Are you ready? Come celebrate the summer solstice with Alpenglow Sports at the 2nd annual Summer Mountain Festival. The celebration will take place in North Lake Tahoe from June 21-29, and the fun begins this Saturday on the first official day of summer! The festival offers ten days of guided hikes, trail runs, and lakeshore yoga. Many of the events are free, but space is limited, so register online in advance to assure your space and for the chance to win spectacular giveaways.
An events schedule, a map and additional details can be found online at AlpenglowSports.com.
Let’s take a closer look at what Alpenglow has in store for this years festival.
Robert Kronkhyte
There will be three presentations over the course of the nine day festival. The first presentation is also the kickoff party for this years festivities. Jeff Browning will give a talk on Saturday, June 21st at Alpenglow Sports at 7pm, “Running Strong Past 40: A Balancing Act.” Jeff is a Patagonia ambassador, trail athlete, and winner of the Zion 100-miler. He’ll be speaking about the little things to stay strong and healthy, from nutrition to strength and cross training. He’ll also talk about balancing a full time job, training and family time and how that works with running endurance races.
The second presentation will take place on Wednesday, June 25th at Alpenglow Sports at 7pm. This community event will showcase “Solstice”, a movie about the Western States 100 Endurance Run.
About the movie:
1 Woman. 1 Day. 100 Miles. The idea sounds impossible to most of us, but that’s the challenge Ashley Lindsey faces in “Solstice,” which documents her attempt to finish the Western States 100 Mile Endurance Run in California’s Sierra Nevada mountains. The world’s oldest and most prestigious 100 mile trail race, Western States runners travel from Squaw Valley to Auburn, battling bitter cold, stifling heat, and their own mental and physical limitations along the way. From mountain peaks to river canyons, runners climb over 18,000 vertical feet and descend nearly 23,000 feet on this ultimate challenge for long distance runners. “Solstice” takes us inside Ashley’s experience as a rookie attempting to run 100 miles for the first time. Featuring appearances by Gordy Ainsleigh, Topher Gaylord, Anita Ortiz, and Ken “Cowman” Shirk, this is a story of one woman’s attempt to prove that “impossible” is just a word.
The final presentation, “Running with Tarahumara” will take place Thursday, June 26th at Alpenglow Sports at 7pm. “Running with Tarahumara” is a photographic essay narrated by photographer, Luis Escobar. With this presentation, see recent and rare images of the Tarahumara “Running People” of Northern Mexico’s Copper Canyon. This fast moving 45 minute presentation is open to the public. Topics include, Tarahumara, how and why they run, Tarahumara running style, it’s impact on modern American running and traditional Tarahumara Rarajipari bolla racing.
About Luis Escobar: Luis Escobar is a native of the California Central Coast. He has owned and operated Reflections Photography Studio in Santa Maria since 1984. Luis is a avid distance runner, high school cross country coach and event coordinator. His personal running resume is extensive including more than thirty 100 mile finishes – including the Western States 100 Mile Endurance Run (seven time finisher), HURT 100 (eleven time finisher) and Badwater 135 Mile Ultra Marathon Death Valley to Mt. Whitney (three time finisher). Luis has served a head cross country coach for the past eleven seasons. He is currently in his third season at St. Joseph High School CIF-SS Division V. Luis is the owner and director of the Santa Barbara Red Rock 50 Mile Trail Run and the Born To Run Ultra Marathons. These events are the oldest and largest organized trail events in Santa Barbara County. Luis Escobar’s running photography continues to be featured world wide including the cover of books and various running publications such as Runner’s World, Trail Runner, Ultra Running, Marathon and Beyond and Men’s Health.
Beyond these three world class presentations there will be equipment demos from Salomon, Hoka, Altra, Suunto, and Patagonia footwear. If you’re into gear, don’t miss the Salomon Trail Tour that will be on hand all day Friday, June 27th. Salomon will pull up their mobile showroom with over 150 pairs of demo trail runners to check out, hand out goodies, and even lead a few trail runs.
Inspired by asanas? Practice yoga on the lake, 4 mornings worth, sponsored by local yogis Hanni Schiewsow and Jenna Minnes.
Into rocks? Join a community geology hike sponsored by Tahoe Trips and Trails.
Feel like a hike on the famous Tahoe Rim Trail? Join the Tahoe Rim Trail Association at 9am on Thursday, June 26th.
There will also be two natural history excursions. One walk will be geared toward wildflowers, the other for bird watchers, both led by the Tahoe Institute for Natural Science.
If this seems like a lot, we’re just getting started! Take a look at the full events menu here, and don’t forget there’ll be multiple gear giveaways throughout the course of the festival. Follow #MtFest to learn more about the contests and check out the Alpenglow Facebook page for further details.
See you at #MtFest!
Alpenglow Sports is an original California Mountain Shop that has been providing locals and visitors with inspiration, local knowledge and the best equipment to enjoy the great outdoors for over thirty-five years. Based in Tahoe City, Alpenglow Sports takes pride in being community-minded and socially and environmentally responsible to ensure Lake Tahoe stays one of the best places to play, visit, and live in California.