Featured Image Credit: Boyne Resorts
Six dollars…that’s what a can of local beer costs at Michigan’s Mount Bohemia. By contrast a craft cocktail at the Remedy Bar in Vail starts at around $25. Nobody in Colorado, wants to do that math but the Midwest has been living it for decades.
The Bar That Explains Everything
Mount Bohemia is roughly eight hours from Chicago. Sitting at the end of the road on Michigan’s Keweenaw Peninsula; it’s basically a peninsula hanging off a peninsula. In the ski world, that type of geography is an anomaly. But at Mount Bohemia, it is only the beginning. No grooming, no snowmaking, no beginners allowed, and no conventional base lodge either. Instead of a base lodge the layout includes a cluster of yurts, cabins and a campground.
Within one of the yurts you’ll find The Log Cabin bar and the local legendary beer named after the pneumatic drill Copper Country miners used to carry, a KBC Widow Maker Black Ale, for just $6 a can. There’s also a Christmas themed bar that runs year round, a tiki bar new for this season, a rooftop bar, and Michigan’s only Nordic spa, a 43 person hot spring pool included free with the season pass.That pass, by the way, is only $99 for weekday access or $112 for the full week version.
Founder Lonie Glieberman has been up front about this since the beginning. “Ferrari doesn’t build minivans,” he told POWDER. “If you try and be everything for everybody, you’ll end up being mediocre.” This concept is the entire après scene in a nutshell. At Bohemia it’s turkey sandwiches instead of chicken cordon bleu, and a bar full of actual ski bums instead of people in fake fur posing as them.
Boyne Keeps It Real Without Losing The Polish
Boyne Mountain and The Highlands offer a shinier version of the same Midwest energy. At Boyne Mountain, the Iglu is basically a snow fort that is built fresh each season. The bar is carved from packed snow, the crackling fire pits outside add ambience, and with every Aperol Spritz sold a dollar is donated to the mountain’s own conservation fund.
Over at The Highlands, the Zoo Bar runs live cover bands most weekends in a space one regular described simply as a great crowd pleasing scene full of interesting people. Both are more polished than Bohemia, but the foundation is the same, real local crowds instead of an Instagram backdrop.
The Rest Of The Midwest Isn’t Hiding Either
While Mount Bohemia and Boyne certainly stand out, resorts in Wisconsin, Minnesota, and Illinois all have their own version of this.
- Granite Peak in Wausau runs a full beer garden known as the Tailgate Trailer and Traveler’s Pub made from a repurposed trailer that serves as its own bar.
- At Devil’s Head in the Baraboo Bluffs you’ll find the Avalanche Bar that serves a manhole sized $23 pizza big enough for the entire table.
- Papa Charlie’s the legendary music bar at Lutsen Mountains burned down in 2023 and reopened this year as Charlie’s Alpine Bistro. Subsequently their late night scene shifted up the mountain to the Lofty Gondola Bar.
- Crystal Mountain has the Midwest-chic Thistle Pub
- Caberfae Peaks still allows skiers to plug their crockpots in the lodge
- Chestnut Mountain’s Summit Food and Spirits offers prime views of the Mississippi River.
None of these places are trying to be Aspen. That’s exactly why they work.
Is The Midwest Après Scene Actually Better Than Colorado?
On price and authenticity, yes, the Midwest après ski scene wins out. The price for a full day at Mount Bohemia can easily be kept under $150 if you include the $112 pass, $6 beer and $17 wood fired pizza. Meanwhile that total is not even enough to get you on the mountain at Aspen or Vail which can routinely run you near $1000 once you add up lodging, lift tickets, food and beverage. It’s at the point where even Colorado’s own tourism board has started publishing guides celebrating DIY parking lot tailgates, a small admission that luxury villages have priced out the soul it used to have.
What Colorado Won’t Admit
On scale, sunshine decks, and the sheer number of bars available, Colorado most definitely wins. You won’t get any argument here about that. However, the Midwest has never needed any of that to build a real après ski scene. It just went about and built one with what they had, yurts, hot tubs, crock pots and $6 cans of beer, while most of the country had no idea they even skied in that region.
So if you’re looking for something authentically different and a bit more affordable, make your way to the Midwest. Once there, grab a Widow Maker, find a seat by the fire, and let someone else pay twenty five dollars for a cocktail with a view. You’ll end up with the better night and a thicker pocket when you wake up the next morning.
About the Author
Rich Stoner is the founder of the après-ski lifestyle clothing and media brand, All About Après. He is also the co-host of the Après All Day Podcast. No stranger to the ski and après-ski scene, Rich has been a long time contributor for many publications on topics like skiing, travel, gear, beer and food. However, his passion is on the slopes and enjoying good times with good people. You can find him perfecting his craft carving turns and drinking beers in the Green Mountains of Vermont. @allaboutapres