Things to Do in Palm Springs

Joshua Tree Guides is exclusively staffed with passionate guides—each trained by the Professional Climbing Guides Institute—who convey their intimate knowledge of rock climbing in guided tours and classes for adventurers, families, and beginners. During private climbing tours, engaging guides lead climbers to one of an endless number of vertical opportunities and ensure that each rock scaler feels the thrill of conquering the terrain while remaining sturdy and safe. Each tour is customized to the climbers’ comfort levels, making the experience an excellent introduction to outdoor climbing or a chance for familiar climbers to pinch the cheeks of adorable rock faces they've never encountered. Whether climbing locally or during a custom trip with Joshua Tree, climbers put any number of territory-conquering techniques to use, such as slab climbing, top roping, and climbing in a single-pitch environment. Joshua Tree has also trained U.S. Special Forces teams in modern climbing techniques and works with a variety of national corporations, including Google and Red Bull.

San Diego Motorsport Rentals gives outdoor adventurers the ability to tame any obstacle with the fleet of all-terrain and aquatic vehicles. Four-wheeled ATVs from Honda, Suzuki, and Kawasaki cut through more than 150,000 acres of road-free land. Their mechanics also keep engines in tune on four-stroke dirt bikes so riders can feel the wind blow through their hair while tearing through rugged paths or their high school graduation. From their Grand Avenue and Mission Bay outposts, customers can check out jet skis or boats ready to break through incoming breakers.

More than 50 food trucks will roll in from all over Southern California this year for the Palm Springs Food Truck Festival, a culinary event organized by Cliff Young of PBS' Out to Eat. Participants range from Oooh La La Crepes to Biker Jim's Gourmet Dogs, a truck specializing in encased meats such as cilantro-infused duck sausages or Zonker Stout Habanero Cherry Buffalo brats. Festival-goers can also snack on free samples, sip brews in a beer garden, or digest to the beat of live music.

Equipment crafted by companies including K2, Rossignol, and Burton lines the walls of Goldsmith's Boardhouse & Ski Rental, where experienced staffers help snow explorers to hit the slopes in style. Snowboarders and skiers on their way to carve up nearby Snow Summit, Big Bear Mountain, or a local mall Santa display swing by Goldsmith's to pick up gleaming new gear or all-inclusive rental packages that fit feet with cushy boots before outfitting riders with a snowboard replete with bindings or skis paired with poles.

With his white hair and mustache and his penchant for hot air balloons, Wil LaPointe often jokes that he looks like the Wizard from The Wizard of Oz. On every balloon ride, LaPointe wants to create an unforgettable experience for his basket of passengers, peppering historical tidbits about early ballooning with jokes and stories such as the history of the white tiger adorning one of the balloons in his fleet. The white tiger, a ward of LaPointe’s friend—a wildlife caretaker—was one of three cubs abandoned by their mother and eventually raised by an open-minded golden retriever.

Though LaPointe is a self-proclaimed “balloonatic,” he got into the business of ballooning by chance when he bought a hot air balloon to advertise for his cellular-phone business. Today, LaPointe works as a master instructor of ballooning, training new pilots in addition to travelling to schools with miniature balloons, which he uses to teach hands-on lessons about mathematics, physics, and engineering.

LaPointe was featured on CNN.com after donating a balloon ride in his deceased wife’s name to Cy Breen, who raises funds for cancer research, on Breen's 100th birthday. Breen, who raises money each year by shooting one hole of golf for each birthday he’s had, did a little jig as he walked over to the white-tiger balloon, eager to check another item off his list of lifelong dreams.