PRESQUE ISLE – As part of the apres-ski activities for spectators ready to do something a little different this week during the 2006 Biathlon Junior World Championships, local organizers are hosting the Warren Miller Film Festival.

Throughout the week, they’re showcasing four extreme skiing and snowboarding films by Warren Miller, who is well-known for his action sports cinematography.

Organizers will be showing: “Higher Ground” from 2005, “Impact” from 2004, “Journey” from 2003 and “Storm” from 2002. All movies will be screened in Wieden Auditorium at the University of Maine at Presque Isle.

“This goes with creating an awareness of skiing in general,” Tom Stevens, chairman of the cultural and festivals committee, said Monday. “Miller’s films are about extreme skiing, and they get people excited.”

The films chronicle skiers and snowboarders in their search for new and thrilling ways to navigate a ski trail, or carve their own. Stevens said that while the films may not exactly go with the organizing committee’s general theme for events of “healthy lifestyles” – skiers in one movie, for instance, start an avalanche and then ski in front of it – they do broaden people’s horizons and offer a different worldview.

Each movie is shot on location in spots around the world, from Alaska to Switzerland. Stevens said organizers believed the film festival fit in perfectly as a local event to hold during the world championships, because it is part of the culture of skiing and it is another way of “bringing world class events to Aroostook County.”

Organizers said they hope many will turn out for the last four days of film showings.

Officials will screen “Storm” at 7 p.m. Jan. 31 and at 4 p.m. Friday, Feb. 3; “Higher Ground” at 4 p.m. Wednesday, Feb. 1; “Impact” at 7 p.m. Wednesday, Feb. 1; and “Journey” at 7 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 2.

Admission for each film is $5 per person. For information about the film festival, contact Mary Lawrence, UMPI Special Programs, at 768-9502, or visit www.nordicheritagebiathlon.org.