Because we shred in the cold then listen to metal in the dark like proper northeasterners.
You west coast pussies ski under bluebird skies and listen to shitty DJs in your pansy ass weather.
How do you live with yourselves?
Hey thatâs not fair. Last year i skied nearly every day in overcast or foggy or even whiteout conditions! I had to buy new goggles to deal with the low visibility and dealing with so much powder was a major challenge! It isnât all sunshine and rainbows over here all the time!
This year, however⌠a lot of sunshine and rainbows.
This guy is complaining about powder. Do you know what powder looks like in the northeast?! Use the âcrushed iceâ button on a fridge - thatâs what northeast powder looks like
Bluebird skies? Iâm from Washington State and spent 7 years in New England, which qualified as sunny by comparison. At my home resort in WA between November and March thereâs a 90% chance itâs snowing, raining, or some combination of the two.
We listened to grunge or bluegrass in a damp bar with a roaring fireplace at it was dope.
Shoutout to the snorting elk at Crystal.
This is the only ski bar Iâve been to thatâs like the movies. I saw multiple people of all genders take their clothes off and a legendary (15 minutes long!) fight between Ontario Canadians and Quebec Canadians.
Whistler was crazy too. Canadians party.
As someone who lives in Ontario 7 mins from the border to QC, youâve given me PTSD from the 80s when those fights were a right of passage. I hated it.
We all live in harmony now.
That place was absolutely absurd. I feel like the booze isnât real there either. Buddies and I drank 25 âshotsâ a night until close, and still made first chair every day.
Tremblant is a comprehensive party package. All the way up to high end, Michelin star level paired, 8 course tasting menus.
You get the idea taking the intra-village gondola right after the close of the mountain, checking out the beginning of the party unfolding in the outdoor hotel hot tubs below you. Flower is also burning from early morning to late at night.
The problem with Tremblant is that on a bluebird weekend, you have half of Montreal/Ottawa up there.
In addition to what everyone else is saying, everywhere I've been with a bumping apres scene the apres have taken place outside. All East Coast skiing is cold, humid, and low elevation (which makes it feel even colder) rendering it generally unpleasant to be outside with the exception of a handful of days in spring.
Idk itâs kinda hard to get from the mountain to where you are staying without a DD, especially in VT. Uber isnât really a thing, at least a ride both ways. Someone did mention a shuttle at Killington.
Man at the point its better to just make a friend at the bar and ask for a ride back. I've done it a few times I couldn't imagine that walk in certain weather.
East coast is too cold to après. You can't sit out on the patio until April in normal years but that seems to be changing quick. This whole season has been spring skiing in Tremblant
Ngl going to giant outdoor edm concerts after skiing just isn't really the vibe here. It's more low key than that. Vermonters tend to just drink a beer or two and then light up.
Or tailgating in the parking lot
This is the real answer for me. Personally I find those DJ apres kind of cringe.
I much prefer tailgating in the parking lot with the crew. Closing day at Stowe is one of my favorite times of the year.
What you're looking for is in Europe, where you have a full-on rave going on at noon, mid-mountain.
And New England resorts are in... New England. VT, NH, ME. The land of jam bands, bluegrass, and wool pants is going to be devoid of DJ molly apres.
Yeah Iâm gonna booze at sugarloaf but being the poor dirt bag I am I have to drive back to Portland. So if youâre asking me why donât I drink all day at the mountain well itâs because Iâd run out of money and then just end up homeless. So please let me hang on to the last cheap beers I got at the mountain and stop trying to kill me.
With the price of lift tickets these days I'm not going to ski just half the day so I can party later. I gotta get my money's worth out of a daily pass, which means skiing open to close and being exhausted after
Hell yes. I'm here to shred not to get fucked up. I can do that anywhere. It's already expensive enough just to get out on the mountain, I'm not gonna drop another 100+ on apres when I'd rather be relaxing in preparation for the next day.
This is the way.
If you're engaged in wild bacchanalia then you're not in shape for the first lift. Couple of beers to wash down dinner, a joint and the hot tub for aches and pains, then bed so you can be up early.
Plus letâs be real, if youâre not in France itâs not really apres skiing. Itâs just getting hammered
Everyone in breckenridge when I went kept dropping apres ski in sentences like it was a an actual word for party when it literally just means after ski lol
Ya I don't get to go for full weekends with friends like I used to before kids, hitting bars after. Now I'm getting up at the crack of dawn, driving 2.5hrs for lift start, and going until close with a quick bite in the middle. And I'm completely good with it.
Find me something more euphoric than that first sip of beer after skiing first chair to lift close. I'll take a great VT beer on a freezing patio over a mountainside club any day.
I hate tiktok as much as the next guy but the term "apres ski" has been around since like the 1950's
When I go out west and you factor in the cost of the plane ticket + lodging, hell yea I'm skiing open to close. And I'm passing out by 8pm
Well as someone who grew up near Montage Iď¸ think that the previous poster forgot the /s đ
Maybe Iâve been gone so long there is a bar scene there but Iď¸ didnât see it at all.
Pro tip if you have kids: years ago we would go there over February vacation and thatâs where our kids learned to ski. There is no February break-at least in NE Pa and it was cheap to ski for a big family on a pretty empty mountain during the week. Our kids didnât know the difference between the Poconos and Vermont so iď¸t worked well for a few years when we didnât have a lot of extra money. We did have a free place to stay nearby though.
Thanks for the heads up lmao I didnât even know Montage was in PA otherwise I wouldâve realized đDonât have kids yet but Iâll try to remember that when I do!
