Beaver Creek's Quiet Early Season Lasts About a Week This Year

Beaver Creek is scheduled to open for the winter on Wednesday, Nov. 25, the day before Thanksgiving. Vail Resorts says the date depends on weather and conditions. Eight days after that, on Thursday, Dec. 3, the first men's downhill of the 2026 Stifel Birds of Prey Audi FIS Ski World Cup starts. The racing doesn't end until Sunday, Dec. 13.

That eleven-day stretch is the main change to Beaver Creek's early winter. Seven World Cup races will run across back-to-back weekends, which the Vail Valley Foundation says is more than at any Birds of Prey since the course joined the World Cup circuit in 1997. The early-December quiet in the village is now shorter, and the busy weeks run longer. Building a December around this calendar starts with knowing which days are taken.

Why There Are Two Weekends Now

The second weekend exists because the women are back. In its Oct. 3 season update, FIS said the 2026/27 calendar is final. It also said Beaver Creek, which was missing from last season's women's schedule, will host two women's downhills and a super-G. Women first raced the Birds of Prey downhill in 2024. The second women's downhill, announced in May, turned a two-race weekend into a three-race one.

Bobby Murphy, Beaver Creek's chief operating officer, put the scale this way in the foundation's announcement: "The addition of a third women's race, combined with four men's races, would make the 2026 event the biggest and most dynamic in our history." Back in May, that "would" was a real condition, because the schedule still needed final FIS Council approval. As of the October FIS update, the condition is met.

Here is the full race schedule as Beaver Creek publishes it:

Women's downhill training is listed for Wednesday, Dec. 9, and Thursday, Dec. 10, and the village has concerts on both evenings. The real gap is Monday and Tuesday, Dec. 7 and 8. Those are the only two days in the festival window with no free village music on the posted calendar.

The Free Music Calendar, Day by Day

The Oct. 6 festival announcement promised free live music in Beaver Creek Village "nearly every day," with "everything from folk and funk bands to Fleetwood Mac and Dolly Parton tributes." The posted calendar fills that in:

• Thu., Dec. 3: The Hip Snacks, 4 p.m.
• Fri., Dec. 4: The Great North Special, 2 p.m.; The Staples, 4 p.m.
• Sat., Dec. 5: Parton Me, 2 p.m.; Future Joy, 4:15 p.m.
• Sun., Dec. 6: The Runaway Grooms, 1:30 p.m.
• Wed., Dec. 9: The Laughing Bones, 5:30 p.m.
• Thu., Dec. 10: Rumours Colorado, 4 p.m.
• Fri., Dec. 11: Big Richard, 2 p.m.; The Sam Grisman Project, 4 p.m.
• Sat., Dec. 12: Rattlesnake Milk, 2 p.m.; MOONLGHT, 4 p.m.
• Sun., Dec. 13: Scott Rednor Band, 12:30 p.m.

Two set times don't match between sources. The events calendar lists Rumours Colorado at 4 p.m. and Scott Rednor Band at 12:30 p.m. The Oct. 6 announcement lists them at 4:30 p.m. and 1:30 p.m., and organizers say times can change. Check the calendar closer to those two dates.

The schedule follows the racing. Weekday shows start in the late afternoon, after the day's race has finished. The two Saturdays have the longest lineups, and both Sundays end with a single early set.

The Ticketed Nights, and Which Are Already Gone

The free concerts are walk-up events. The ticketed events around them are filling fast, and the best-known one is already sold out.

Nathaniel Rateliff plays the Vilar Performing Arts Center at 7 p.m. on Dec. 5 and Dec. 6, during the men's race weekend. Both shows are sold out, according to the festival announcement and Vail Daily. The Vilar has other festival dates with seats still available. Warren Miller's 77th film, Days Off, screens twice on Dec. 4. On Dec. 10, the Bindu Sky Memorial Fund presents Mountains of the Moon with Grateful Dead music performed live.

