Whitefish Après–Ski Review

My one knock on Whitefish Mountain Resort (WMR) will be in this Whitefish Après–Ski Review. While some may view this as a negative I certainly do not. I am 50 years old and in a super marriage. In my youth I got in plenty of après–ski without the skiing so I need to balance my life out.

Whitefish Après–Ski Review — The Village is Lacking

The WMR ski village après–ski scene is not the stuff of legend. There were a few places to meet après–ski and two were more day spots than night spots. The most obvious night-spot was the Bierstube. I did not pick up on the presence of any night or dance clubs on the WMR grounds.

Whitefish Après–Ski Review — Ed & Mully’s

Ed & Mully’s and the Bierstube were the scenes of my “après–ski”-ing. Ed & Mully’s was more of a spot to get in and out of your gear, get some food, take a break place than a proper après–ski place. I did sit down there on Thursday and have two-three beers and hung out with my cousin (who skied longer than I did and he joined me when he finished skiing). However, the place closed around 6:00 pm.

Ed & Mully’s was not lonely with up to a dozen at the bar, but it still felt a bit lonely. Ed & Mully’s was definitely not a night spot.

Whitefish Après–Ski Review — The Raucous Bierstube

I was really looking forward to one place and that was the Bierstube. The mountain ambassador told us about the Wednesday night festivities there and so too did my ski-instructor. Not only was I being encouraged by people at Whitefish, but Powder Magazine and Jason from the Michigan Ski Report also recommended the Bierstube! Who am I to question such authori-tay!

The first night I had to give my legs every chance to recover and so we went back to our condo and ate, keeping things low key.

However, on the second day, after we revived out of our nacho-induced carb-coma we went to the Bierstube. Indeed, there was a large and lively crowd on hand. I would call the crowd very localish looking and on the young side. Well, the reason for that is that was the night the mountain staff holds their bonehead of the week awards. After the ski patrol gives the award out they fill everyone’s glass off with gratis PBR. Free beer, who is going to miss that? Certainly not young ski bums (I say this in a loving and admiring way)!

Of course, there were other guests present and we found two fellow Wisconsin natives, in fact one of them was an employee and ski-patroller at Devil’s Head.

Whitefish Après–Ski Review — The Intimate Bierstube

The Bierstube is its own place, but by the time you get to 50 years old the most unique bar is like many others. I felt quite at home in this place.

Thursday night in the Bierstube was much more low-key and intimate. We were able to share ski tales and tales of fishing with the barstaff. During our four or five last rounds the barstaff encouraged us to join the ski-bum ranks and I was thinking of doing just that and spending an extra day skiing in the another round of freshly fallen snow.

We did not eat at the ‘Stube we just had beers. The available beers were the standards and some local micros, including Cold Smoke which I was on the lookout for (I had a few at Ed & Mully’s too).

Whitefish Après–Ski Review — The Hottub in the Evergreen Condo

As I state earlier, on the first night I focused on leg recovery. In this I had a dinner of carb & protein rich foods (spaghetti & meat sauce laden with veggies + salad, and vino). I then went to the hottub for a soak. The hottub was close by and we shared it with the other unit in our condo. I spent about 20-30 minutes soaking (alone) trying to spur my legs onto recovery. Unfortunately, my legs did not recover by the next morning (since then I have learned about ski-recovery techniques).

Whitefish Après–Ski Review — Other Options

No, even the Wednesday night scene at the ‘Stube fails to approach the legend of après–ski. There was no serious dancing nor loud music nor drunken shenanigans. I call it adult fun, I really doubt there were any stories involving “I said or did what?” from that night. The atmosphere is not exactly family friendly but it was not debauchery either.

There is a shuttle bus that runs from the Village to the city of Whitefish and other guides can help out with the Whitefish night-life.

Whitefish Après–Ski Review — In Closing

You know what, I really don’t have much to say other than I found the après-ski scene perfectly suited to what I was looking for. Having some low key live music would improve the scene, the kind of music people can continue to carry on a conversation around. I suppose if you are in your mid-20s it would fall flat, but then again maybe you can find it in the town, get on the bus Justin

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