Mountain Drinks: How to Brew + Ski, Board + Booze & Wine Your Way Down the Slopes This Après-Ski Season
Photo by Meg MacDonald/Unsplash Drink Features apres ski bars
Sometimes, it feels like Alpine adventures are for the hardcore only.
By definition, they are rugged affairs starring steep slopes, the small (but ever-present!) danger of avalanches and temperatures cold enough to freeze water and body fluids that’s so damn frigid they require extensive and strategically placed layers of fabric over all areas of exposed skin.
It’s a certain type of person’s idea of “fun,” but ahem, not everyone’s… unless you’ve got the skinny on the cross-pollination of booze + winter sports happening in certain après-ski-evolved pockets of the planet. Then, perhaps the notion of cross-country skiing across miles of frozen tundra or shooshing down a mogul-peppered Black Diamond will appear to be more delightfully bracing than grimly daunting.
A few important caveats before we get to the fun part: Scientists have (unfortunately) found that drinking alcohol does not actually warm you up (although it may make you feel warmer). Also, boarding or skiing while intoxicated is not only dangerous and irresponsible, it can also earn you a steep fine.
And now, the fun part!
Head to Vermont for Cross-Country OG’s + Von Trapp Brewing
The Sound of Music turned the von Trapp family into shorthand for a very particular, uplifting sort of heroism and get ‘er done spirit in the face of mass tragedy. Not everyone loves the not 100% historically accurate and most definitely sanitized version of the musical-singing-group turned mountain-climbing escapees of the Nazi regime, but no one can ignore the power and resonance of the story, even today.
Today, their legacy lives on in Stowe, Vermont, where the Trapp family settled in the 1940s. In 1950, they opened a rustic 27-bedroom lodge that was destroyed by a fire in 1980. They rebuilt, and now the sunlit, rustic-chic 96-room lodge is perched on 2,600 acres of prime Vermont mountain land for a the-hills-are-alive experience right in the Northeast.
In addition to the expected nature-peeping and hiking, the von Trapps offer 40 miles worth of cross-country skiing trails for beginners and advanced skiers.
“They brought the sport to America,” Von Trapp Brewing’s marketing manager Emily Provost says. “The Trapp Family Lodge was the first cross-country ski center in the country. And we’re only seven miles away from the beautiful Stowe Mountain Resort, so many of our guests stay there.”
In 2010, Johannes von Trapp founded Von Trapp Brewing, with the goal of creating an Austrian-style beer and hospitality experience here in the U.S. The 30,000-square-foot brewery, a mile away from the Lodge, is definitely within snow-shoeing distance. (They also offer snowshoeing rentals at their winter sports center).
Winter enthusiasts can enjoy house-made beers at the Lodge’s restaurants or at the brewery’s Bierhall for après-ski drinks, where Austrian specialties like Bratwurst, Cheddar Lager Soup, Bavarian Pretzels and Spaetzle can be paired with the Bohemian-Style Pilsner. The spicy citrus peel botanicals and dry, peppery finish come together to create a thirst-quenching lager.
Hit Park City for America’s First Ski-In, Ski-Out Distillery at High West
With some of the strictest alcohol laws in the country, Utah is not the place many would expect to see daring innovations from distillers. And yet, in 2006, when High West became the first legal distillery to open in Utah since 1870, the founders began pushing envelopes.
In 2009, High West opened “the world’s first ski-in/ski-out gastro distillery,” Daniel Schear, High West’s General Manager explains. The motivation, he says, was the kind of selfish personal endeavor that reaps rewards for the entire community.
“When our founder, David Perkins, sort of retired, he very intentionally wanted to escape from the city on the West Coast to the mountains,” Schear says. “He wanted to reconnect with nature, escape the rat race and (yes) get some runs in on Utah’s many magnificent mountains. The mountain experience was just as much a part of the passion as the whiskey for David.”
It was also important to Perkins for the experience to be fun and accessible.
“So many whiskey distilleries are far off the beaten path, or require a very intentional trip to go see them,” Schear says. “The people who go there are often intentionally seeking out whiskey experiences and are probably already whiskey drinkers.”
But a lot of people who board into High West are not whiskey drinkers.
“A lot of people tell us, ‘Oh, I don’t drink whiskey,’” Schear notes. “But they don’t walk out saying that. We designed our cocktails to delight serious whiskey drinkers and those just beginning their journey. We have everything from strong, whiskey-forward twists on the Old Fashioned… [to] tropical and bright cocktails, or ones with a spiced horchata flavor.”
After a long day on the slopes, Schear recommends a hearty serving of High West’s A Midwinter Night’s Dram.
