Alpenglow Winter Speaker Series: Hilaree Nelson

The Alpenglow Sports Winter Speaker Series is an eagerly anticipated winter tradition for North Tahoe’s adventure community. With over 4,000 attendees annually, the 16-year-old event has become one of the premier North American forums for adventure storytelling. For the 2021-22 season, each show will be presented in-person AND online in a virtual capacity.
 

As a seasoned adventurer, Hilaree Nelson has more than 40 expeditions to some of the most remote corners of the globe under her belt. Born and raised in the Northwest, she began skiing at age 3 in the Cascade Mountains of Washington State. After several years in the Alps learning as much as she could about mountains, glaciers and steep skiing techniques, she hit the road and moved on to the Himalayas, the Andes, Alaska and more. 

In “Truth or Consequence,” Hilaree will share stories from an expedition to interior Antarctica. In January of 2020 she realized a decades long dream of adventuring into the Ellsworth Mountains, the highest mountains on the Antarctic Continent. With an all-star team of some of the most experienced mountaineers and skiers in the world, they aimed to climb and ski the two highest peaks: Mt. Vinson by a route that had only ever been climbed once in 1998, the Central Ice Stream, and Mt. Tyree a true gem of mountain majesty that has only seen a handful of ascents and had never been skied. What unfolded during their three week expedition humbled each and every one on the team and proved that, no matter how experienced one is the mountains, there is always more to learn. 

Hilaree’s passion and dedication to climbing and skiing won her recognition as a 2018 National Geographic Adventurer of the Year. She is the first woman to climb two 8000 meter peaks, Everest and its neighboring peak Lhotse – in a single 24-hour period. In 2018, she returned to Lhotse to complete the first-ever ski descent of the 4th highest peak in the world with her partner Jim Morrison. As a member of Protect Our Winters Riders’ Alliance, Hilaree shares her stories and life experiences as a voice for advocacy of our wild places. She lives in Telluride, CO – a place where she raises her two boys and is fortunate to call home.

Boys & Girls Club of North Lake Tahoe has been a cornerstone of the North Lake Tahoe community since opening it’s doors in 1998. Serving over 1,800 youth annually, Boys & Girls Club of North Lake Tahoe provides a safe, structured, and positive environment for young people before and after school, during holidays, and summer vacation.

For the 16th annual season, we are excited to welcome the community back to in-person shows at Olympic Village Lodge, but in a limited capacity with Covid-19 safety precautions in place.

The Alpenglow Winter Speaker Series blends two goals: 1) to inspire and motivate mountain athletes to pursue their own outdoor dreams and 2) to educate about, and raise funds for, non-profit organizations making a tangible difference in the North Lake Tahoe and Truckee community. The Winter Speaker Series is the largest free community speaker series in the country that hosts the biggest names in the outdoor industry. Past speakers include Alex Honnold, Lynn Hill, Jeremy Jones, Glen Plake, Emily Harrington, Adrian Ballinger and more.

This five-show series runs from November through February at Olympic Valley Lodge at Palisades Tahoe and is entirely FREE. Each speaker is paired with a local non-profit that has been selected through a rigorous application process.

Covid-19 Safety Protocols

For those who cannot make the shows at Palisades Tahoe, we will continue to present each show in a virtual capacity.

Giveaway and bar proceeds, in conjunction with anonymous donations, raise more than $75,000 per show for local North Lake Tahoe non-profit organizations. At the culmination of the 16th annual Winter Speaker Series, the community will have collectively broken the $1 million raised mark.