Estes Park’s holiday calendar is getting a spirited addition this December when Sleigh the Games debuts at Bond Park and the Estes Park Event Center. The three-day festival, created by Adventure Fit Events in Boulder, combines obstacle-course action, winter-themed challenges, and community celebration into what organizers call a “super awesome experience for fun-loving adults and families.”
This year’s inaugural Sleigh the Games will run from Dec. 12 to 14, transforming the weekend into a mix of festive competitions and playful winter challenges. Participants ages six and up can try more than a dozen activities, including a custom-built snow-tube slide, team sled pulls, inflatable axe throwing, a log throw, and the new Snowball Battle Championship. According to Josh Kravetz, president of Adventure Fit Events, the idea has been in the making for a decade.
“We actually submitted a proposal to Estes Park about 10 years ago for an event that was similar to this but a bit different,” he said. “Five years ago, they reached out again. In 2025, we put something together that worked. We always wanted to create something that fused holiday-focused and active lifestyles. Sleigh the Games is a good fit and is in line with what Estes Park already does this time of year, like Frozen Dead Guy Days.”
Unlike traditional holiday attractions centered around lights and food, Sleigh the Games invites participants to slide, throw, skate, tube, balance, and race their way through the weekend. “We wanted to do something that families could do as well as fun-loving adults,” Kravetz said. “During the holiday season, there are a lot of light shows, parades, and food. We wanted to do something more active.”
The festival will feature 12 custom-created games ranging from physical challenges to whimsical competitions. Inside the event center, guests will find a towering custom snow-tube slide, inflatable axe-throwing, handmade dog sledges for team-pull races, and mini box bikes that riders steer through a Christmas-themed obstacle course.
“A lot of stuff was custom-created for this event,” Kravetz said. “Everything we are starting is totally brand new. There are no rules in place or photos of past events for people to see, which is an interesting approach to an event. It’s not like a biking contest that we’ve done in other cities before. We are designing this from the ground up. We’d love it to be something we produce in multiple cities as a recurring active holiday event.”
One of the most ambitious additions is Capture the Elf, inspired by traditional tag games, where participants chase high school athletes to grab an “elf” flag off their belt. The weekend also includes a log-throwing contest, a dog costume showdown, and the centerpiece event: the Snowball Battle Championship.
The championship, held Sunday, takes its cues from the Japanese sport of yukigassen. “It means ‘snow battle’ in Japanese,” Kravetz said. “They have a structured way of doing it with teams, positions, and coaches. Similar to that, we’ll have teams of five competing in four-minute periods, and the goal is to capture the flag or have the most amount of players left when the time runs out. There will be barricades that you can hide behind. That will be fun to watch.”
The festival begins Friday, Dec. 12, with Chase the Glow, a four-mile and one-mile run in Bond Park. Adventure Fit partnered with the existing event to make the opening night feel communal.
“We wanted to be a part of the ceremony and do something fun with the after-party,” Kravetz said. “Our goal was to make it as collaborative as possible with the community. We are going to be in Bond Park, where the tree is lit, and hopefully, people will want to hang around with us.”
Once the weekend shifts to the Estes Park Event Center, guests can experience the full lineup from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 13, and Sunday, Dec. 14, with featured competitions throughout each day. Kids under six can explore the Candy Land Kids’ Zone, complete with inflatables and crafts, and well-behaved dogs are welcome on leash.
Adventure Fit’s three-person core team is joined by 15 staff and nearly 100 volunteers to make this event possible. For Kravetz, the hope is that Sleigh the Games becomes a repeatable model for cities nationwide. But first, it needs to make its mark in Estes Park.
To help launch this zaney winter snow fest, organizers are offering the first 200 Estes locals a 20% discount on ticket prices.
“We want this to be something that the community can enjoy as well as those out of town,” he said. “This is a chance for people to try something new. Get off the phone. We want to see lots of smiles.”
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