Olympic gold medalist Nathan Chen returns to Vail Ice Spectacular

Last year, news spread quickly about Olympic gold medalist Nathan Chen starring in the Vail Ice Spectacular, and the one-night-only event sold out three weeks prior. This year, organizers have added two shows: Friday and Saturday, at Dobson Arena.

Fans are traveling to Vail from as far as Japan to witness Chen skate, along with Olympic Team medalists and U.S. National champions Jason Brown and Karen Chen, said Edwin Shipstad, owner of Shipstad Entertainment, which directs the show. All three skaters will perform two solo programs each evening.

Aside from the headlining stars, World Team members and international medalists round out the cast, including two-time international gold medalist pair skaters Ellie Kam and Danny O’Shea and 11-time international medalist and U.S. Olympic alternate Camden Pulikinen.

In addition, Team USA members (current and former, respectively) Joseph Klein and Jordan Moeller join 2020 Youth Olympian Audrey Shin, international gold medalist ice dancers Leah Neset and Artem Markelov and the inventor of the “Shilmer” — a salchow/reverse salchow — Sonja Hilmer. Other athletes include Amy Berglund, Katie Shipstad, Courtney Wetterich, ice dancers Klara Kowar and Thomas Schwappach and U.S. National junior pair medalists Olivia Flores and Luke Wang. In addition, Denver Synchronicity will showcase their group precision.

What really stands out about Vail Skating Festival’s Ice Spectacular is the intimacy of the venue, complete with the opportunity for the best front-row seats in the house, in the form of on-ice seating (don’t worry; the ice is padded, so it’s warm and slip-free). There’s nothing quite like watching the highest-level skaters land a triple or double literally right in front of your feet.

“The smaller and intimate venue allows you to really feel the energy from the audience,” Nathan Chen said. “It was a lot of fun performing in Vail last year, and I’m really looking forward to coming back this year.”

Last year, he performed his legendary “Rocketman” program, and this year, the top stars are keeping their music under wraps to surprise the audience. But it’s no secret that the energy, like previous years, will run high. Vail Ice Spectacular is aptly named; it’s like watching a 90-minute firework finale, chock-full of the nation’s top skaters. The camaraderie between the athletes is also palatable as champions living and training as far as Toronto (Brown) reunite.

“Shows are always a fun time to catch up with friends that I don’t get to see often,” Chen said. “I’m excited to share the ice with Jason and Karen, two fantastic skaters and performers.”

Chen is seizing the opportunity to perform in Vail during his holiday break from Yale. As a senior, he has spent the last year focused on rigorous academics, studying statistics and data science.

“School has kept me quite busy, and I’ve really enjoyed spending my time working on developing new passions off of the ice,” he said.

Yet, he still finds time to keep his figure skating skills sharp; he toured for the 2023 and 2022 Stars on Ice — though he’s taking time off for Stars on Ice’s holiday tour and exclusively performing in Vail. While some have speculated on his competitive skating return, particularly for the 2026 Olympics, he continues to take the months and years as they come.

“At this point in time I’m not quite sure (what’s in my future),” he said, “but I’m really enjoying my classes and excited to keep learning.”