Après ski

[FrankZappa]

Après ski [ah-prey-skee]
–noun 1. the period of relaxation that follows skiing: menus suitable for après-ski.
–adjective 2. pertaining to or suitable for such a time: après-ski clothes; an après-ski party.


This used to be almost as big a part of the day as the skiing. The time for tales of the day over a picher of cheap frosty draft brew slurped thru equally frosty wiskers. A time of socialization near a fire. Even when the drive from Vail back to Denver was 3+ hours on old winding US 6 when it was dry, let alone snowing, Après ski was always there. A time that often ran late into the evening. Last call at the Rathskellar, Red Ram, Red Onion... the Moose.

Hell, there was even gear made specifically for après. Who all owned (and used) après ski boots?


As I read threads about how to beat the traffic by getting up and on the road long before the crack of shit and leaving at times like 1:30 I wonder what ever happened to this aspect of the ski day. <--That is so close to a hookie mornin from work (where you have to leave by 11) it boggles my mind - 'cept on those days you could sleep in til 7 or 7:30 and still make first chair. Well, at least the old roads, and the old (pre-AWD) cars were faster than they are now.

Where is après ski? I hardly see it any more. Is it lost? -or just gone at some places? Or, maybe it's in just as big a hurry as the rest of us these days.



Après ski. It's not what it used to be.

[Woodsy]

its in the bar at the goldminers daughter

[MuleSkinner]

It's alive and well in Jackson! Thank you start bus and 15 min commute

[Buster Highmen]

its in the bar at the goldminers daughter

pffttttt...The Pervulvian.

[Buster Highmen]

Where is après ski? I hardly see it any more. Is it lost? -or just gone at some places? Or, maybe it's in just as big a hurry as the rest of us these days.



Après ski. It's not what it used to be.

Oh, I dunno. The Silverton tent has some pretty damn good camaraderie. Similarly at the Snorting Elk @ Crustal.

It's still there, it just whether we make time for it anymore.

[lemon boy]

cops have killed this institution.

[cj001f]

I've got to hurry up and sit in front of the television so I can't apres ski anymore

[Joey Joe Joe Junior Shabadoo]

It's still there, it just whether we make time for it anymore.

cops have killed this institution.

A little from Column A and a little from Column B

[Meadow Skipper]

I know what you mean, but actually some of the best apr&#233;s I've had have been beers on the tailgate at the trailhead.

[FrankZappa]

Oh, I dunno. The Silverton tent has some pretty damn good camaraderie.

I heartily agree! Maybe it's just me, and this is my point I guess, but it seems like everywhere used to be like this? Maybe apres ski fell off the shelf and broke into lil tiny pieces and is now out by the dumpster in the parking lot, on a whole bunch of tailgates. (which works very well at the trailhead).

I think LB's onto something, but the cops just enforce what MADD makes into law.

cj hasn't noticed those big screen thingys that most apre lounges offer.

[Buster Highmen]

I heartily agree! Maybe it's just me, and this is my point I guess, but it seems like everywhere used to be like this? Maybe apres ski fell off the shelf and broke into lil tiny pieces and is now out by the dumpster in the parking lot, on a whole bunch of tailgates. (which works very well at the trailhead).

I think LB's onto something, but the cops just enforce what MADD makes into law.

cj hasn't noticed those big screen thingys that most apre lounges offer.

I guess it's part of that ugly, unavoidable symptom of getting old. We get more entrenched in our own lives, in our nuclear families and it takes some irregular effort to break out.
As far as da politzei, you just have to be schmahrt about it.

[cj001f]

cj hasn't noticed those big screen thingys that most apre lounges offer.

cj doesn't own a TV but he does bowl alone http://www.bowlingalone.com/

back on target - are the bars in Govy still popular? I heard they redid the Rat. Nomore broken glasses :nono:

[uppernotmaster]

My housemates & I go pretty hard après but we can walk home which is a big plus. Nothing better than that few beer buzz after a hard day on the hill. If it was a real good day, I’ve been known to just sit there with shaky legs & a big grin on my face sipping a beer not speaking to anyone just thinking about the day. I’ve had people ask me if I was ok before. Reality is I’m more than ok, definitely one of the more satisfying times in life for me.

[FrankZappa]

I guess it's part of that ugly, unavoidable symptom of getting old. We get more entrenched in our own lives, in our nuclear families and it takes some irregular effort to break out.

This is the confusing disagreement part. The "old timer" folks I know who grew up doing the Apres thing still do it almost religiuosly. They can be found meeting up with their buds at the bar at the bottom of the hill every weekend, just like they have over the last 40-50 years. I really get a kick out of hanging with them even though I've only been around a much less time. I don't see the same faces week/year in week/year out in the "younger generations".

