Things to Do in Auburn

For more than a decade, Raven Helicopter's pilots have dazzled skyborne passengers with stunning vistas seen during aerial tours and chartered flights. During each journey, a certified pilot deftly ferries passengers through the skies in a striking, streamlined R66 turbine helicopter, outfitted with a wraparound bubble canopy for easy viewing of scenic landscapes, and a cargo hold for carrying skis, golf clubs, and other, smaller helicopters. Guests drink in the idyllic forests, hills, and lakes of the region as they snap pictures or roll film for posterity.

Awarded Best Martial Arts School in the Family Times' 2012 Besties Awards, Five Star Martial Arts teaches kids and parents alike the rapid-fire movements of martial arts. During youth programs, students aged 4 and older build stamina, dexterity, and intelligence through disciplined instruction at the hands of seasoned masters. Alongside typical belt rankings, badges and stars reward younger students as they master flurries of kicks and punches. Adult students find their own fitness rewards during cardio kickboxing, which blends an international potpourri of martial arts moves with calisthenic and aerobic foundations to form an explosive full-body workout that targets and tones major muscle groups across the body.

Trainers pair their fitness expertise with motivational attitudes, working one on one with students to help them on their path towards achieving personal wellness goals. Sharing schedule space with Zumba fitness sessions, classes unfold within Five Star Martial Arts' recently expanded studio. There, new equipment and installations including a Tumbl Trak, a massive foam pit, and a collection of polyplus climbing ropes help trainers add complex gymnastics-inspired exercises to their already sizable arsenal of workouts.

Twenty-one runs streak across the Toggenburg Mountain Winter Sports Center trail map, furnishing skiers and snowboarders with ample real estate to perfect swerves and test nerves in the crisp high country air. Five lifts—two doubles, a triple, and a pair of beginner rope tows—hoist snowy revelers to the top of runs such as the black diamond Oh My Goat, the blue square Angora Alley, and the green circle Capricorn Caper, as well as two terrain parks. Here, a gantlet of rails, boxes, and tables not only give daredevils the chance to show off their aerial acrobatics, but also provide a rough idea of what it would be like to wear skis into a furniture store. First-timers and skiers in need of a refresher can sign up for snow school, where expert instructors illuminate proper technique during private, semiprivate, and group lessons.

Off the mountain, Chilly Choices ski shop keeps skiers and snowboarders warm on the outside with hats, gloves, goggles, and apparel. Meanwhile the Foggy Goggle and Toggenburg Cafeteria keep them warm them on the inside with toasty eats such as braised tenderloin tips and pizza.

Concealed by glowing dividers, combatants creep along the AstroTurf, hunting for a clear shot at an opponent's battle suit. The 6,900-square-foot arena's lasers, black lights, and shadowy corners call to mind a real-life video game or a haunted discotheque. Skirmishes typically run for 15 minutes, pitting the red team and the green team against each other in a tactical contest. During cease-fires, laser combatants can fire quarters into an assortment of arcade games.

O Yoga owner Tiffany Sisko does not differentiate between the novice and the advanced yoga student. She opened her studio as a venue for anyone to practice the art, and to that end, none of her classes are grouped by skill level. She extends her inclusive attitude to her teachings, drawing poses from kripalu, prana, and yin styles to combine their therapeutic effects during fluid Vinyasa sessions. With an eclectic blend of music, stretches, and breath work, she and her team of instructors send each student on a distinct mission of self-discovery.

Even the studio's environment forwards the message of all-encompassing acceptance. Using cleverly recycled decor, Tiffany has crafted a stark yet elegant aesthetic. She repurposed plywood and furring strips—which were ripped up to expose the building's original pine flooring and still-beating heart—as shelves and wall embellishments. The asymmetrical furniture in the open lounge area is molded from the wood of a felled box-elder street tree, whose vibrant red striping adds flair to the grain.

At the tender age of 19, young businessman Mikeal Wood founded Upstate Party Rental in 2001, provisioning celebrations with tables, tents, and glassware while roping in a 2006 award for Young Entrepreneur of the Year from the U.S. Small Business Association. When not raising his three kids, Mikeal stays hard at work alongside his team of trusty roustabouts, hammering stakes for canopies and tents, setting out seating, or enveloping flatware in crisp linens. With a wealth of tables, chairs, silverware, coolers, and equipment at hand, Mikeal and his team can equip any style or size of gathering, from laying out cloth-clad tables for a fancy barbecue to putting down a dance floor for weddings. After each revelry, workers speedily dismantle the rented furnishings, load up their vans, remind the hosts it was all a dream, and leave backyards or banquet halls exactly as they found them.