Check out the film I made about Fort William Pro downhill MTB rider Mikayla Parton. Mikayla is receiving the Scottish Youth Award for Excellence in Mountain Culture this year and for good reason. I thought Mikayla has all the ingredients needed to be a successful athlete and was really impressed by her clear vision of where she wants to go and organised approach of how to get there. The comments of both Mikayla and Miles in the film allude to what those ingredients are.

I’ve been making these films for the Fort William Mountain Festival for both adult and youth awards and shooting them has been a fascinating study in the common ingredients that underlie great achievements in life. These obviously take many forms - great literature, art, activism, filmmaking, and sporting success to name some. In most of the recipients, a driven and uncompromising nature seems either immediately apparent or not far below the surface.

Where does this come from? I feel that it can originate from many different sources. Influence from a parent or mentor can be important, or really strong experiences in nature at a young age. I have no doubt that some experience of hardship might be important in a few as well. 

Another important ingredient is agency. The ability to take hurdles by the throat and solve them even if they seem impossibly big or complex at the outset. A question I still have; is this agency a separate ingredient for success that evolves separately from a driven nature, or is it a downstream consequence of it? Or is it a mix of both? Perhaps If I keep making the films one day I might have a more useful insight into this!

In the meantime, enjoy getting to know Mikayla in this film and remember the Fort William Mountain Festival is live online now and you can stream the festival films any time over the next month.