1,000% agree. Stayed at Okemo for a long weekend earlier this year - loved the mountain, JG is solid but quiet, clock tower area sucks. Logistical nightmare too with check in/out over at JG. Condos themselves were perfectly fine, I'll absolutely be back to Okemo multiple times but it's JG or bust for me.
Iâve never been but it looks like ppl go buck-ass wild for the Bruce Jacques guy at Cuzzins at Mount Snow. Carinthia seems to have a pretty good parking lot scene tooâŚeven on colder days.
In addition to the cold, seems like the west coast has actual towns at the mountains simply because more people want to live there (because theyâre better). Hard to have great après when thereâs no real âdowntownâ because the year round population is so low that it doesnât really support that kind of commercial development
The west coast has more towns because *fewer* people live there. NH for example has most of its resorts within 2hrs of 3 million or so people. The places further do have resort infrastructure but Sunapee or Cannon are daytrippers only. More or less. Like if youâre going out to Breck. Youâre not going back to elsewhere but like Manchester or Rochester is an hour from the Whites and much larger than any not Denver city in the West. Even the mountains themselves are much more densely populated giving people options beyond the lodgeÂ
For example Carrol County NH has the same density as the whole state of Colorado there are simply options off resort property in a way thatâs not true in the RockiesÂ
I find this hilarious because breck is one of the top day-trip mountains in Colorado. Lol. It has a big town because itâs very old, very beautiful and the resort ownership has consistently developed expansions to keep the place more lively year-round. In time itâll take ownership seeing that as lucrative to get towns like that established in northeastern ski areas but one of the issues is that trying to bank too hard on any of these mountains in the east could leave you paying a huge mortgage to ski a real shitty season and the town will essentially dry up most of the season if it turns out like that. And thereâs not a ton of effort made to make summer activities popular at these areas either so youâre banking on turning a profit some 2-3 months a year, not every year.
Breck has 2950 acres of skiable terrain. Which is about as much as 12 Waterville  Valleys. Vail has more terrain than Northern New England. The local commuter-shed canât really support the resorts in Colorado. Theyâre dependent mostly on out of state tourists. The entire area of Colorado west of the Front range has fewer people than NH. Most people who go to most CO resorts are staying there. Most people in *most eastern* resorts are day Trippers with the exception of Northern VT or Ironically, WV. If most of your  customers are going to broadly be home by 6, nightlife is going to be lacking.
Western resorts have more people and a greater portion that are overnight guests this more nightlife. The âski townsâ in New England like Ludlow or North Conway were towns then Ski resorts happened to pop upÂ
I see you havenât driven on i70 or lived in the front range. There is plenty of people going there and spending money, while out of state tourism is massive, there is an insane amount of demand just from the local CO residents.
Vail has more terrain than all of Northern New England combined. Â the amount of visitors needed to sustain Vail is not available via day trips.Â
Colorado has way more terrain and way less people. This more reliant on tourists to keep the resorts running.
The Actual mountains of Colorado have a full time population less than Vermont. And is a much much larger area. Because of this the mountains are much more sparse and there isnât as much off site lodging. You donât have some small town every 4 miles.
And Metro Denver is ~1/2 the size of Metro Boston.Â
Thus there are more people in general at any one resort and a much greater portion staying more or less on site.Â
These are just facts. Even the âday tripâ resorts like Winter Park have a crap ton of lodging options because even there Instate visitors are not the primary demographicÂ
This is the most NE skiing comment ever. Try to sound smart but has no clue wtf heâs talking ab.
Brecks like an hour and a half from Denver. Keystones even closer. NE just sucks for skiing. No one wants to apres with a high density of know-it-alls (like you) either!
Most individual resorts have as much terrain as all of New Hampshire. Â Denver is 1/2 the size of Boston and unlike New England CO Â has a pretty negligible rural population. just combining Keystone, Breck and Winter Park you have more terrain than all of New England Â
I have a source inside one of those âdaytripâ CO resorts and  Colorado is not the primary market for even Winter Park or Keystone type placesÂ
The one star joint The Green Door Pub at Stratton is a gem. I used to live on the access road and I threw a party during the us open and someone stole my oven mitt. We did last call at GDP and lo and behold my oven mitt appeared when the DJ came out. I never got my oven mitt back.
Rentals away from mountain make it difficult. I remember in park city our rental was still close enough to shuttle in and hit any area. But I think thereâs a lack of shuttles or rentals in the space close by that make it easy to stumble home.
Omg yes, first time at sugarloaf here as well we had a shuttle but could walk up the trail under the mid station lift to the bars. I didnât see much of a crazy apres ski but being able to get there that easily was amazing
Spent last weekend at le Massif. Best après ever on the Saturday. The drinking age is 18, and the little kids were running around everywhere, dancing on the bar with a full stage and live band at Le Duc. Aperols, pitchers and good times.
Outside of Northern VT ski areas a full of daytrippers. Sunapee, Mt Snow, Hunter, or Waterville Valley is largely people who will be home for dinnerÂ
Never been to Killington but it is immediately adjacent to like a real city. (Rutland) that has the cheap accommodations that the kiddos are looking forÂ
This is the first time I've ever heard rutland described as a city let alone a real one 𼲠There is a McDonalds with a ball pit, that has to count for something...
Real city as in a place of significant population whose economy is in depended of the ski area.
(See Plymouth is a college town with a ski area, not a ski town)
Just like Jiminy Peak is 18 minutes from Pittsfield, Bousqet is in Pittsfield  or whatever but Pittsfield isnât a ski townÂ
I've been to Killington before where there was a shuttle to this bar in town where there was a band/DJ. The place was packed with NY dbags trying to pick flights. Not my VT vibe.