“We release it every year right before ski season,” he explains. “It’s got the warmth and spice of our signature rye blend, but it’s finished in port barrels to give it this really nice finish that’s like a holiday plum pudding. So it’s hard not to think of that and think of après-ski or sitting by a fire back at your cabin.”
A Brew-ski Tour in Upstate New York
Winters in Upstate New York can be grey, grim and frigid, and as is done in Scandinavia, Russia and the South Pole, the denizens hygge, feast and do their best to turn the acres of white tundra as far as the eyes can see into their own personal snowflake fiestas.
From Ice Palaces to Ice Bars, locals layer up and party down. One of the most cherished annual traditions has become the Town of Tupper Lake’s annual BrewSki event. This year, the party will kick off on Saturday, February 24, at the James C. Frenette Sr. Recreational Trails.
For $30, revelers can either cross-country ski or snowshoe (or walk or bike) across a mild and a half to a dozen-plus mini brewery pop-ups pouring samples and offering pockets of warmth with fire pits. More breweries are signing up daily, and currently. regional mainstays including Raquette River Brewing, Hex & Hop Brewing, Northway Brewing Co. and Livingoods are on tap.
A Spirited American Birkebeiner in Wisconsin
This year, the 50th Annual Slumberland American Birkebeiner will kick off February 21 in River Falls, Wisconsin.
The first Birkebeiner in 1973 was dreamed up by the late Tony Wise, who gathered 34 men and one woman on the starting line. Clad in woolen sweaters and knickers, the group raced across 50 kilometers on cross-country skins from the Lumberjack Bowl in Hayward to Telemark Lodge in Cable, Wisconsin. The initial race was created in the spirit of fun in honor of the Birkebeiner skiers who smuggled Prince Haakon to safety amid a civil war in Norway in 1206. Then just a boy, that feat of derring-do preserved the life of the prince, who went on to become Norway’s King Haakon Haakonsson IV.
The annual cross-country ski event has become the largest ski race in North America and the third-largest in the world. Every year, a few skiers take on the entire course in traditional wooden skis and in full period costume to honor its historical roots. Generally, a crowd of about 45,000 skiers and spectators gathers for the race.
Tattersall Distilling is partnering with the American Birkebeiner Ski Foundation (the official nonprofit that hosts and benefits from the event) and releasing a limited-edition straight rye whiskey aged in used maple syrup barrels, the WI-SKITM.
Tattersall’s founder Jon Kreidler is as passionate about the event as the rye it inspires.
“I skied it last year, and I’m skiing again this year,” Kreidler says. “I love the spirit of adventure in the race and the way it brings people of Wisconsin together.”
Race attendees will find the WI-SKITM being poured for skiers on the course and at post-parties and bars in the area. The finishing barrels add notes of maple syrup to the whiskey, with a robust, peppery-sweet sipper that delivers the taste TLC you need after a long day of skiing.
Other Downhill Sipping Opportunities Across the World
Marble Distilling Co. in Carbondale, Colorado: The distillery is just down the road from Aspen and Snowmass. Founder and distiller Connie Baker created a first-of-its kind eco-distillery in a chic hotel. Dubbed the Distiller Inn, it has become one of the most popular boutique hotels in Colorado for ski, board and drinks enthusiasts. A favorite tipple is Marble Vodka, made from all-natural Colorado grains that are filtered through crushed Yule marble. You get a creamy nose and a smooth, luxurious finish—ideal for post-mountain chillaxing.
Wine Skisafari in Alta Badia: Any ski trip in Italy’s Alta Badia is going to be memorable. Positioned on the sunny side of the Alps where South Tyrol meets Italy, the fairy tale ski resort gets a boozy shot in the pants with a range of wine-tasting experiences on offer at participating huts. The experience, dubbed a Skisafari, delivers local, fresh wines and signature Italian hospitality. Just make sure you reserve your tastings ahead of time.
10th Mountain Whiskey & Spirit: Headed to Vail? After a long day on the slopes, scoot on down to 10th Mountain Distilling, just a few steps away from Gondola 1. 10th Mountain was founded in 2014 by Ryan Thompson and is inspired by the courage of the 10th Mountain soldiers who arrived in the area and helped forge a life out of the mighty Rocky Mountains. The distillery utilizes traditional distilling techniques to make whiskey, vodka, bourbon and moonshine. For the perfect post-mountain sip, grab a draught of the 10th Mountain Rye, a balanced sipper with vanilla, spice, smoke and oak. Thompson is so serious about honoring the mountain life, he gives all of his employees a seasonal ski pass.