives. He has Bosnia, Abkhazia, and even the United States left on his list.
In 2019, he became fascinated with the Afghan ski community, a growing network of athletes reviving a sport that was nearly lost to decades of war. That curiosity led to the making of “
Champions of the Golden Valley,” a documentary that captures the joy and struggles of these skiers.
Film showcase in U.P.
The Fresh Coast Film Festival, held annually in Marquette, showcases adventure films and inspirational stories from the Midwest, focusing on environmental issues, outdoor recreation, and human resilience.
Aaron Peterson co-founded Fresh Coast in 2016 with Bugsy Sailor and Bill Thompson. Peterson was inspired by Mountainfilm, a documentary film festival held every Memorial Day weekend since 1979 that showcases nonfiction stories about environmental, cultural, climbing, and political and social justice issues.
“It was inspiring, and I was surrounded by so much storytelling. But I also wondered, why don’t we have something like this in the Midwest? There must be other people doing this work, and where are they?”
The festival quickly became a marquee event in the Upper Peninsula community, attracting filmmakers and outdoor enthusiasts alike. But its reach was limited to those who could travel to the Upper Peninsula.
Recognizing the potential to expand the festival, Friends of Grand Rapids Parks partnered with Fresh Coast to bring the experience to Grand Rapids.
“We started bringing it down here because not everybody can always make it up to Marquette,” Bare says. “It just seemed like a natural fit since we’re trying to get other people outdoors.”
Story of resilience
While many ski documentaries focus on extreme athletes pushing their limits, “Champions of the Golden Valley” is about resilience, unity, and the struggle to hold onto a disappearing way of life.
Filming began in 2019, but the documentary’s scope expanded as world events unfolded. The COVID-19 pandemic, followed by the fall of Afghanistan, transformed the film’s narrative. As many of the Afghan skiers became refugees, the story shifted to include their efforts to rebuild their lives far from home.
“In 2022, the day I started this job, the film’s director flew to Germany to meet and film one of its main subjects as a refugee,” Bare says. “What we thought would be a five- to seven-minute short turned into a 90-minute feature that premiered at Tribeca.”
Peterson says the film resonates with audiences.
“The film is fantastic,” says Peterson. “The accolades it's gathered on the festival circuit speak for themselves. It did really well at Banff, which is one of the big ones. It was really well received at Fresh Coast Marquette last October. We screened it two or three times during the weekend."
Peterson describes the film as an example of how adventure storytelling can serve a greater purpose.
“Ski films often have a formula, and they can start to feel very similar,” Peterson says. “This one breaks that mold. It’s about so much more than just skiing. But it’s still a ski film, which is interesting because it can reach audiences who wouldn’t normally sit down to watch a documentary about Afghanistan.”
Showing Bare’s background
The Grand Rapids screening of “Champions of the Golden Valley” also gives Bare the chance to showcase the depth of his work and highlight the intersection of outdoor adventure and urban green spaces.
“I don’t think a lot of people in Grand Rapids know my background,” Bare says. “I showed up as ‘the parks guy,’ and that’s what I’ve worked really hard to be. But since we’re already bringing Fresh Coast down, and my film was in it, I thought it would be a good way to share a bit of my background and also highlight how beautiful Afghanistan was and could be again."
His first film, made in 2009, is titled “Stop 18,” about the importance of veterans getting outside to build community. It was a response to the suicide epidemic he saw among veterans, when about 18 veterans a day were committing suicide. That number is now around 22, Bare says.
He made the 2018 film, “
Adventure Not War,” about his experience with other veterans who returned to Iraq a decade after fighting a war, a group of adventurers who wanted to change their perspective and explore the country’s mountains as skiers.
He also did films with a raft company and was a North Face brand ambassador for a while. That film work included “
Return from Desolation” in 2019 and “
Silk Ride in Kyrgyzstan” in 2022.
"My goal was always five to seven minutes, but some films grew. I did a film in Angola with Alex Honnold, the climber, that ended up being 30 minutes. Then I went back to Iraq with a couple of other veterans, and that one was also 30 minutes,” says Bare. "Film is such a powerful medium. It lasts, you can rewind and rewatch, and it lets you see the beauty of a place."
He hopes the film inspires visual storytelling of outdoor adventures in his new community.
“Michigan is such an incredible base camp to the rest of the world,” he says. “My work now is to be here, building up infrastructure and spaces, welcoming in others to have the same sort of life-changing, incredible experiences I’ve had overseas, right here in one of the most beautiful places in America.”
Tickets for the Grand Rapids event are $25 to $35 and can be purchased
here