Spearheaded by John Summit’s Experts Only, a Long Weekend in Vail Evolves to Near-Festival Scale

With a Soundscape to Distract from the Low Snowpack

Evan Dale | March 27, 2026

For a long weekend-length event under the Experts Only moniker, the destination’s terrain for once didn’t live up to its title. And yet, everything else about the weekend exceeded expectations. In Vail – where an unseasonably warm and drought-ridden ski season meant that what’s standard to be its snowiest month was instead marked unexpectedly by summertime heat and record-shattering low snowpack – music, dance, and a whole lot of sunshine filled the void. Experts Only, after all, isn’t only about the ski, its name simply happens to frame nicely into the double-black-diamond trope that March in Vail almost always brings to the table. Rather, John Summit’s label and self-titled tour of concerts and weekender events modeled to be nearly all-inclusive, sources its name and logo from the party spirit of ski and après ski culture in all seasons, even the unseasonable ones, and even in places where seasons don’t bother existing at all. Vail may have had Ibiza weather in March this year, but successfully playing their hand at an Ibiza-level bender of live music, events, parties – and still a touch of skiing – kept it a must-visit destination, legendary in new and different ways.

It’s mid-morning Friday, and the lift line at Chair 3 – caught from the top of Gondola One at Mid-Vail – is what would be under normal circumstances suspiciously long. But when it’s a bluebird day – when John Summit and Levity are playing a two-hour on-mountain kick-off pop-up announced the day prior – the rambunctious crowds aren’t only worth it, but welcome. A short cruise down a catwalk to Eagle’s Nest – near the top of Eagle Bahn – the crowd balloons. Those who secured wristbands funnel onto the snow-packed, human-packed plain that slopes backwards from the stage towards the front of the mountain. Those without begin crowding beyond a short fence on both sides of the growing throng. Some populate the patios of Eagle’s Nest’s brutalist architecture; others crowd the ridge beyond the booth as skiers and snowboarders alike ride past. Game Creek Bowl disappears sharply behind the stage and ridge. In its place, Mount of the Holy Cross commands attention, rising more than 14,000 feet high above the horizon and acting as an unparalleled backdrop for the show.

Bass DJ trio, Levity, kick things off, quickly warming the crowd – many of whom are there to see them – with the eclectic beatscape that’s quickly made them a staple of the mainstream electronic community. For nearly an hour, they burn through a tangle of danceable samples and wompy dubs before John Summit joins them on stage. For the next hour and more, the sound waves pulse with a touch less shock and awe factor, and instead more house-infused pop production. The crowd moves in unison, bouncing to the energetic beats.

Blistering sunshine scatters piles of ski gear across the snowpack as the crowd sheds more and more layers. Goggle tans and farmer's tans abound, as do sunburns demarked by ski bib straps and balaclavas. The sun rises, so do the vibes, and eventually everyone skies back down to Vail Village, energized by the unexpected start to a long weekend calendar jam-packed with shows and organized events, both sanctioned and not by the Experts Only agenda.

It’s early on Saturday, and the village is quiet with a few exceptions. The constant drumming of ski boots crossing the Covered Bridge sets the morning metronome. The rush of Gore Creek – its levels higher than normal due to early snowmelt – offers a therapeutic sonic backdrop. And a steady flow of Experts Only superfans make their way to the event’s sponsored yoga session. A little bit of self-care and calm before some well-earned debauchery.

It’s noon at Avanti at the base of Golden Peak when the party gears back up. A small outdoor stage adorned with a branded gondola welcomes fans to the expansive food hall and bar’s slope-facing patio. Under another cloudless sky, halfway between Vail Village and Ford Park – where the weekend’s headlining mainstage shows are set to take place on Saturday and Sunday evening – concertgoers and passersby alike take in hours of music and countless Aperol Spritzes while in the background skiers and riders work their way down Riva. Here, as at Eagle’s Nest, the weekend’s tethers between the music and the mountain – even if a little bare – feel their strongest and reinforce the connection that make ski and après ski the perfect pairing.

Because of the yearslong effort from the town, the mountain, the valley, and various organizations like Vail Valley Foundation to put Vail on the map as more than just an outdoor and luxury destination, but also as a destination for concerts and culture, Experts Only Weekend isn’t only defined by the Experts Only lineup. Instead, as is the case with other weekends revolving around a festival – like Art Basel, where one main event inspires countless other satellite happenings – Vail Village is ringing with DJ sets all weekend long, all over the place.

It’s mid-afternoon on Saturday when things start winding down at Avanti before the Experts Only crew migrates to Ford Park. Elsewhere in the village, though, another outdoor set is just getting started, taking advantage of the sunshine and of the fact that Vail is buzzing with electronic music fans. In the Solaris courtyard, Austrian-born, UK-based house producer, Salute is adding his own auditory aesthetic to Vail’s weekend-long soundtrack. With a stage dead-center of the lawn, fans quickly envelop the boards, and turn the free show into an immersive and communal 360-degree experience. Hand-in-hand with Raw Cuts TV and Chasing Rabbits, everyone’s phone cameras are blacked out, and the focus turns only towards the music and the experience at large. For a weekend where everyone is perhaps a tad too attached to the balls and chains that capture content, this set – spearheaded by the progressive Salute beatscape – becomes a welcomed moment of presence and a return to the kind of electronic music’s roots that grounds everyone in attendance. He’ll be playing another set inside Chasing Rabbits later at night, and well into the morning.

It’s Saturday evening, and the masses in Lionshead and Vail Village begin to work their way East. There, at Ford Park, John Summit and company are playing their first of two mainstage events for the weekend. Where the smaller shows and on-mountain pop-ups felt intimate, this one provides a perspective of just how many people are in Vail for the weekend. Thousands of fans face the Stage at the East end of the makeshift outdoor space. As the sun sets, Gore Range catches the last light, bathing its sharp peaks in warm yellow before they fade into deeper and darker purples. The sun goes down, the lights and pyrotechnics beam brighter, and until it ends, the show can be heard thudding its way throughout the valley.

On Sunday, they’ll do it all again. And next season, they just might, too. Hopefully then there’ll be more snow. But aside from the uncontrollable, no notes on Vail’s biggest party of the year.