December 2–5 
Vail Snow Days

In addition to gear demos and après parties at venues all around the village, live music returns to Ford Park, the epicenter of what’s become one of the largest early-season ski bashes in North America, headlined this year by Nathaniel Rateliff & The Night Sweats and Dierks Bentley at 5 p.m. on Dec 4 & 5. vail.com

December 3–5  Birds of Prey Race Week

The most exciting week of ski racing on American soil/snow (snow gods willing!) begins with four days of training runs down the Beav’s world-famous injected course, followed by a weekend of intense competition—even more so this season given the long game of racers who will put it all on the line: the 2022 Olympic Winter Games in Beijing. vvf.org

December 16
Beaver Creek Thursday Night Lights

There’s something to be said about tradition, and when it comes to Beaver Creek’s Thursday Night Lights, that something is: “Don’t miss it!” Every Thursday evening (through March 24), as day transitions into night, crowds of Level 5+ skiers and riders who register at the children’s ski school gather at the top of Beaver Creek Mountain, crack glow sticks, and then glide downhill, illuminating the entire slope like so many fireflies aflutter. And for the finale: fireworks. beavercreek.com

December 18, 26
Vail Holidays Outdoor Ice Show

This 20-minute free exhibition begins at 5 p.m. and features Team USA skaters (including 2018 Olympian Karen Chen) performing feats of athleticism on the ice in the Solaris rink, choreographed to holiday-themed music. discovervail.com

December 19
Vail WINTERFEST Illuminated ICE Installation Unveiling

At dusk, a crowd of parents and kids will parade with Santa (and his curmudgeonly sidekick, Ralph the World’s Tallest Elf) down Bridge Street to the Gore Creek Promenade, where the Town of Vail’s Art in Public Places program will illuminate its seasonal ice sculpture installation, a collaboration between ice sculptor Paul Wertin (our local subzero Michelangelo) and Denver muralist Olive Moya. Following the unveiling, the installation will light up from dusk nightly until 10 p.m. artinvail.com

December 26–January 2
Beaver Creek Extraordinaire: CHEER 

Beaver Creek Village packs its holiday season with a flurry of free post-ski, family-friendly activities, including roving bands of carolers, staged light shows, open-air movies, fireside storytelling, and snow and ice sculpting. beavercreek.com

December 31
Beaver Creek NYE Celebration

After kid-friendly glow-stick ski-down fireworks, the end-of-year party to end all parties gets cranking at Powder 8, with a DJ, dancing, a balloon drop synced with the ball drop in Times Square (for parents with kids up way past their bedtimes), and a second balloon drop at local midnight, when the white-glove resort welcomes 2022 with a special toast for adults. beavercreek.com

December 31
Vail NYE Torchlight Ski-Down

Join the throngs gathered at the base of Golden Peak just after 6 p.m. on New Year’s Eve to witness the spectacle of ski instructors and Vail locals snaking down the mountain with glow sticks, followed by one of the largest and most ooh-aah-inspiring fireworks displays in the Rockies. vail.com

January 20–23
Beaver Creek Winter Culinary Weekend

Executive chefs from the resort’s finest restaurants host celebrity chefs for a food-centric weekend that includes après parties, food and wine tastings, demos, and the main event, the Grand Tasting. beavercreek.com

January 28–30
Skadi Vail 

Named for the Norse goddess of winter,  this three-day festival (a collaboration between Lionshead’s female-centric ski outfitter Outdoor Diva, Vail Mountain, and Vail Resorts Retail) celebrates the XX chromosome on snow, starting each morning with a session of yoga followed by on-mountain guided tours, testing out picks from the quiver of the latest women-centric gear from the event’s ski and snowboard demo village. vail.com

February 18–21
Beaver Creek Extraordinaire: Spangled 

The second iteration of the Beav’s signature festival weekend fêtes Presidents’ Day with family-friendly activities, including a sparkler parade; concerts honoring classic American rock and roll, blues, and folk music; and a walking monument village of American presidents during après-ski hours. 4–7 p.m. beavercreek.com

February 18–21
Vail Legacy Days 

Vail Mountain throws a party to honor the memory of its veteran founders, starting with a 10th Mountain Division commemorative ski parade down Vail Mountain’s longest run (Riva Ridge) with active duty soldiers dressed in World War II ski trooper garb bearing the colors of their regiments, followed by guided hikes, on-mountain concerts, and other events throughout the weekend. vail.com

February 24–27
Winter Mountain Games 

At press time details were still sketchy, but the event replacing the Burton US Open promised plenty of adrenaline-fueled action to upstage the dearly departed Burton’s main stage (Golden Peak’s halfpipe). Think the GoPro Mountain Games, only on snow and ice. vail.com

February 26–27
Talons Challenge 

Join 1,250 skiers and riders competing to be the first to conquer 26,000 vertical feet of black and double-black terrain on Beaver Creek’s Grouse Mountain, Larkspur Bowl, and Birds of Prey course. Participants who complete all 14 designated runs will have their names added to the Talons Wall of Fame and will earn a commemorative pin, a bottomless cup, and the right to graze and imbibe (and embellish) at the finishers’ feast and après party at the base area’s Talons Restaurant. 8:30 a.m.–4 p.m. beavercreek.com/talons

March 5–26
Beaver Creek Extraordinaire: Bloom 

The third and final iteration of the Beav’s signature festival weekend concludes with a celebration of spring on the mountain, featuring flowers galore along with movie nights, string quartets, circus performers, swing dancing, jazz bands, and a four-leaf clover tribute to Saint Patrick, with enough Guinness to break a world record. 4–7 p.m. beavercreek.com

April 6–9
Taste of Vail 

What’s cooking for this annual springtime food fest/feast? Vail’s finest cuisine, just-released rosés, craft cocktails, wine dinners, a celebrity chef cook-off, seminars, auctions, a Colorado lamb cook-off, a grand tasting and auction, and a can’t-miss picnic lunch atop Vail Mountain. tasteofvail.com

April 8–10
Spring Back to Vail 

Vail celebrates the impending close of another season with a lineup of free concerts at Ford Park and the main event—the World Pond Skiing Championship, where costume-clad skiers and snowboarders take turns racing down Golden Peak and trying to make it over the awaiting pool at the bottom of the run to claim their title as King or Queen of the Mountain. vail.com

May 30
Betty Ford Alpine Gardens Tour 

From Memorial Day through Labor Day, this free, hourlong, docent-led public tour of the world’s highest botanic garden departs at 10:30 a.m. every Monday, Thursday, and Saturday from the Betty Ford Alpine Gardens Education Center. bettyfordalpinegardens.org

June 9–12 
2022 GoPro Mountain Games 

Four days of extreme kayaking, dock dogs, slopestyle biking, bouldering, slack-line competitions, a canine-human mud run, and the Ultimate Mountain Challenge: an insanely extreme run, bike, and kayak odyssey from East Vail to the Covered Bridge. Plus, Saturday night concerts and lots of Lycra-wrapped eye candy. mountaingames.com