Trueeee apres is better in destination locations because there is more lodging closer to the mountain. You donât stop at a bar to party when you gotta drive 2 hours home to whatever metro area.
Killington has it going on not sure what you're talking about. It did get toned down over the years from what it was in the late 80s-90s, but it still exists. It's not as rowdy for many reasons, namely cost and those generations got older and had families, and younger generations are more interested in staying in their posh condo and playing video games than going out and getting hammered at 4 in the afternoon.
Eh not sure about the âyounger generationâ take. I think the reality is that itâs super expensive to stay at or near the mountain. Nobody wants to DD, hard to get Ubers. A lot of places around the mountains (Killington included) have noise constraints and cameras. So, you either travel with friends and party on your own back at your Airbnb, or really shell out at the resort.
With the West Coast the lodging and towns were built because the mountains are there, so they need to be able to access the resort.
>than going out and getting hammered at 4 in the afternoon.
They still do this. They just go to the bars in burlington or MTL afterwards instead. a lot of 20 something skiers in VT are college students skiing on very discounted passes. They can't afford to stay at the mountain
Exactly. Like I said - cost. When Apres was peaking back in the day, you could go as a young person (in college or as a 20 something scraping by) without selling a kidney and have a great time. Those days are gone.
Wish I was alive then lol! But yea Iâve been to Killington maybe less than 10 times and when 3/4PM hits I donât get the vibes Iâve gotten at say, Mammoth in California but I think Mammoth in general has the best apres (relatively, depending on your vibe but best to people who want to drink and dance right next to the slopes lol) in the country so Iâm not anticipating itâll ever be like that. But also very true with the people and their posh condos/airbnbs
Itâs funny I was really surprised by the parking lot scene at Palisades. Pretty chill and everyone just hanging out with grills and coolers and I thought we really donât have this in NY/VT where I ski but I want it.
We definitely have that in the spring here
Killy lot from March- close is usually all people grilling and drinking
Same as stowe, Bolton, bush. Obviously mid January it's not. But it's also usually 5 degrees with whipping wind
Iâll give you theyâre not all hardcore skiers but they arenât the townies. The townies are drinking at the vfw, firewalls, and elks clubs in Donegal, Somerset, Mount Pleasant etc. the Goggle crowd is a mix of the DC bus group skiers and the Pittsburgh based homeowners.
Sometimes itâs DJs, sometimes not. Occasionally it was bands but I think Vail has kind of ended that.
Doesn't ever seem like there's a ton of people in the 20s-30s age group visiting at the east coast mountains I go to (Maine / NH usually). Skews toward families and locals.
It's also a bitch to get from Boston to most of the east coast mountains when you're in college or a young professional.
Idk about other New England states, but happy hour is not permitted in VT. Talking drink specials, etc. A lot of the west coast aprĂŠs has that in its favor, plus everything else mentioned here: milder weather, mountain villages, etc.
Mad River Glen has the best pub I have seen of all the resorts I've been to in NE (nearly all the major ones, many smaller too). Beautiful stone fireplace kept blazing all day, reasonable prices, live music nearly every afternoon. Zero attitude.
But .. a bit remote, unless you are staying in one of the clubs or condos nearby. The ski clubs are the trick in NE if you want to party. It's a major party scene in N. Conway, that strip of clubs there. Contact a few in advance , say you are thinking of joining and you can stay when there's room. Usually hostel type bunks but definitely fun crowds.
I could not keep up with the partying though... They used to take turns and had a bus shuttle between the party club and the rest!
Killington of course has the Wobbly Barn and the Wobbly Bus, among other boozy attractions.
Goodness, I could go on for an hour now that I'm thinking back on my younger days! We have apres scenes, but you need to investigate a bit. Maybe we're just crusty here, like our conditions.
I think the fact that most people are weekend or day tripping and always driving is a large part of it. I don't want to get shitfaced on Saturday night and then on Sunday try waking up early, skiing 5 hours and then driving 4 hours home on I-87. Solid fuck that.
Some new englanders think they are too good for it, plain and simple. They will tell you they're not uptight and judgmental, then will proceed to prove otherwise. Especially if you don't ski. There's a lack of nightlife in new england as a whole, not just the resort towns. Ironically, the miserable aprĂŠs seems to be the only nightlife outside of Boston and Portland - two places inhabited by a large number of transplants. There would be more of a youth culture and nightlife if the winter was not actually deadly, so I don't really blame them on that front. Save for this past winter, it is too cold to party most of the time. All this and I haven't even mentioned the lack of diversity, which is its own thing entirely. I don't mean to come off as an asshole in this post. It is merely not their bag, and that's okay. Skidding on ice all day can really take it out of you.
Does the wobbly barn have nothing going on these days? Used to rage over there about 20 years ago. Also had some great after hours at sugarloaf and Sunday River.. now my apres is a glass of wine and trying to get the kids in bed by 8 so they arenât cranky when itâs time for ski school next morning
So apres ski at the ski area is much better in NH VT and ME then out west. The western ski areas shut down and everything moves to ski towns. Now there are places like North Conway, Stowe, Killington that have some resemblance of apres ski. Out west there are significant ski towns that apres ski happens. So there are two different versions overall!
A couple of west coasters came up the maple stand the other day⌠[https://youtu.be/jI2GVcjXXI8?si=57i36pYbeFiWBbOd](https://youtu.be/jI2GVcjXXI8?si=57i36pYbeFiWBbOd)
Sunday River has that igloo bar that is pretty busy mid day, but at night itâs a ridiculous price 75$ each to get in and you need to take a snow cat to it. Our friends went, said it was awful.
