To ski is to eat. The calorie-intensive sport has a popularity for drumming up large appetites. How these cravings are settled differs. Some budget-minded skiers depend on intelligent, if unglamorous, workarounds, consuming granola on the chairlift or hoovering chili from Ziploc baggies. The higher crust as a substitute turns to the high-minded eating places which have appeared in ski nation. What each camps share in widespread is that they spent all day snowboarding, and so they’re hungry.Is there anyone greatest meal to eat after snowboarding, although? After all not. Meals often is the most subjective of all tastes. However in service of dreaming just a little extra concerning the meals we are able to’t overlook, we determined to catalog the après ski meals we love.These are our eight favourite dishes to get pleasure from after the lifts cease spinning.The 2026 POWDER Picture Annual is right here! Search for a print copy on a newsstand close to you, or click on right here to have a replica shipped on to your entrance door.
Chili
With regards to complete post-skiing satisfaction, chili is undefeated. Beans, tomatoes, and floor beef—every key ingredient delivers taste and dietary worth in equal measure. One other draw of chili is its flexibility. Sure, most affiliate the dish with slabs of floor meat. However you possibly can, if that’s your factor, make a tasty vegan chili. Different dashes of non-public aptitude up the intrigue. No two chilis are alike, and everybody has their very own, generally intently guarded, recipe. Making an attempt to pattern all of them is the very best strategy. The one situation with sucking down a steaming bowl of chili is the flatulence you’ll generate within the gondola the next morning. Technically, that’s not your drawback, although. Everybody likes their very own model.
Ramen
Go to Japan for the powder snowboarding, they are saying. It’s welcome and correct recommendation, however the snow may not be the island nation’s biggest draw. As a substitute, that title may go to its meals, ramen particularly. Like chili, this dish is reassuring, sizzling, and filling—all traits we search after a chilly day on the mountain. Whereas the very best ramen is normally present in hole-in-the-wall Japanese eateries, customizing some immediate noodles with bonus elements can nonetheless ship the same, albeit lesser, excessive. Pair your creation with a powder day at residence, and also you would possibly have the ability to faux you’re in Japan. Some store-bought sake might help.
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Poutine
The Quebecois know how you can feed skiers. Cheese curds and gravy are craving-worthy. So are French fries. Why not marry all three of them? Canada, in fact, is the place to go to fulfill the gravy and cheese curds itch. Poutine may even be thought of the nationwide dish of the skiers who reside there. You’ll be able to nonetheless discover it in U.S. states that border the Nice White North, although. Wisconsinites, as an illustration, know their approach round dairy merchandise.
Fondue
Within the Alps, locals desire a goopier, deconstructed type of cheese. These steaming pots are veritable portals to après bliss, particularly when served alongside a beer or crimson wine. Conventional fondue dipping meals embrace bread, pears, and apples. Keep in mind, although, you’re the grasp of your self. Something edible can find yourself in a pot of fondue—and later your mouth—if you happen to’re courageous sufficient. Don’t be shy. Strive placing some Oreos or beef jerky in there. These experiments would possibly fail at first, however it’s unattainable to achieve new culinary heights with out making some errors alongside the best way.
Hamburgers
What would grow to be of skiers if it weren’t for hamburgers? They’d be much less nourished, that’s for certain. The usual hamburger isn’t ostentatious. As a substitute, it’s dependable. You’ll be able to wander into virtually any ski city restaurant, order a hamburger, and keep away from disappointment. There’s energy on this simplicity, particularly for state-trotting skiers preferring routine. Whereas we’ll all the time invite you to develop your consolation zone (by, for instance, combining Oreos and fondue), there’s nothing incorrect with the culinary ski city workhouses. And hamburgers, in fact, might be elevated past the abnormal with knowledgeable steerage from a talented grillmaster. You’ll know this hallowed patty if you discover it, and also you gained’t overlook it.
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Pizza
File pizza into the same cupboard because the hamburger. What’s the saying? Pizza and snowboarding are related? When each are dangerous, they’re nonetheless fairly good. Even slices that recall cardboard served at 7/11 can hit the spot in the suitable circumstances. Pizza’s an enormous tent, too. Detroit, New York, and Chicago are only some of the numerous pizza varieties on provide. All of them cater to completely different tastes and completely different skiers. Store round. Discover the pie that makes you’re feeling essentially the most alive.
Nachos
Like snowboarding itself, nachos are higher shared. Collect a couple of pals, go to the mountain, after which, afterwards, order a heaping pile of chips and douse them within the accouterments of your alternative. By the point the flotilla of tortilla and cheese disappears, you’ll hopefully have shared some recollections from the ski day that got here earlier than. Nachos aren’t only a dialog piece, although. In a pinch or a second of desperation, they’ll function a full-fledged meal for one. Whereas eating on chips may not cowl each main meals group, it should, on the very least, style good on the best way down.
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French Onion Soup
The pungent flavors and gooey textures of French onion soup should not for everybody. If this soup had been to run for the presidential workplace, it would wrestle in swing states and with coalition-building. It doesn’t have the common enchantment of, say, pizza. There’s one thing to be stated for occupying your individual lane, although, and French onion soup is a real maverick that has a particular place in lots of skiers’ hearts. Plus, you possibly can order it at Applebee’s, which is understood for stunning (and maybe horrifying) offers just like the $1 margarita, aptly often known as the Dollarita.
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