[Buster Highmen]

This is the confusing disagreement part. The "old timer" folks I know who grew up doing the Apres thing still do it almost religiuosly. They can be found meeting up with their buds at the bar at the bottom of the hill every weekend, just like they have over the last 40-50 years. I really get a kick out of hanging with them even though I've only been around a much less time. I don't see the same faces week/year in week/year out in the "younger generations".

Now I'm confused. The thread starts by bemoaning the dearth of apres ski, yet now it's consistency is elicited?


Anyway apres consistency is not my observation. Circumstances change, money gets tight, people have kids and quit, others get DUIs and go on the wagon, some die. The old cronies I knew have dispersed.

I have my own groove of first tracks, down by 2:00, outta there by 3:00 with time for a couple of pints.

[lemon boy]

And I wouldn't think it's far off base to suggest that another nail in the coffin is: goretex. Now-a-days you can hammer from 8:30-3:30 and not get cold or wet. The lure of a warm hearth is greatly diminished by perfect personal environmental comfort.

The other thing is IMM, apres has simply shifted to be a vacation type activity where you've taken a step outside your normal life. The urban commuters don't do it because skiing + commuting is part of daily life, much the way locals don't much. It used to be that a trip up 6 really was a step outside the normal life.

[Buster Highmen]

The urban commuters don't do it because skiing + commuting is part of daily life, much the way locals don't much. It used to be that a trip up 6 really was a step outside the normal life.

Huh?.....

[FrankZappa]

No, no, no Buster. This thread is all about "Who all owned (and used) apr&#232;s ski boots?"

Specifically the ones that zipped up (like Beatle boots) and if they did in fact make you "James Bond" cool if you had the Killy model.

[Chemical Ali' The Wax Master]

in less responsible days, i started my apres before i got my lift ticket
now no 2 hearted ale until i am off the slopes. and no new stitches.

[Buster Highmen]

No, no, no Buster. This thread is all about "Who all owned (and used) après ski boots?"

Specifically the ones that zipped up (like Beatle boots) and if they did in fact make you "James Bond" cool if you had the Killy model.

Oh. I never had those. Oh well...

[p-tex]

Beers at the B Lift pub back in the pre-super Bee days at Copper....or the $5 beer and burger deal at Farley's Pub at Copper.....Damn, Damn, Damn....

[lemon boy]

Huh?.....

Which part don't you get?

I'm thinking maybe the part about a trip up 6, which FZ alluded to earlier. Old hwy 6 (now basically I-70) used to be the only real way into the mtns and was 2 lanes each way over passes and the trip from Vail or summit in a 2 wd/rwd v8 muscle car was a real adventure, one best contemplated and prepared for with a fortifying trip to the bar. Something extraordinary, and something that people didn't just do all the time. Now though, a trip up to ski is basically just a part of "normal life" for the urban commuter set. You block out some time, zip up crank some skiing and zip back. No need to round up 4 or 5 friends for moral support during a 4 hour white knucklefest over love-pass. And then, at least FMPOV when vacationing, everyone takes the time to après, hell even my buddies in SLC who when I'm there could still be considered urban commuters get to après because it's a step outside of normal life. Après goes with skiing as adventure. So you could say that the dearth of après is reflective of the dearth of real adventure in skiing.

And then there's the tailgate beer, except when I'm playing hookie: I always take the time for at least a beer at the tailgate…sometimes the weather shoo's us into the truck for that though. Mmmmm Hamm's.

[grskier]

Apres skiing ended!?


shit, why the hell have we all been partying so hard since April then....

[Buster Highmen]

Which part don't you get? .

Well, I'm an urbane commuter who ritually has a couple of beers after skiing. then again, I"m not about to let the 'adventure' get away.

[FrankZappa]

Which part don't you get?

I'm thinking maybe the part about a trip up 6, which FZ alluded to earlier. Old hwy 6 (now basically I-70) used to be the only real way into the mtns and was 2 lanes each way over passes and the trip from Vail or summit in a 2 wd/rwd v8 muscle car was a real adventure, one best contemplated and prepared for with a fortifying trip to the bar. Something extraordinary, and something that people didn't just do all the time. Now though, a trip up to ski is basically just a part of "normal life" for the urban commuter set. You block out some time, zip up crank some skiing and zip back. No need to round up 4 or 5 friends for moral support during a 4 hour white knucklefest over love-pass. And then, at least FMPOV when vacationing, everyone takes the time to après, hell even my buddies in SLC who when I'm there could still be considered urban commuters get to après because it's a step outside of normal life. Après goes with skiing as adventure. So you could say that the dearth of après is reflective of the dearth of real adventure in skiing.

And then there's the tailgate beer, except when I'm playing hookie: I always take the time for at least a beer at the tailgate…sometimes the weather shoo's us into the truck for that though. Mmmmm Hamm's.

I just wanted to PPS this. That brings back some memories... white '68 Mustang fastback, blinding raging whiteout snowstorm over Vail and Loveland pass' long after dark...

LB, you must have thought about this whole dealio too, hmm?

Lets get a pack to head over Red when it snows. Who's in?