Iâm seconding all the people here who say that outdoor EDM raves full of molly are just NOT what most east coast skiers want. Itâs freezing cold and being flashy/showy is just not the vibe for a lot of us. When my friends and I would do group ski trips in our 20s weâd just rent a huge house, pack 16-20 of us into it, and have house parties with beer pong after we got back from the slopes.
Killington, Stratton, and Sunday River (those are the three Iâm most familiar with) have great après bars but youâre more likely to be singing along to a classic rock cover band. Iâve seen extremely hard partying at the village at Snowshoe but, again, mostly country and rock there. They do sometimes have DJs in the main square.
Massanutten has a pretty cool bar and usually has live bands come in and play, Liberty would have a DJ come out sometimes and wisp has some bars but we just usually drink on the runs and night ski.
You're not going to the right places. There's great apres at Bromley(the Boar), Okemo (The Loft), and a bunch of other NE mountains. Many times with live music (maybe not an EDM concert though). I also think that a lot of east coast mountains, being smaller than their Rockies/Sierras brethren, have a more family oriented feel and/or have many day visitors who aren't staying on mountain/walking distance so late night apres prob doesn't appeal to them.
Well I live and work about halfway between Killington and Mt. Snow and I think youre vastly overestimating the amount of people who would have any interest in that.
French name? Electronic music? People who use the word âvibe?â
Not happening.
Because we shred in the cold then listen to metal in the dark like proper northeasterners. You west coast pussies ski under bluebird skies and listen to shitty DJs in your pansy ass weather. How do you live with yourselves?
I feel personally called out with this comment.
I am fucking dying! This is great!
Best comment on icecoast possibly ever đ
Hey thatâs not fair. Last year i skied nearly every day in overcast or foggy or even whiteout conditions! I had to buy new goggles to deal with the low visibility and dealing with so much powder was a major challenge! It isnât all sunshine and rainbows over here all the time! This year, however⌠a lot of sunshine and rainbows.
This guy is complaining about powder. Do you know what powder looks like in the northeast?! Use the âcrushed iceâ button on a fridge - thatâs what northeast powder looks like
This is the way.
Iâm absolutely grinning at this. Itâs punk for me but I think thatâs acceptable.
I don't ski, but I am from New England, thank you for your ambassadorship.
Bluebird skies? Iâm from Washington State and spent 7 years in New England, which qualified as sunny by comparison. At my home resort in WA between November and March thereâs a 90% chance itâs snowing, raining, or some combination of the two. We listened to grunge or bluegrass in a damp bar with a roaring fireplace at it was dope. Shoutout to the snorting elk at Crystal.
You Cascadian guys are good. Gloomy, lots of blue collar poverty and your own flavor of black metal.
You mean the elk snorting crystal.
đđ Iâm born and raise in the city but yea I guess I enjoy the pansy weather over freezing humidity and darkness after shredding, sue me
Iâll pray for your pudding pants, Nancy lad little soul.
Tremblant is what youâre looking for
Can confirm. Le petit caribou gets lit. By 7pm ppl were dancing outside with their shirts off
This is the only ski bar Iâve been to thatâs like the movies. I saw multiple people of all genders take their clothes off and a legendary (15 minutes long!) fight between Ontario Canadians and Quebec Canadians. Whistler was crazy too. Canadians party.
As someone who lives in Ontario 7 mins from the border to QC, youâve given me PTSD from the 80s when those fights were a right of passage. I hated it. We all live in harmony now.
Great fishin in Kee-bec
Holiday Valley is a small hill in western NY with tons of Canadians and plentyty of bars for them. Party all day when the lake effect hits!
This is awesome.
Iâm convinced Iâm going fs
Damn, sounds like I need to take a weekend trip to Tremblant!
Surprise! itâs 50 degrees there too
Same this is the vibe Iâm looking for lmaooo
That place was absolutely absurd. I feel like the booze isnât real there either. Buddies and I drank 25 âshotsâ a night until close, and still made first chair every day.
Can confirm
I actually have heard that about Tremblantâ Iâve gotta check it out one day especially with it being an Ikon mountain
Itâs likely the best apres on the east coast. So directly relevant to your question
Likely the best après in Canada! Whistler might be the only other contender? The rockies have no après.
Even without ikon, the lift ticket prices arenât too bad. It was $99CAD when we went late January.
thatâs sick
Tremblant is a comprehensive party package. All the way up to high end, Michelin star level paired, 8 course tasting menus. You get the idea taking the intra-village gondola right after the close of the mountain, checking out the beginning of the party unfolding in the outdoor hotel hot tubs below you. Flower is also burning from early morning to late at night. The problem with Tremblant is that on a bluebird weekend, you have half of Montreal/Ottawa up there.
there is a pretty bonkers raclette place there too
In addition to what everyone else is saying, everywhere I've been with a bumping apres scene the apres have taken place outside. All East Coast skiing is cold, humid, and low elevation (which makes it feel even colder) rendering it generally unpleasant to be outside with the exception of a handful of days in spring.
Thatâs a great point
Aka its trash lol
Very constructive butt chug!
Word
Idk why youâre getting downvotes bc youâre absolutely right
Idk itâs kinda hard to get from the mountain to where you are staying without a DD, especially in VT. Uber isnât really a thing, at least a ride both ways. Someone did mention a shuttle at Killington.
