Base Village's December Calendar Has Two Halves. The First Runs on Weeknight Workshops.

Snowmass opens for the 2026/27 season on Thanksgiving Day, November 26. The Collective at 49 Wood Road reopens the next afternoon. The ice rink runs daily from 1 to 9 p.m., and the Game Lounge and Selfie Den run daily from 2 to 8 p.m. After that, the December calendar splits into two clear halves. From December 3 to December 15 it's mostly weeknight evenings for adults, each built around a named presenter or maker. From December 20 to December 24 it switches almost entirely to family holiday events.

The month, laid out

Here are the December 2026 highlights from The Collective's events calendar. The Game of Stones curling dates come from Aspen Snowmass.

The first half runs on named presenters

The month starts on Thursday, December 3. That evening Jill Kosdrosky, founder of Aspen Clean Candle, leads a two-hour candle making workshop. Each guest makes two candles and picks their own scents, and the listing promises "a little something to sip." It is marked as needing a ticket or reservation.

The next Tuesday, December 8, The Collective screens Greg Stump's The Blizzard of Aahhh's. The calendar calls it a 1988 "rockumentary style look at the ski world" and describes it as the film that put extreme skiing on the map. It runs from 6:30 to 8 p.m., early in the season while most people's legs are still finding their ski fitness.

On Thursday, December 10, Sam Collentine, Chief Operating Officer and Colorado Meteorologist at OpenSnow, gives the Open Snow Winter Presentation. He will cover the 2026-2027 winter forecast, how the season is trending so far for Aspen Snowmass, and tips for finding powder days across Colorado. By then the mountain will have been open for two weeks, so the talk can respond to real snowfall rather than preseason guesses.

The free Roaring Fork Drawing Club meets on Tuesday, December 15, from 6 to 8:30 p.m. The calendar calls it a weekly gathering for drawing and socializing that is open to all levels. Bring a sketchbook and your own pens or pencils.

Taken together, these events run on Tuesday and Thursday evenings, mostly after the lifts close and before the late-December rush of visitors, and each one centers on a specific person or maker. Snowmass Tourism's own winter announcement points the same way. It describes The Collective as "a hub for the Snowmass community," and its new series for the season are built around community members presenting.

Wintersköl lands in the middle of it

The busiest stretch of the first half falls between December 10 and 13, the same dates as Wintersköl. This year is the festival's 75th. To mark that, along with Aspen Snowmass's 80th and Colorado's 150th, the program adds a drone show over Aspen Mountain. Snowmass Tourism's announcement also lists a holiday market in Snowmass Village as part of the festival.

Here's how those four days look on the Snowmass side:

1. Thursday, December 10: Sam Collentine's OpenSnow forecast talk at The Collective, 6 to 7:30 p.m.
2. Friday, December 11: Game of Stones curling on the Base Village rink from 2 to 4 p.m. Teams of two compete and register at the rink before it starts. That evening the free Winter Holiday Market opens at the Snowmass Conference & Events Center, 5 to 8 p.m.
3. Saturday, December 12: The market's second day, 1 to 5 p.m., with more than 20 local artists and artisan vendors.
4. Sunday, December 13: The first Toddler Time of the season from 9 a.m. to noon, then Sound Healing with Megan DiSabatino from 5 to 6 p.m. at TAC Fitness, for $15.

The market is where the local focus shows up most clearly. The calendar says its vendors come from the Roaring Fork Valley and describes the goods as handcrafted gifts and one-of-a-kind pieces. If you're shopping for gifts, December 11 and 12 come almost two weeks before Christmas, which still leaves time to ship to family out of state.

The second half is built for families

Starting December 20, the calendar changes completely. Santa is in The Collective Hall from Monday, December 21, through Thursday, December 24, every afternoon from 3 to 5 p.m. Photos are free, and there's holiday music and crafts while you wait. Right before the first session, on December 21 from 2 to 3 p.m., the free Paws & Santa Claus event invites you to bring your dog for a solo portrait or a family photo.

On Tuesday, December 22, from 2 to 3 p.m., Sensory Friendly Santa is free and needs no reservation. The Collective's listing describes the hour this way:

"Enjoy reduced crowds and a calm environment with no loud music or flashing lights."

That same day and the next, December 22 and 23, Santa's reindeer are on the Collective Patio from 4 to 6 p.m. for a free meet-and-greet. On Christmas Eve at noon, more than 40 local skaters from Aspen Skating Club perform a free hour-long Holiday Ice Skating Show on the Base Village rink.

So the holiday events fit into four days, and on December 22 three of them fill the afternoon from 2 to 6 p.m., with Santa and the reindeer overlapping from 4 to 5. Families with young children can plan that one afternoon. Anyone hoping for the adult evenings in the first half should look at the second and third weeks of the month instead.

What runs past the holidays

The family and adult threads don't stop after December. Toddler Time runs every Sunday from December 13 through March 28, 9 a.m. to noon, except Sunday, February 14. It is free for families with children five and under. The calendar describes the Game Lounge during those hours as "a safe, low-stimulation space designed for curious little explorers."

The adult evenings continue too. Tarot & Intentions on New Year's Day, January 1, 2027, runs from 3 to 5 p.m. in Collective Hall, pairing Tarot readings with vision-board crafting for $20. It is marked as needing a ticket. Megan DiSabatino's sound healing comes back on January 10 and February 21, each from 5 to 6 p.m. and $15. Game of Stones returns to the rink on January 21, 2027, from 2 to 4 p.m.

Snowmass Tourism's winter 2026/27 announcement lists the new series that build on December's approach:

• Collective Conversations: community members presenting on topics they care about
• Community Lunch & Learn Workshops: the same idea, over the lunch hour
• Wellness sessions: sound healing, Tarot readings, breathwork and New Moon events
• Sunday Social Club: rotating game nights, craft workshops and more

Returning programs include Karaoke with DJ Tenza, Chess Club, Bingo Nights, ACES Wild Perspectives, Mahjong Nights, On the Rise Open Mics, Two-Step dancing, Teen Nights and Storytime. The Aspen Times also covered the new lineup in its September roundup of what's new in Snowmass Village this winter.

The first two weeks of December give you the clearest view of that approach before the holiday crowds and Santa week take over the plaza.

If your family is splitting time this winter between Snowmass and the beach and wants help planning the season around Base Village, Karina Kwasnicka Marx is happy to share what she knows in English, Spanish or Portuguese. Let's connect: schedule a private consultation.