Beers of Prey returns for its 11th year on Saturday, Dec. 5, from 2 to 5 p.m. in the village. Tickets are $45, and the 2026 brewery list hasn't been announced. It falls on the same afternoon as the men's super-G, Parton Me and Future Joy, and it ends two hours before Rateliff takes the Vilar stage. That makes Dec. 5 the most crowded day of the festival.

Cheers of Prey is new this year. It's a cocktail and mocktail tasting with drinks from local bartenders, set for Dec. 12 at 3 p.m. in the village, on the women's downhill Saturday.

The festival's other headliner is in Vail. ILLENIUM plays Dobson Arena on Dec. 11 with special guests St. Mary and Paws. It will be one of the first shows in the arena since the Town of Vail's $55.4 million renovation. Dave Dressman of the Vail Valley Foundation said in the announcement that the two shows make Birds of Prey "a true valley-wide celebration of our community's ski racing legacy."

Autograph signings, live bib draws and family activities are on the schedule, but times and places haven't been announced yet.

Getting to Red Tail Stadium Without the Guesswork

Grandstand admission at John and Karen Arnold Red Tail Stadium is free and first-come, first-served. The race-day page lays out how to get there:

1. Park in the Elk or Bear lot. These are the recommended spectator lots, and parking is free for vehicles carrying five or more people. The page doesn't give a race-day rate for smaller groups. Beaver Creek's general winter rate for those lots is $13 per vehicle before 1 p.m. and free after that.
2. Take a resort shuttle up. Free shuttles run from base parking to the village, and race shuttles leave the Covered Bridge "often." Organizers suggest allowing one hour to get from the resort base to the stadium.
3. Plan on a short climb. After the shuttle drops you off, it's a five-minute uphill walk on snow to the grandstand. ADA access is available on request at 970.470.2269.
4. Coming from down valley, use Core Transit. The Vail/Beaver Creek Express runs from Vail Transportation Center or Avon Station about every 20 minutes at peak times. Riders from Edwards or Eagle/Gypsum connect through Avon Station.

If you plan to ski over, the same page says ski-in/ski-out access to the venue isn't available. It also mentions access to Red Tail Trail by Centennial Lift No. 6 on race Fridays through Sundays. Confirm with organizers before counting on skiing to the finish area. If you don't want to make the trip uphill, the race-day page lists a screen at the village ice rink as another place to watch. No 2026 road closures or village access changes have been announced so far.

What the Week Before and the Weeks After Hold

The eight days between opening and the first downhill include Thanksgiving weekend. The mountain will also have some changes this season. Vail Resorts says every private lesson at Beaver Creek moves to Epic Ascent this winter, a format with concierge trip planning, lessons for groups of up to six, skip-the-line access and gear delivery. Beaver Creek says it costs nothing extra. The Colorado Tourism Office's winter preview names three new dining and après offerings: the Last Drop Whiskey Tasting, Spruce Saddle Cabin Corner and Boots & Bubbles at Mamie's. It also says the Alpine Table Series is returning. Dates and prices for all four haven't been published.

After the races, the Vilar's season picks up right away. Its first winter lineup has nearly 40 performances running from Dec. 5 to Apr. 9. After the races come Frisson's Christmas by Candlelight on Dec. 20, two performances of A Christmas Carol on Dec. 23, John Oates & The Good Road Band on Dec. 28, and The Temptations on Jan. 2. The Vilar holds 530 seats in an underground theater below the village, so popular shows tend to sell out, as both Rateliff nights already have.

Put together, the dates look like this: opening day Nov. 25, men's racing Dec. 3 to 6, a two-day break on Dec. 7 and 8, women's training Dec. 9 and 10, women's racing Dec. 11 to 13, and the Vilar's holiday shows a week later. From Dec. 3 through Dec. 13, only Dec. 7 and 8 go by without a race, a training run or a free village concert on the posted schedule.

If you own in Beaver Creek and are planning ahead, the race weekends and holiday weeks matter for a lot of things: when to schedule maintenance or contractor visits, when guests and family can come, and when a showing might compete with crowds in the village. Patrick H. Scanlan helps absentee owners and sellers plan around the resort calendar. Schedule a confidential market strategy consultation.