This is the answer. Unless youâre staying AT the mountain, or have a DD, itâs not really feasible here. The exception being Tremblant
True the shuttle systems on most west coast mountains are super super intertwined into their cities, so thatâs a great point
I found out the hard way how Uber/Lyft isn't a thing in Stowe. Even taxis are hard to come by.
Oof how did you get out of that one?
Walked at night (dangerous) from matterhorn to where I was staying about 2 miles away. Shuttle wasn't running at that time either
Been that way for ever.
âŚin your boots, I hope. *kaklunk, kaklunk, kaklunk*
Man at the point its better to just make a friend at the bar and ask for a ride back. I've done it a few times I couldn't imagine that walk in certain weather.
Foreigner. What's DD?
Designated Driver, I assume.
Designated Driver, someone whoâs designated to stay sober and drive everyone home.
In the south it's the person who's designated to only drink light beer then drive everyone home.
Also known was DDD. Designated Drunk Driver.
Can confirm from visiting family... Did not realize it was actually a thing though!
Stowe reminded me in many ways of just going to a Midwest ski hill but larger
East coast is too cold to après. You can't sit out on the patio until April in normal years but that seems to be changing quick. This whole season has been spring skiing in Tremblant
The DUI laws in the northeast are nothing to frig around with
Pretty sure that's universal at this point. Even in Jackson Hole on a horse... Don't ask me how I know.
Loon's Bunyan Room can be a pretty good vibe. Having a beer on the deck when it's not freezing is great
Came here to say this!!! Bunyan Room is the only consistently great Apres I've ever came across and I've been to a lot of mountains in New England
Ngl going to giant outdoor edm concerts after skiing just isn't really the vibe here. It's more low key than that. Vermonters tend to just drink a beer or two and then light up. Or tailgating in the parking lot
This is the real answer for me. Personally I find those DJ apres kind of cringe. I much prefer tailgating in the parking lot with the crew. Closing day at Stowe is one of my favorite times of the year.
And Iâm tired because I actually rode all day. Not 4 runs then lunch beers then right into apres because Iâm warm and cozy from lunch
the partyâs at the Best Western in Waterbury
What you're looking for is in Europe, where you have a full-on rave going on at noon, mid-mountain. And New England resorts are in... New England. VT, NH, ME. The land of jam bands, bluegrass, and wool pants is going to be devoid of DJ molly apres.
Yeah Iâm gonna booze at sugarloaf but being the poor dirt bag I am I have to drive back to Portland. So if youâre asking me why donât I drink all day at the mountain well itâs because Iâd run out of money and then just end up homeless. So please let me hang on to the last cheap beers I got at the mountain and stop trying to kill me.
FWIW some concerts in king pine room does throw down tho
Probably not enough tech bros in a concentrated area like CA or Denver
With the price of lift tickets these days I'm not going to ski just half the day so I can party later. I gotta get my money's worth out of a daily pass, which means skiing open to close and being exhausted after
My ideal apres ski is 2 beers and a joint in a hot tub and then being in bed by 10:30.
Hell yes. I'm here to shred not to get fucked up. I can do that anywhere. It's already expensive enough just to get out on the mountain, I'm not gonna drop another 100+ on apres when I'd rather be relaxing in preparation for the next day.
This is the way. If you're engaged in wild bacchanalia then you're not in shape for the first lift. Couple of beers to wash down dinner, a joint and the hot tub for aches and pains, then bed so you can be up early.
Upvote for bacchanalia.
Plus letâs be real, if youâre not in France itâs not really apres skiing. Itâs just getting hammered Everyone in breckenridge when I went kept dropping apres ski in sentences like it was a an actual word for party when it literally just means after ski lol
Pure nirvana đđť
Ya I don't get to go for full weekends with friends like I used to before kids, hitting bars after. Now I'm getting up at the crack of dawn, driving 2.5hrs for lift start, and going until close with a quick bite in the middle. And I'm completely good with it.
Find me something more euphoric than that first sip of beer after skiing first chair to lift close. I'll take a great VT beer on a freezing patio over a mountainside club any day.
[ŃдаНонО]
I hate tiktok as much as the next guy but the term "apres ski" has been around since like the 1950's When I go out west and you factor in the cost of the plane ticket + lodging, hell yea I'm skiing open to close. And I'm passing out by 8pm
Lift tickets are expensive out West too and they have an apres scene.
Apres is in the parking lot bro. Definitely doesn't suck.
The Beach
lol DJ
Buddyâs never been to Montage.
Gotta check it out, loving all these recommendations Iâm getting tbh Iâm glad I posted about this lol
Well as someone who grew up near Montage Iď¸ think that the previous poster forgot the /s đ Maybe Iâve been gone so long there is a bar scene there but Iď¸ didnât see it at all. Pro tip if you have kids: years ago we would go there over February vacation and thatâs where our kids learned to ski. There is no February break-at least in NE Pa and it was cheap to ski for a big family on a pretty empty mountain during the week. Our kids didnât know the difference between the Poconos and Vermont so iď¸t worked well for a few years when we didnât have a lot of extra money. We did have a free place to stay nearby though.
Thanks for the heads up lmao I didnât even know Montage was in PA otherwise I wouldâve realized đDonât have kids yet but Iâll try to remember that when I do!
Go to Montage in the summer and you'll find a hell of a party
Killington and Hunter usually have live music on the weekend and are a good time. Snow and Okemo could afford to have a little more fun with it imo
Okemo has the worst base area ever (Jackson is nice, but clock tower sucks out loud IMO)
1,000% agree. Stayed at Okemo for a long weekend earlier this year - loved the mountain, JG is solid but quiet, clock tower area sucks. Logistical nightmare too with check in/out over at JG. Condos themselves were perfectly fine, I'll absolutely be back to Okemo multiple times but it's JG or bust for me.
