Industry News
Alpenglow Sports is excited to announce the lineup of the 2023/24 Winter Speaker Series, presented by Tahoe Mountain Realty. From November 30, 2023, through March 7, 2024, the Tahoe City retailer and community event provider will welcome five world-famous athletes to Palisades Tahoe’s Olympic Village Events Center for an intimate evening of inspirational tales of mountain adventure. Since 2005, the event has grown into one of the premier North American forums for adventure storytelling, mountain culture, and holistic community fundraising. Each year, the Alpenglow Winter Speaker Series welcomes over 3,000 in-person and 50,000 online attendees. This year, the series will partner with Mammoth Mountain and Mammoth Lakes Recreation to live-stream the November and January shows at The Village Lodge Mammoth, to bring together mountain communities, kick off the winter season, celebrate inspiring athletes, and support important causes.
Past speakers of the Winter Speaker Series include Lynn Hill, Hillaree Nelson, Tommy Caldwell, Emily Harrington, Cody Townsend, Alex Honnold, Adrian Ballinger, and Glen Plake. Every show is free to the public and all ages are encouraged to attend. No registration is required, doors open and 6pm and each show begins shortly after 7:00 p.m.
Attendees can join in person or stream online using Alpenglow’s YouTube channel. Each speaker is paired with a local nonprofit organization and through two separate giveaways (one in person, one online), bar sales, and the anonymous Donor Party, each show is responsible for raising nearly $75,000. To date, the 18-year-old Winter Speaker Series has raised over $1.35 million dollars for local Tahoe area nonprofits organizations. The nonprofit beneficiaries of the 2023-24 season are (in order): the Tahoe Area Mountain Bike Association (TAMBA), The Send It Foundation, The Courage Project, The Scotty Lapp Foundation, and Slow Food Tahoe.
Local freeskiing legend Michelle Parker will kick off the 18th annual Alpenglow Winter Speaker Series on Thursday, November 30th with her show A Change in Perspective. The show, which documents her father’s battle with dementia and Parkinson’s, chronicles Parker’s effort to balance a life of caregiving and professional skiing. Parker, one of the ski industry’s most versatile female skiers, has appeared in over a dozen ski films and in 2013, won Best Female Performance at the Powder Video Awards and at the International Freeski Film Festival for her segment in Matchstick Productions’ Superheroes of Stoke.
This new experience gifted one of the darlings of the ski industry a new perspective on the fragility of life. In her show, Parker will take us on an emotional journey that illustrates how time spent with her father was life’s biggest gift yet, and how this new perspective helped her succeed on a recent big mountain, Alaskan ski expedition from the spring of 2023.
To celebrate the 2023/24 season, MOGROG Rotisserie will be serving free food during the kick-off show with Michelle Parker on November 30, 2023. Attendees are encouraged to arrive early to enjoy Alex Tolger’s delicious culinary perfection. Following Parker, the 2023/24 season is stacked with a lineup of awe-inspiring athletes including: a tandem show from local Tahoe brothers Jim and John Morrison (1/4/24), Elyse Saugstad (1/17/24), Jess Kimura (2/15/24), and Dave Nettle (3/7/24).
On Thursday, January 4, 2024, local brothers, Jim and John Morrisonwill tandem present Skiing the High Sierra and Beyond, a walk & ski through iconic peaks and destinations, including Lake Tahoe, the High Sierra, and other remote mountain regions of the world. From the old growth trees of Rubicon Peak to the steep terrain of Red Slate couloir, from the ruggedness of the Matterhorn to the intensity of the Messner, from sunrises in Emerald Bay to sunsets over Mt. Everest, the Morrison brothers will illustrate how the ski dream is meant to be chased.
On Wednesday, January 17, 2024, another local freeskiing pioneer takes the stage. For freeskier Elyse Saugstad, if there’s a will there’s a way. In her years as an outdoorswoman, Elyse has brushed against death, faced mind-numbing fear, and won the respect of her peers in a male-dominated field. Despite winning the Freeride World Tour in 2008, being named Freeskiing Magazine’s Skier of the Year in 2018, and winning the Powder Video Awards Best Female Performance (twice), Saugstad has found herself on the outside of the ski industry, looking in. While hurdles throughout her ski life have been omnipresent, Saugstad has chiseled out a highly successful career through determination and grit. Join Saugstad for a funny, honest,and down-to-earth presentation about what it means to be a successful woman and mother in the ski industry.
Jess Kimura, one of the most influential snowboarders of the last decade, continues the series on Thursday, February 15, 2024. Known for pushing herself to the limit mentally and physically, Kimura has redefined the perceptions of what women are capable of. She holds more awards and accolades than anyone else in her category, yet her true impact reaches far beyond the sport. An extraordinary dedication to progressing women’s snowboarding led to her commitment to create a better space for those following in her footsteps. Kimura’s latest passion project, The Uninvited Invitational, brought a historical prize purse and international media attention to a deserving group of up-and-coming female snowboarders. Follow her unique journey as she unapologetically shatters stereotypes with her unwavering determination and ‘go-for-broke’ mentality, discovering what it truly means to take others along for the ride.
The series will wrap on March 7, 2024, with renowned local guide, and series co-founder Dave Nettle. Nettle’s Ski Touring the Tyrol: Blending the Magic of Austria and Italy, will document a lively and humorous tour through the Tyrol in images and stories of some of Nettle’s favorite adventures during his 25-year love affair with this magical region famous for climbing, skiing, via ferrata, friendly locals and outstanding food and wine.
The 2023/24 Winter Speaker Series is dedicated to local hero, freeskiing icon and community leader Robb Gaffney, who sadly lost his four-year battle with leukemia in September. Gaffney implores us that “Life’s most important aspect is our connection with each other and with the natural world around us. Only with the openness and the ability to see the value of the experience of the other can we open channels that enable us to feel the warmth of the universe around us.”
If you’re in the Palisades Tahoe area, why not support this fabulous event. Giveaway and bar proceeds in conjunction with anonymous donations, raise more than $75,000 per show for local non-profit organizations. To date, the Winter Speaker Series has raised $1,350,000, making a tangible difference in North Lake Tahoe and beyond.
