SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. – Heavenly Mountain Resort is bringing back the Toyota Air and Aprés from February 27 to March 1. It’s a three-day weekend spectacle filled with music from DJs Dombresky and Forester, a Community Rail Jam show featuring adept, professional athletes doing gravity-defying rail tricks, and a mountain scavenger hunt.
Friday, February 27 kicks off first with music from DJ Dombresky. Known for his funky, soul-infused house and electronic pop music, Dombresky is making a stop in Tahoe before continuing his global tour.
His set will be held at the Cal Lodge from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. and is free to the public.
“Whether you skied throughout the day and want to have an Aprés celebration, or maybe you just are interested in coming up and seeing a DJ set, you’re welcome to park at Cal Lodge and walk on up to the base of World Cup to celebrate with everybody,” said Cole Zimmerman, Senior Communications Manager at Heavenly.
On Saturday, February 28, the energy kicks up a notch. Forester, an indie electronic duo will be performing their set at Cal Lodge from 3:30 to 5:30, making it the perfect pre-gamer before their main event of the day – the Community Rail Jam.
Originally, Heavenly’s plans for their annual Big Air show were in motion until Mother Nature intervened.
“We’re used to having a 45-foot jump that we build, and we bring in athletes that come and do really cool stunts and tricks on the jump. We use the jump as a projector for graphics and designs, and it really adds to the energy. However, this year, because of that drought we dealt with from the week after the New Year until this most recent storm, we’re not going to be able to build the jump,” Zimmerman said.
To build the jump, it takes Heavenly roughly one to two months of snowmaking while relying on cold temperatures, and this year’s weather didn’t produce enough of the right elements for construction.
Instead, Heavenly’s terrain park team is building a rail park in its place, ensuring the experience stays entertaining and adrenaline-fueled. “It’s still going to be a really cool viewing spectacle where these professional athletes are doing awesome tricks off the rails,” said Zimmerman.
The Community Rail Jam, also free to the public, will be held at the base of World Cup from 6 p.m. to 7 p.m. with a dazzling fireworks show to cap the night off, followed by an athlete signature afterparty at 8 p.m.
Sunday, March 1 is the Toyota Takeover and Groove Park sessions up on the mountain, offering Epic pass and lift ticket holders a chance to sign up and hang out, slope side, with some of the professional athletes from the night before.
“It’s going to be an open jam at Groove Terrain Park,” said Zimmerman. “Some of the athletes will stick around, and our guests, our skiers and riders are welcome to join in on that, and then we’ll have a mountain scavenger hunt.”
The sessions will run from 12 p.m. to 2 p.m. and the scavenger hunt will be happening all day long while a local DJ pumps out some tunes to keep the energy flowing. For Sunday’s event, an Epic Pass or lift ticket is required.
To learn more about Toyota Air and Apré, visit skiheavenly.com
“This is a three-day long, high energy event,” Zimmerman added. “We like to look at it as a celebration of everything that Heavenly is known for – the views and the vibes.”