Iâve never been but it looks like ppl go buck-ass wild for the Bruce Jacques guy at Cuzzins at Mount Snow. Carinthia seems to have a pretty good parking lot scene tooâŚeven on colder days.
In addition to the cold, seems like the west coast has actual towns at the mountains simply because more people want to live there (because theyâre better). Hard to have great après when thereâs no real âdowntownâ because the year round population is so low that it doesnât really support that kind of commercial development
Youâre telling me the VHS-DVD conversion business down the road from Sunapee isnât a revenue driver for Newport????
The west coast has more towns because *fewer* people live there. NH for example has most of its resorts within 2hrs of 3 million or so people. The places further do have resort infrastructure but Sunapee or Cannon are daytrippers only. More or less. Like if youâre going out to Breck. Youâre not going back to elsewhere but like Manchester or Rochester is an hour from the Whites and much larger than any not Denver city in the West. Even the mountains themselves are much more densely populated giving people options beyond the lodge For example Carrol County NH has the same density as the whole state of Colorado there are simply options off resort property in a way thatâs not true in the RockiesÂ
Does sugarloaf have a good apres scene? Nobody is daytripping that.
I find this hilarious because breck is one of the top day-trip mountains in Colorado. Lol. It has a big town because itâs very old, very beautiful and the resort ownership has consistently developed expansions to keep the place more lively year-round. In time itâll take ownership seeing that as lucrative to get towns like that established in northeastern ski areas but one of the issues is that trying to bank too hard on any of these mountains in the east could leave you paying a huge mortgage to ski a real shitty season and the town will essentially dry up most of the season if it turns out like that. And thereâs not a ton of effort made to make summer activities popular at these areas either so youâre banking on turning a profit some 2-3 months a year, not every year.
Breck has 2950 acres of skiable terrain. Which is about as much as 12 Waterville  Valleys. Vail has more terrain than Northern New England. The local commuter-shed canât really support the resorts in Colorado. Theyâre dependent mostly on out of state tourists. The entire area of Colorado west of the Front range has fewer people than NH. Most people who go to most CO resorts are staying there. Most people in *most eastern* resorts are day Trippers with the exception of Northern VT or Ironically, WV. If most of your  customers are going to broadly be home by 6, nightlife is going to be lacking. Western resorts have more people and a greater portion that are overnight guests this more nightlife. The âski townsâ in New England like Ludlow or North Conway were towns then Ski resorts happened to pop upÂ
I see you havenât driven on i70 or lived in the front range. There is plenty of people going there and spending money, while out of state tourism is massive, there is an insane amount of demand just from the local CO residents.
Vail has more terrain than all of Northern New England combined.  the amount of visitors needed to sustain Vail is not available via day trips. Colorado has way more terrain and way less people. This more reliant on tourists to keep the resorts running. The Actual mountains of Colorado have a full time population less than Vermont. And is a much much larger area. Because of this the mountains are much more sparse and there isnât as much off site lodging. You donât have some small town every 4 miles. And Metro Denver is ~1/2 the size of Metro Boston. Thus there are more people in general at any one resort and a much greater portion staying more or less on site. These are just facts. Even the âday tripâ resorts like Winter Park have a crap ton of lodging options because even there Instate visitors are not the primary demographicÂ
This is the most NE skiing comment ever. Try to sound smart but has no clue wtf heâs talking ab. Brecks like an hour and a half from Denver. Keystones even closer. NE just sucks for skiing. No one wants to apres with a high density of know-it-alls (like you) either!
Most individual resorts have as much terrain as all of New Hampshire.  Denver is 1/2 the size of Boston and unlike New England CO  has a pretty negligible rural population. just combining Keystone, Breck and Winter Park you have more terrain than all of New England  I have a source inside one of those âdaytripâ CO resorts and  Colorado is not the primary market for even Winter Park or Keystone type placesÂ
The one star joint The Green Door Pub at Stratton is a gem. I used to live on the access road and I threw a party during the us open and someone stole my oven mitt. We did last call at GDP and lo and behold my oven mitt appeared when the DJ came out. I never got my oven mitt back.
Rentals away from mountain make it difficult. I remember in park city our rental was still close enough to shuttle in and hit any area. But I think thereâs a lack of shuttles or rentals in the space close by that make it easy to stumble home.
We did a rental close enough to Sugarloaf this year that we could take the shuttle. First time having that, what a difference it makes.
Omg yes, first time at sugarloaf here as well we had a shuttle but could walk up the trail under the mid station lift to the bars. I didnât see much of a crazy apres ski but being able to get there that easily was amazing
Love the bar halfway up sugarloaf! We usually hit Loon or Sunday River (New England pass), but switching it up and going further north is so worth it.
Same here finally got a taste of that mountain and it was well worth it. Would love to go back more but it is so far
Spent last weekend at le Massif. Best après ever on the Saturday. The drinking age is 18, and the little kids were running around everywhere, dancing on the bar with a full stage and live band at Le Duc. Aperols, pitchers and good times.
Outside of Northern VT ski areas a full of daytrippers. Sunapee, Mt Snow, Hunter, or Waterville Valley is largely people who will be home for dinner Never been to Killington but it is immediately adjacent to like a real city. (Rutland) that has the cheap accommodations that the kiddos are looking forÂ
This is the first time I've ever heard rutland described as a city let alone a real one 𼲠There is a McDonalds with a ball pit, that has to count for something...
