Ice skating shows, holiday shopping, cookie decorating and more: Tricia’s Weekend Picks 12/18/20
Here’s a look at a few events and activities happening this weekend
Vail Holidays
Vail Holidays continues this weekend with free ice skating shows and Astronomy Night on Saturday.
The 2020 Vail Skating Festival’s Exhibition of Elite Skating presented by the Steadman Clinic and Steadman Philippon Research Institute. These 15-minute show
Are held outdoors at the Solaris Ice Rink at 5 and 6:00 p.m.
You won’t want to miss these performances on Saturday because it will be the last week that 2018 Olympian and US National Champion Karen Chen will be skating in the festival. IN addition to Chen, International and U.S. National medalists, Camden Pulkinen and Team USA Pair Skaters Winter Deardorff and Mikhail Johnson will skate. The kids will love Alexe Gilles, star of Disney’s World on Ice. She portrays Elsa in the Frozen show and Alexe will perform her Elsa solo from the Disney show.
It’s a high-energy show with fun music, so stop by the Solaris Ice Rink for a bit before heading to dinner in Vail. For more information go to vailskatefest.com.
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Astronomy Nights returns and gives families a glimpse into the night sky with telescopes and information about the stars and planets in view right now. Stop by the International Bridge in Vail Village between 6 and 8 p.m. and take a look through telescopes (which will be cleaned in between each used to comply with COVID-19 safety protocols) and learn about the wonder above us.
This event is weather dependent. If it is too cloudy, the event will be postponed. For the most up to date info, go to Discover Vail’s Facebook page: facebook.com/DiscoverVailCO.
The Slope Room
There’s a brand new restaurant in town. The Slope Room at Gravity Haus Vail is housed in a familiar place, but the cuisine concepts are new. Gravity Haus took over the Vail Mountain Lodge and Spa about a year ago and just opened this winter. The Slope Room replaces the Terra Bistro restaurant, but you’ll still see some familiar faces.
“For the team at Gravity Haus and Slope Room it has been incredibly important for us to carry on the decades-long legacy of Terra Bistro,” said Matt Windt, executive vice president of marketing and communications for Gravity Haus. “Many of the Slope Room staff and servers had worked at Terra Bistro, and their excitement for Slope Room is palpable,” Windt said.
Expect a ‘pasture-to-table’ concept at the new Slope Room. On the menu you’ll find vegan and vegetarian items as well as classic like wings, burgers, salads and steaks. Try the Colorado Wagyu Hot Stone served with shiso chimichurri, shishitos, aji amarillo and pickled red onions.
Start your day with breakfast at Unravel Coffee served from 7 to 11 a.m. Then, Unravel Coffee turns into The Slope Room for lunch from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m., which rolls right into après ski from 3 to 6 p.m. and dinner from 5 p.m. until close. For more information go to sloperoom.com.
Last Minute Marketplace
Procrastinators, fear not, the shops at The Village Center in Edwards are coming to the rescue with the Last Minute Marketplace this Saturday to help you shop for everyone on your gift list. 714 Home, Austen and Salt Creek Home are conveniently located between the Gore Range Brewery, Satos and the Edwards Post Office and there’s plenty of parking near the shops.
Stop by 714 Home for great Christmas tree ornaments, lavender products, candles, drink mixes, wine bags, malas, jewelry and 20% off purses, totes and duffels made of hide from Myra Bags.
Austen has a whole rack of fun holiday sweaters in case you are doing an ugly sweater party on Zoom with your relatives. Austen offers plenty of stocking stuffers as well like holiday themed masks, refillable bottles for hand sanitizer, cute holiday socks, knit hats, pajamas and more. You’ll also find a colorful selection of clothing for women of all ages and you have to check out the must-have Italian jogging pants so you can work from home in comfort and style.
Austen will donate $10 to The Community Market food bank for each holiday sweater purchased and $1 will be donated with the purchase of the COVID-19-themed stocking stuffers.
There will also be some pop-up shops at The Village Center, too. Brook Richards will have items from her new business, Antlers and Rosé. Brook will have some awesome winter apparel along with great accessories for 2021. Check out the fedoras and other wide-brimmed hats in amazing colors.
Sip on some hot chocolate and share some holiday cheer while supporting local shops. Gift wrapping will be available. The Last Minute Marketplace event goes from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Saturday. Stop by the Gore Ranger Brewery or Sato for lunch or a bite during or after shopping.
Virtual cookie decorating class
Are your teenagers bored? Mountain Youth has a great activity to spur some creativity while your teen learns a new skill. Tune in to the virtual cookie decorating class offered on Saturday from 4:30 to 6:30 p.m. from the comfort of your own kitchen.
The class will be taught by Natalia Gray, a custom artist with Gray Atelier. Gray has taught several holiday cookie decorating classes in person over the past few years, but due to COVID-19, classes are being held online. Gray will teach the teens flood, pipe and wet decorating techniques.
Go to mountainyouth.com to register for the virtual class and find out what you’ll need in advance of the class. Gray asks that all participants have their cookies already made and cooled so they are ready to frost by the time class starts at 4:30 p.m. on Saturday. One you sign up, you’ll be sent recipes for the sugar cookies and the special frosting needed to be able to create the designs Gray will teach the class.
Vail Winterfest
The 14th annual Vail Winterfest kicks off Sunday with the reveal of ice sculptures along Gore Creek. This year’s theme is lanterns to coincide with the lantern installation that will be displayed in the International Bridge.
“Despite the separation we have all experienced over the past year, our connection internationally will be shared with our guests this winter,” said Molly Eppard, Art in Public Places coordinator for the town of Vail.
“The ice lanterns will showcase influences from Vail’s friendship cities including Yamanouchi, Japan; San Miguel de Allende, Mexico; and St. Moritz, Switzerland, along with a variety of other designs creating a positive beacon of light,” Eppard said.
In addition to the internationally-themed lanterns, there will be lanterns that represent the local community. Vail Mountain School students in the first through fourth grades have been working on their lanterns since October. Look for 112 lanterns strung across the International Bridge.
You can also create your own lantern. Free lantern kits can be reserved through Art in Public Places. Lantern kits and video instruction will be available from the instructors at Alpine Arts Center (alpineartscenter.org). Lanterns are limited, so contact Molly Eppard via email meppard@vailgov.com or call 970-479-2344 to reserve your kit. A limited supply of lantern kits will be available to pick-up at the Vail Village Welcome Center from Dec. 20-23, also. For more information about Winterfest, visit artinvail.com.
