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Oakley demos, skimo, saunas and puck drops: Tricia’s Weekend Picks 1/27/23

Test drive some of the latest in goggle technology, test your skiils going uphill and revive youself in a sauna and cold plunge experience

Oakley Community Days

Oakley will be bringing goggles and the stoke to Vail Mountain this weekend for Oakley Community Days, an event that features product demos, athlete appearances, live DJs, barbecues, parties, mini golf, X-Games viewing at the booth and more now through Sunday.

Friday through Sunday see what you’ve been missing by trying out the latest Oakley goggles featuring Prizm Lens Technology. These demos will be at both base areas, so look for the Oakley booth near Gondola One (No. 1) in Vail Village and the Eagle Bahn Gondola (No. 19) in Lionshead.

On Saturday, the Oakley Store in Vail Village will have a DJ curating tunes throughout the day. Feel free to stop by to enjoy music and shop. Be on the lookout for Oakley athlete appearances with professional skier, Logan Pehota, professional snowboarder Torstein Hogmo and former NBA player turned-golfer JR Smith throughout the weekend.



Oakley Community Days combines product demos and education with a barbecue, party at Chasing Rabbits and more.
Oakley/Courtesy photo

Oakley will host a barbecue and community event with the Chill Foundation taking place on Saturday. The Chill Foundation is a nonprofit group focused on inspiring young people through board sports by teaching and helping kids and young adults build confidence and learn new skills. 

Oakley will be bringing golf to the mountain with mini golf that will be open to the public. Stop by Lionshead Village to participate. Later on, come see the hottest new nightclub in Vail when Oakley hosts a party at Chasing Rabbits in Solaris in Vail Village on Saturday night. For more information, go to Vail.com and select Signature Events under the Explore the Resort tab

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Friday – Sunday

  • 8 a.m. – 4 p.m.: Community Village at Gondola One
  • 8 a.m. – 4 p.m.: Goggle Demos at Gondola One (No. 1) in Vail Village and Eagle Bahn Gondola (No. 19) in Lionshead
  • 11 a.m. – 3 p.m.: Oakley Store giveaway with purchase and live DJ Saturday at Solaris Plaza

Saturday and Sunday

  • 8 a.m. – 4 p.m.: Winter Mini Golf Challenge @ Lionshead

Saturday

  • 12 p.m. – 3 p.m.: Park Ride Day & Grub (all levels welcome) at Golden Peak Park
  • 8 p.m. – 2 a.m.: Oakley Community Party at Chasing Rabbits in Vail Village

3D Art Installations at The Hythe

Highline Wood Art will be showcased at The Hythe Vail as part of Vail’s 60th Anniversary celebration.
Highline Wood Art/Courtesy photo

If you haven’t been to The Hythe, formerly known as Vail Marriott Mountain Resort, stop by on Friday to view the recent remodel and see some local art on display. The Hythe rotates the artwork of artists from Vail and beyond throughout the season in its lobby and to mark Vail’s 60th anniversary, Highline Wood Art will debut its latest works highlighting Vail’s iconic landscape.

Highline Wood Art is the creation of husband-wife team and Vail Valley locals Neil and Caroline Stewart. Their custom-made and creative designs are very eye-catching and alluring. They work with wood and design, manufacture and install pieces in the home, workspace or in this case, hotels.

On display at The Hythe will be seven beautiful 3D art pieces portraying Vail Mountain’s natural topography, including several of its familiar ski runs. Trail run names like Prima, Pronto, Ramshorn and Whippersnapper take on a life on the wall in wooden, 3D colorful displays with whimsical lines. Photos don’t do it justice, you need to see it in person, especially “Vail Mountain” which takes inspiration from a 3D topographic map of Vail Mountain from the East Vail chutes to Lionshead. There are 64 pieces of walnut veneer that are each over 60 inches tall in this work.

Celebrate Vail’s 60th anniversary and meet this artistic couple and enjoy a little Colorado-crafted whiskey and appetizers available for purchase at 10th Mountain, the resort’s lobby bar in partnership with local distillery 10th Mountain Whiskey & Spirit Company from 5 to 7 p.m. on Friday. For more information on the hotel, go to TheHytheVail.com. To learn more about the artists, visit HighlineWoodArt.com

Sauna Saturdays at Hygge Life

Hygge Life is offering Sauna Saturdays in EagleVail. Heat up in the sauna and then take a cold plunge.
Hygge Life/Courtesy photo

The weekend forecast is calling for chilly temperatures, so why not warm up with the help of a sauna? Sauna Saturdays are a thing at Hygge Life Shop & Café and it is fitting to have such a Scandinavian ritual take place at a shop that has deep roots in Scandinavian traditions. The Danish word, “Hygge,” can be an adjective, verb or noun and the word itself means coziness, comfort and conviviality. Hygge Life’s products showcase Scandinavian housewares and furnishings, so it is fitting that a sauna is now a part of the experience.