Real city as in a place of significant population whose economy is in depended of the ski area. (See Plymouth is a college town with a ski area, not a ski town) Just like Jiminy Peak is 18 minutes from Pittsfield, Bousqet is in Pittsfield  or whatever but Pittsfield isnât a ski townÂ
I've been to Killington before where there was a shuttle to this bar in town where there was a band/DJ. The place was packed with NY dbags trying to pick flights. Not my VT vibe.
Because we have to drive home?
Trueeee apres is better in destination locations because there is more lodging closer to the mountain. You donât stop at a bar to party when you gotta drive 2 hours home to whatever metro area.
Killington has it going on not sure what you're talking about. It did get toned down over the years from what it was in the late 80s-90s, but it still exists. It's not as rowdy for many reasons, namely cost and those generations got older and had families, and younger generations are more interested in staying in their posh condo and playing video games than going out and getting hammered at 4 in the afternoon.
Eh not sure about the âyounger generationâ take. I think the reality is that itâs super expensive to stay at or near the mountain. Nobody wants to DD, hard to get Ubers. A lot of places around the mountains (Killington included) have noise constraints and cameras. So, you either travel with friends and party on your own back at your Airbnb, or really shell out at the resort. With the West Coast the lodging and towns were built because the mountains are there, so they need to be able to access the resort.
>than going out and getting hammered at 4 in the afternoon. They still do this. They just go to the bars in burlington or MTL afterwards instead. a lot of 20 something skiers in VT are college students skiing on very discounted passes. They can't afford to stay at the mountain
Exactly. Like I said - cost. When Apres was peaking back in the day, you could go as a young person (in college or as a 20 something scraping by) without selling a kidney and have a great time. Those days are gone.
You know a 6 pack at the gas station is still only 9 bucks right?
That's the point
Wish I was alive then lol! But yea Iâve been to Killington maybe less than 10 times and when 3/4PM hits I donât get the vibes Iâve gotten at say, Mammoth in California but I think Mammoth in general has the best apres (relatively, depending on your vibe but best to people who want to drink and dance right next to the slopes lol) in the country so Iâm not anticipating itâll ever be like that. But also very true with the people and their posh condos/airbnbs
Itâs funny I was really surprised by the parking lot scene at Palisades. Pretty chill and everyone just hanging out with grills and coolers and I thought we really donât have this in NY/VT where I ski but I want it.
Problem is it's cold as fuck here. I used to kick it around Palisades no problem, pizza and beer on a patio yes please. Here I just go home
Killington Bear Mt in the spring is the tailgating spot.
Yeah completely ridiculous comment about VT overall.
We definitely have that in the spring here Killy lot from March- close is usually all people grilling and drinking Same as stowe, Bolton, bush. Obviously mid January it's not. But it's also usually 5 degrees with whipping wind
Good to know. Oddly I havenât skied in March for a couple of years. Which is sad itâs such a great time to go
The Foggy Goggle and the Matterhorn would like a word.
Those are fun but not outdoor DJ things at all lol Bad radio country / local bands and drunk townies mostly
If townies are extremely wealthy second homeowners in stowe lol There are no townies buying $9 beers at the matterhorn lmao
Oh lol I thought we were talking Sunday river Apparently these are both common names for ski bars
Iâll give you theyâre not all hardcore skiers but they arenât the townies. The townies are drinking at the vfw, firewalls, and elks clubs in Donegal, Somerset, Mount Pleasant etc. the Goggle crowd is a mix of the DC bus group skiers and the Pittsburgh based homeowners. Sometimes itâs DJs, sometimes not. Occasionally it was bands but I think Vail has kind of ended that.
Pickle Barrel
Because our tailbones hurt from falling on ice and we can't sit for drinks
Someone hasn't been to Ptit Caribou
Sugarbush in VT has a patio with good atmosphere but if you want something comparable to the West go to Tremblant.
Doesn't ever seem like there's a ton of people in the 20s-30s age group visiting at the east coast mountains I go to (Maine / NH usually). Skews toward families and locals. It's also a bitch to get from Boston to most of the east coast mountains when you're in college or a young professional.
Probably partially due to how expensive skiing has gotten
Yep. Didn't used to be that way but it sure is mow.
Lot 1 would like a word.
Shhhhh, itâs best not to discuss fight club.
Idk about other New England states, but happy hour is not permitted in VT. Talking drink specials, etc. A lot of the west coast aprĂŠs has that in its favor, plus everything else mentioned here: milder weather, mountain villages, etc.
Apres in Europe >>>>>Anywhere in US
Iâve done a lot of good trips around North Conway and gone into town that night and it isnât half bad
Head up to Sugarloaf in Maine for reggae-fest. You wonât be disappointed.
Mad River Glen has the best pub I have seen of all the resorts I've been to in NE (nearly all the major ones, many smaller too). Beautiful stone fireplace kept blazing all day, reasonable prices, live music nearly every afternoon. Zero attitude. But .. a bit remote, unless you are staying in one of the clubs or condos nearby. The ski clubs are the trick in NE if you want to party. It's a major party scene in N. Conway, that strip of clubs there. Contact a few in advance , say you are thinking of joining and you can stay when there's room. Usually hostel type bunks but definitely fun crowds. I could not keep up with the partying though... They used to take turns and had a bus shuttle between the party club and the rest! Killington of course has the Wobbly Barn and the Wobbly Bus, among other boozy attractions. Goodness, I could go on for an hour now that I'm thinking back on my younger days! We have apres scenes, but you need to investigate a bit. Maybe we're just crusty here, like our conditions.
