TAHOE CITY, Calif. — On Friday, December 5, the Alpenglow Sports 20th annual Winter Speaker Series presented by the North Tahoe Chamber begins with pioneering, big wall climber, Emily Harrington and her presentation of “Yosemite and Beyond”. Attend the event in person at the Palisades Tahoe Olympic Village Event Center, or tune in via the livestream on Alpenglow Sports’ Youtube channel. Either way the show is free and all ages are encouraged to participate. Doors open at 6 p.m. for bar purchases, dinner from MOGROG Rotisserie, and raffle tickets, and the show starts promptly at 7 p.m. The nonprofit beneficiary of the evening is Truckee Dirt Union.

The Alpenglow Sports Winter Speaker Series, presented by the North Tahoe Chamber, is an eagerly anticipated winter tradition for North Tahoe’s adventure community. With over 3,000 attendees annually, as well as a dynamic and global live stream component, the 20-year-old Alpenglow Winter Speaker Series has become one of the premier North American forums for adventure storytelling and community gathering.

To kick off the 20th season, Emily Harrington will return to the Winter Speaker Series stage to present “Yosemite and Beyond”. Through her show she will provide an exclusive, behind the scenes look into the themes highlighted in her newly released, IMAX feature film, *Girl Climber, while also going one step further to ask, or maybe even answer, “what comes next?” Her film chronicles her career-defining journey to become the first female to free climb the Golden Gate route on El Capitan in under 24 hours. But even more, it demonstrates her experience pushing up against the male dominated climbing culture in Yosemite to cement herself as one of the best climbers, period.

As she shared with the team at Alpenglow Sports, “Girl Climber wasn’t the end of my climbing life – only the end of a chapter in my story. From Baffin Island to the Himalaya, I continue my journey of learning how to adventure and find challenges amongst the backdrop of motherhood”.

The 25/26 season continues with rad artist, filmmaker, and skier, Chris Benchetler (1/2/26), skiing icon Mike Hattrup (1/23/26), big mountain skier and paraglider Caite Zeliff (2/13/26) and cornerstone of the series, local mountain guide Dave Nettle (3/6/26).

Each show is dedicated to a different nonprofit that has been selected through a rigorous application process, and to date, the Winter Speaker Series has raised nearly $2,500,000 for local organizations. Giveaway and bar proceeds, in conjunction with anonymous donations by the Donor Party, raise up to $100,000+ per show for a local nonprofit organization. Additionally, for the 25/26 season, the Tahoe Fund has generously committed to match up to $20,000 of all in person funds raised at the events, 100% of which will be distributed to the five nonprofit beneficiaries!

The nonprofit beneficiary of Emily’s show is Truckee Dirt Union, an organization committed to creating a sustainable future for the mountain bike experience through a three-tiered collaborative approach involving: community activation and cultivation, stewardship and education, and access and outreach advocacy.

At the event, there will be many opportunities for attendees to engage with show sponsor The North Face through lively and exclusive activations. Additionally, dinner will be available for purchase from MOGROG Rotisserie, the bar will be stocked with beer from Alibi Ale Works, wine, and non-alcoholic beverages, and there will be TWO epic giveaways, thanks to both the event and Emily’s sponsors.

The in-person raffle will be for all attendees who purchase tickets at the event, while the online giveaway is for all tuning in from afar and anyone who purchases online tickets. The prizes for each are different and you can enter BOTH! All in-person winners and the top three online winners will be drawn right before the show. The remaining four online winners will be drawn and displayed right after the event. All online winners will be contacted via email the Monday following the event.

All event details can be found at Alpenglow Sports’ website.