Things to Do in Boulder City

The skilled pilots and instructors at Las Vegas Glider Rides have accompanied more than 6,000 passengers on flights over Nevada’s scenic desert landscapes. After they’re towed aloft behind planes via 200-foot cables, glider passengers cut loose and set sail for a leisure trip, flying lesson, or acrobatic thrill ride with a seasoned glider pilot. Flyers can also memorialize their trips with an edited 7.5-minute video featuring preshot wing and tail angles and in-cockpit footage of impromptu aerial drag races with passing pterodactyls.

A nonprofit organization that helps people with disabilities, New Vista Community hosts festive fundraisers throughout the year. Savvy to the pulse of the community, event organizers throw raucous events, such as wine walks, which regale guests with the foolproof combination of fine-food samples, wine and cocktails, and live music. Guests at the Brew's Best handcrafted beer festival sip free samples of regional brews, and at the lighthearted Adam & Eve's Charity Love Fling, love-happy attendees and confused mannequin collectors bid on bachelors and bachelorettes.

Though many in the community may know New Vista Community primarily for these events, the organization dedicates its best energies to helping those with disabilities. Founded in 1984 by three sets of parents with intellectually challenged kids, the charity provides group homes, assisted living, job training, and field trips to kids and adults.

At Posh For Kidz, infants and kids up to 6 years old divvy up into age-specific playrooms to explore indoor-playground equipment with up to nine of their peers. The well-monitored play place puts an emphasis on providing enough room for kids to run around without ever feeling too hedged in. In addition to open play times, two-hour birthday parties give kids free rein over two playrooms, plus a party room in which to eat cake, open presents, and compare retirement plans. As tykes traverse playplaces, parents and older children can relax in a comfy lounge.

After noticing a lack of guided outdoor-excursion opportunities, James Dingess founded Desert Adventures in 2004 to help locals and visitors to take advantage of Nevada’s stunning natural landscapes. What began as a small paddling outfit with a handful of kayaks and a single employee has since expanded to include ATV, mountain biking, and time-travel adventures led by knowledgeable guides. Desert Adventures stays true to its kayaking roots with a fleet of 125 shells and half- to four-day Colorado River runs. Guides also lead multiday, multisport excursions combining various activities, as well as high-speed ziplining tours that careen from the top of Red Mountain to the base of Bootleg Canyon. Most adventures accommodate all skill levels, but some carry experience or age restrictions.

The year 2013 marks the 30th anniversary of guided rafting tours through the Colorado River's Black Canyon. Created by volcanic activity over the course of millennia, its walls rise more than 2,000 feet above the Colorado River’s edge. Rafters glide between these walls on the company’s assorted rafting tours, which also incorporate visits to sites such as the Hoover Dam or the Techatticup Mine, where they learn about area mining history.

For more than 20 years, master glass blower Robert Shield has crafted his crystalline figures for people around the world, his masterpiece being a glass carriage and horse that he gifted to the British Royal Family. Seated before the azure flame of a torch, Robert can make a swan appear out of a plain glass tube, bending and blowing the hot, translucent material until it resembles the bird's feathered body and arcing neck, before smashing the piece because he hates swans. From his academy, Robert edifies protégés in the glass-manipulating arts, guiding beginners through creating festive ornaments and tear-drop necklaces, and empowering aspiring artisans to fire up saleable spun glass.