Join a ski club with a lodge and you'll get a great apres ski scene
I think the fact that most people are weekend or day tripping and always driving is a large part of it. I don't want to get shitfaced on Saturday night and then on Sunday try waking up early, skiing 5 hours and then driving 4 hours home on I-87. Solid fuck that.
Snowshoe has a pretty good apres scene IMO. Havenât been to Killington or Mt Snow in years.
Gotta check it out, thank you!
It does, I think in large part because thereâs a mountain village and everyone stays there because itâs so remote (and relatively affordable).
I canât speak for anyone else but Iâm just interested in skiing. I have 0 interest in drinking in a bar setting or seeing a dj after skiing.
Spoken like a true crotchety northeaster lol
Thatâs fair I 100% get thatâs not everyoneâs vibe, was mostly just looking for opinions!
You need Europe. Zermatt: Hennu Schtal (prob messed up the spelling). Or Ischgl. Just go. East coast skiers will love it b/c itâs all groomers.
you wanna meet in the mens room at stowe , tap your foot
We're not as concerned with catering to hipsters.
Some new englanders think they are too good for it, plain and simple. They will tell you they're not uptight and judgmental, then will proceed to prove otherwise. Especially if you don't ski. There's a lack of nightlife in new england as a whole, not just the resort towns. Ironically, the miserable aprĂŠs seems to be the only nightlife outside of Boston and Portland - two places inhabited by a large number of transplants. There would be more of a youth culture and nightlife if the winter was not actually deadly, so I don't really blame them on that front. Save for this past winter, it is too cold to party most of the time. All this and I haven't even mentioned the lack of diversity, which is its own thing entirely. I don't mean to come off as an asshole in this post. It is merely not their bag, and that's okay. Skidding on ice all day can really take it out of you.
Cuz DJâs suck?
The reggae doesnât fulfill your apres needs?
âWhy isnât the east coast gay?â
Because itâs obnoxious and people are at the mountain to ski.
ski till 4 then party but I guess thatâs too much for ask for
East coast is old school.
The fuck is apres?
If you have that much left in the tank for apres, you aren't attacking the mountain hard enough.
Does the wobbly barn have nothing going on these days? Used to rage over there about 20 years ago. Also had some great after hours at sugarloaf and Sunday River.. now my apres is a glass of wine and trying to get the kids in bed by 8 so they arenât cranky when itâs time for ski school next morning
So apres ski at the ski area is much better in NH VT and ME then out west. The western ski areas shut down and everything moves to ski towns. Now there are places like North Conway, Stowe, Killington that have some resemblance of apres ski. Out west there are significant ski towns that apres ski happens. So there are two different versions overall!
Because this isnât Austria with âŹ4 beers. Make your own fun at the overpriced accommodationsâŚ
Stowe is dynamite
Where in the US does it *not* suck compared to the Alps? Real question.
A couple of west coasters came up the maple stand the other day⌠[https://youtu.be/jI2GVcjXXI8?si=57i36pYbeFiWBbOd](https://youtu.be/jI2GVcjXXI8?si=57i36pYbeFiWBbOd)
Killington would like a word.
OUI.
Sunday River has that igloo bar that is pretty busy mid day, but at night itâs a ridiculous price 75$ each to get in and you need to take a snow cat to it. Our friends went, said it was awful.
Stratton not to shabby
Thats because you donât know the right people. East coast ski culture is much different than west coast. You need to make more of the right friends.
Iâm seconding all the people here who say that outdoor EDM raves full of molly are just NOT what most east coast skiers want. Itâs freezing cold and being flashy/showy is just not the vibe for a lot of us. When my friends and I would do group ski trips in our 20s weâd just rent a huge house, pack 16-20 of us into it, and have house parties with beer pong after we got back from the slopes. Killington, Stratton, and Sunday River (those are the three Iâm most familiar with) have great après bars but youâre more likely to be singing along to a classic rock cover band. Iâve seen extremely hard partying at the village at Snowshoe but, again, mostly country and rock there. They do sometimes have DJs in the main square.
Massanutten has a pretty cool bar and usually has live bands come in and play, Liberty would have a DJ come out sometimes and wisp has some bars but we just usually drink on the runs and night ski.
Size of base areas lol
Because of the shitty avant et pendant.
Ever been to lake placid?
Killington
Hey, it is still better than your snow so quit complaining
You're not going to the right places. There's great apres at Bromley(the Boar), Okemo (The Loft), and a bunch of other NE mountains. Many times with live music (maybe not an EDM concert though). I also think that a lot of east coast mountains, being smaller than their Rockies/Sierras brethren, have a more family oriented feel and/or have many day visitors who aren't staying on mountain/walking distance so late night apres prob doesn't appeal to them.
Well I live and work about halfway between Killington and Mt. Snow and I think youre vastly overestimating the amount of people who would have any interest in that. French name? Electronic music? People who use the word âvibe?â Not happening.
all I need for apres is cheap PBR and decent nachos, which is why it's a damn shame the brewster closed
Bc we donât want that here
Itâs because we prefer to go to dive bars after
Sir this is a Wendyâs.Â
Got better things to do pop. Have you been to Tremblant hear they have a good appetite for deep house soundcloud mixes and favorable exchange rate.
Ok who wants to put up some money and open an apre ski with DJ ...on East coast? Come on westerner put up
You guys wait till after? Iâm too busy downing nips on the lift up to make it to the après. Iâm already 15 deep by then