Chris Lorenzo’s Legendary Sunrise Set at Vail’s Legendary Back Bowls
Evan Dale | February 8, 2026
It’s cold waking up before the winter dawn in Vail, but it’s welcomed and warranted when there’s a sunrise DJ set on top of the mountain. The forecast is calling for a bluebird day, and even though there have been all too many of those this season, good music, good energy, and good company will make the shine sting a little less once the sun does come up. Gondola One is opening early to shuttle the lucky few hundred folks that secured a wristband to the top of the mountain in order to catch UK producer, Chris Lorenzo spin on stage on a snowcat underneath the Legendary Back Bowls sign. Calling to mind the fabled shows at peaks spanning the European Alps, Vail’s first of its kind event is sure to be a tone setting domino to fall not only for the mountain itself, but for any of their resorts where there’s an appetite to take the Après – or in this case, the Avant-Ski – just a little bit higher.
Up Gondola One, and Up Chair 4, there are already beats pulsating from the peak. And who else than Don Fuego? The DJ duo has made a name for themselves as Kings of the Après, playing sets not only across the Rocky Mountain live music landscape, but heavily in orbit of the ski town scene in particular. As chair after chair pours out skier after snowboarder ready to unclip their gear and carefully step their way down the hill sloping towards Vail’s Back Bowls, Don Fuego are ripping through a house-heavy set, setting the tone, and settling the crowd’s heartbeat into a common rhythm. The sun is directly behind the snowcat-turned stage, bathing the crowd in light, and beckoning everyone to start removing their pre-dawn layers. Soon, it’s bibs, hats, and sunglasses rather than jackets, beanies, and gloves.
Behind the stage to the left from the crowd’s perspective, the fall-off into Northwoods guides skiers and riders into some of the more consistently conditioned terrain on the mountain. Steep but approachable, mostly groomed but still challenging, it remains a bright spot amongst a mountain suffering from an otherwise less than stellar snowpack season. Behind the stage to the right, the mountain disappears into the Back Bowls where – with all accolades to the talented, creative, and persistent mountain operations, ski patrol, and employee teams – an unexpected limited opening that includes terrain all the way into Blue Sky Basin, is stamping an exclamation point on a weekend already charged up by live music.
As the sun becomes a little less direct and the wristbanded crowd is all accounted for beneath the Back Bowls sign, Don Fuego passes the headphones and the boards to the one and only Chris Lorenzo. A cornerstone member of Anti Up Music alongside fellow Brit and enigmatic DJ-producer force, Chris Lake, the 37-year-old beatmaker is no stranger to unique venues. All the same, this one is special.
‘I’ve played some incredible locations in my life, but this is fucking insane,’ he addresses the crowd.
Hit after hit rain down. Metronomic house tunes weave in and out of each other to bridge the gap from Don Fuego’s set to his. Heavier bass and blips of UK garage work unpredictability around every corner. Different samples speak to different pockets of fans all huddled together en masse on the snow and in the sunshine. And then – in the true spirit of Ski-J nostalgia and a beckoning to the peak of Après-Ski culture – a torrent of 80’s pop samples stamp the set in fun-loving bliss.
The crowd fully immerses in the experience. Champagne rains down from all angles as fans pop bottles shaken by the bumpy lift ride to the top of Chair 4. Cold-weather layers pile up across the hillside as the sun, the temps, and the vibes continue to rise. Ecstatic smiles mirror those of the artists themselves on stage. And then, still so early in the morning, the music winds down and the ski day begins before don Fuego and Chris Lorenzo play another set in the Village later that night.
Manifest for more of these shows in the future. And manifest for snow while you’re at it. The music is sure to sound even better with more of it.
Check Out our Fully Gallery of the Event by Clicking the Image Below:
