When people think of Las Vegas, skiing is probably pretty low on the list… but what if I told you there was a ski bar right on Las Vegas Strip?!
Discovering The Ski Lodge at The Cosmopolitan
A couple of weeks ago, my wife and I took a much-needed vacation to Las Vegas, fulling expecting to take a few days away from the sport of skiing, but little did I know it would still find me even in the middle of a desert. The first day we got there, I saw a billboard on The Cosmopolitan video sign for a ski bar, and of course, we had to check it out.
Flash forward a few days, and we began searching around The Cosmo but surprisingly couldn't find anything remotely close to a ski bar. That's because we failed to realize that The Ski Lodge was a speakeasy, and although it is listed on The Cosmopolitan website, all they give you is a floor number and tower location.
Now I'm not going to tell you exactly where it is or how to get inside because that would take away some of the fun, but if you ask around, open a bunch of doors, and you'll eventually get there!
Once Inside the Bar
And once you find it, you'll be shocked at how great this bar is. Just as a forewarning, it is very small, which plays into the theming quite well.
Right, when we walked in - we got heckled by what I would call a ukulele ski bum, which I mean, is there a better way to enter a ski lodge?
The lodge itself has a main bar with windows behind it that look out to a winter landscape. There are also smaller tables and seating throughout, including a small, closed-off private table accessible through a beaded curtain - a great touch.
The bar is a full-blown ski lodge. Wood covers almost every inch of the bar exactly how it should be. There is a fireplace with two nice leather chairs and an octopus hanging right above the mantel. And that certainly isn't the only thing to look at here, as this bar is filled top to bottom with skiing memorabilia ranging from Ski School movie posters to toy trams and everything in between. I spent the first hour in this bar just walking through and looking at all the cool vintage stuff they had.
Discovering is half the fun, so I don't want to give away too much, but I did spot a couple of Midwest easter eggs. I saw a patch for Boyne Mountain in Michigan and a Ski-Tonka patch, a small ski area located just outside the twin cities that closed sometime in the late 70s or early 80s.
I will say - if you plan on visiting this bar, bring some stickers, patches, or pins with you to stick up on the walls!
Menu & Drink Selection
The drink selection was excellent, and I have to say their specialty cocktails were delicious - my wife had the Southside Snowplow - which was very tasty, and of course, I went for the tall boy PBR…. which it turns out they didn't have.
And this is one critique of this ski lodge the lack of the all-time classic apres beer... Come on, guys! But come on, this is Vegas, and I'm in a ski bar, so I'm not going to complain too much here.
They also had pizza on their menu, which we didn't have, but after speaking with a couple of locals at the end of the bar - it sounded pretty legit.
Prices were pretty much what you would expect from an on-the-strip vegas bar. Cocktails were about $20 bucks and beer about $10 to $15.
But, I think it was well worth the ambiance and experience. It was so unique and something a little different, located right on the Vegas strip, but I am a little biased.
Shot Ski = Must Have
Then right before we were about to leave, I spotted from the corner of my eye, among a pile of vintage skis, a K2 5500 unlimited…, but this was a unique model because it had 1-3/8 "holes drilled into it... Which, of course, means… yes, a shot ski.
And I wasn't going to hang out in a Vegas ski bar without doing a proper shot ski. So we had them bring it over and mix up some in-house fireball shots, which turned out to be double shots.
So naturally, we took the shot ski and chased it with what else but more shots.
Was It Worth It? - Heck Yea!
But so much fun, and yes, this place is a little expensive, but honestly, what isn't when you are in Vegas. If you're a skier or snowboarder, this is a must-hit for at least one cocktail before a night on the town. It brought me right back to my element in a place I thought I was furthest from it.
But there you guys have it, a ski bar in the middle of the desert. If you want to learn more, head over to The Ski Lodge's page by clicking here. But until next time, I hope all of you have a great week, pray for snow, and I'll see you guys out there!
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