Chef Brother Luck, owner and chef of Four by Brother Luck and Lucky Dumpling in Fort Collins, was riding the chairlift at Beaver Creek with his wife last year when another skier struck up a conversation. He was in town for the Beaver Creek Winter Culinary Weekend and said he was excited to meet some of the guest chefs that were part of the event.

“We had masks on, we had helmets on and he's like, ‘I can't wait to speak to Brother Luck,’” the chef recalls. “And yeah, my wife started cracking up. She goes, well, you know, he's sitting right next to me.”

Beaver Creek Winter Culinary Weekend (Jan. 23-26) brings celebrity chefs and local favorites together on the slopes and in the kitchen, providing guests with a chance to meet and rub elbows with their favorite chefs, enjoy incredible meals and maybe even learn something. It’s a fun event for the chefs, too.

“I'm most excited about working with Katsuji (Tanabe),” Chef Luck says. “Obviously we have our Top Chef relationship and we've become really good friends over the years and he's wild. I think cooking with him is fun. He's entertaining and our styles really go well together so that dinner is going to be wild.”

That dinner is a “Culinary Collaboration” at Splendido at the Chateau with Chef Luck, Chef Tanabe and Splendido Executive Chef and Owner Brian Ackerman on Friday, Jan. 24. Featuring some of the Colorado ingredients that Chef Luck likes to showcase in his restaurants, including Colorado lamb from a farmer named Mary (no joke), the dinner at Splendido promises to be an evening that’s as engaging as it is tasty. Tickets are $200 per person and include paired wines from Paul Hobbs.

The weekend is an eagerly anticipated event for foodies and oenophiles alike and many of the seminars and experiences fill up weeks in advance. However, even though the opportunity to snowboard with Chef Josh Niernberg before dining at Zach’s Cabin is already sold out, there are still plenty of opportunities to interact with celeb chefs like Top Chef’s Antonia Lofaso, James Beard semi-finalist Giorgio Rapicavoli and four-time James Beard award-winning TV personality, chef, writer, teacher and social justice advocate Andrew Zimmern.

On Saturday night, the series reaches its zenith with the Synesthesia Culinary Showcase & Concert, which couples the weekend's marquee grand tasting with an intimate performance by St. Paul & the Broken Bones at the Vilar. Tickets are $175 per person and include unlimited grazing at the grand tasting (featuring food by national celebrities like Tyson Cole of Uchi, Lofaso, Rapicavoli and Luck as well as Beaver Creek standouts like Ackerman and Riley Romanin from Hooked, paired with wine and spirits brands including LUX Brands, Pra Winery, Paul Hobbs, Fever Tree, Laws Whiskey House and Diageo). The post-feast concert by the Birmingham, AL-based Southern soul band (known for delivering high-energy performances with an almost fire-and-brimstone flair from its almost-preacher and lead singer Paul Janeway) promises to be the flaming cherry on top of an already decadent sundae of an event.

Check out Beaver Creek's website for a full event schedule.