Hygge Life kicked off this idea this winter and how you can take part in it is to rent space for you and up to five other people on Saturdays. One-hour sessions can be booked on the website. Heat up and sweat out the stress of the day, week, month, year in the sauna and then, if you dare, take a dip in the cold plunge and hop back in the sauna again, or just step outside into the chilly winter air and cool down that way before repeating the process back in the sauna.

Also part of the package is a drink from the Hygge Life Café, allowing you to “fike,” which is a Swedish custom where you take a break to gather with friends and family to enjoy a coffee, eat cakes and catch up.

The Hygge Life Shop and Café is conveniently located between Vail and Beaver Creek resorts and the Minturn Mile, so elevate your après ski scene by packing your swimsuit and scheduling a time for a sauna on the way home. For pricing and to schedule a time, go to HyggeLife.com.  

Uphill and Skimo Race

The Uphill and Skimo races will begin at 7 a.m. at Arrowhead on Saturday.
Vail Recreation District/Courtesy photo

Get up and at ‘em on Saturday morning and take part in the Vail Recreation District’s fourth annual Arrowhead Uphill and Skimo Race on Saturday starting at 7 a.m. The event features an uphill competition where you only are timed during the uphill portion and a skimo competition where you are timed for the uphill and the downhill portion. Skimo is short for ski mountaineering and has risen in popularity and will be an Olympic sport in the 2026 Winter Olympic Games in Milan and Cortina d’Ampezzo, Italy.

You pick your mode of transport, and the Vail Recreation District picks the route.

Race categories:

  • Uphill ski
  • Uphill split board
  • Uphill non-ski/splitboard
  • Skimo (up and down)

Route:

  • Uphill: Cresta and Pow Wow
  • Downhill: Golden Bear

Racers will ascend about 1,700 vertical feet in just under 2 miles from the base of Arrowhead to the top of the Arrow Bahn Express (No. 17). It’s no walk in the park, but if you feel up to the challenge, go for it. It’s great exercise and it is a beautiful time of day to be out on the mountain when the sun is coming up.

Since no uphill travel is allowed during operating hours at Vail or Beaver Creek, this race will start early, 7 a.m. to be exact. You can sleep in a little if you register in advance and save some money, too. Register online before 3 p.m. on Friday. Pre-race bib pick-up will be at Alpine Quest Sports in Edwards on Friday from 4 to 6 p.m.

Racers will be rewarded with a post-race breakfast at the base area restaurant, Broken Arrow Café. Awards will be given out to the top finishers and there will also be a raffle. If you miss this event, there will be two more: Meadow Mountain Skimo on Feb. 11 and Vail Mountain Winter Uphill on Feb. 19. For more information, go to vailrec.com.

Vail Yeti Hockey

Vail Yeti Hockey will take on the Breckenridge Vipers on Saturday at Dobson Arena.
Vail Yeti Hockey/Courtesy photo

If you are visiting the area or new to town, did you realize that Vail has a hockey team? Vail Yeti Hockey is the valley’s senior-A hockey team, featuring players who excelled at the sport in college and on semi-pro teams and are continuing the passion in Vail. These home games at Dobson Arena have proven to be a fun and affordable night of sports entertainment in the Vail Valley.

The Vail Yeti have had many home games already this season, most recently welcoming teams from Michigan and the New York Fire Department the past few weekends. This weekend, the Yeti will be playing a team closer to home, the Breckenridge Vipers. The rivalry is strong between these two teams and they split the weekend with home games in each of the team’s hometowns. On Friday, the team will travel to the Stephen C. West Arena in Breckenridge for a 7:30 p.m. puck drop. The next night, expect the crowd to “fill the barn” as the Dobson Arena is called, for a 7:45 p.m. puck drop.

Tickets for the home games are $10 if you buy online in advance or $15 at the door and the games do sell out, so make plans accordingly. Kids 12 years of age and younger are free. There’s a concessions stand with alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages and snacks and Vail Yeti Hockey merchandise is available for sale as well.

If you miss this game, there are still plenty of home games left:

  • Feb. 10 and 11: St. Louis
  • Feb. 17 and 18: Denver Leafs
  • Mar. 11: New York Fire Department
  • Mar. 17 and 18: Phoenix Desert Dogs
  • Mar. 24: Breckenridge Vipers

For more information, go to VailYetiHockey.com.


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