Photo: Snowbird/ Matt Crawley
This week, Snowbird, the crown jewel of Little Cottonwood Canyon, opened The Summit Restaurant at 11,000 feet above sea level. A 23,000-square-foot oval building with glass windows floor to ceiling offers up radical views of the Wasatch and the Salt Lake Valley and serves up high-end cafeteria fare: artisan pizza, rotisserie meats, soups and yes, beer. Yeah, good eats to re-fuel. It took construction crews two years to build and mountain officials had been planning the building for decades. But Snowbird isn’t the only place to get your grub on at altitude. In honor of the ‘Bird’s new building, here’s a list–and a gentle review–of our top five eateries above 11,000 feet, in no particular order.
Alpino Vino: Telluride (11,966 ft.)
As the highest restaurant in North America, Alpino Vino provides a selection of sandwiches and meat and cheese platters that will make you feel like you’re in Europe and won’t induce a food coma that prevents you from enjoying afternoon skiing. As described by the Telluride resort website, Alpino Vino is a “quaint European hütte” that also doubles as a nighttime restaurant accessible by an “enclosed Snow-Coach.” In addition to the a-la-carte options, there is a five-course Italian-themed menu to satisfy all of your fine-dining needs. Not only is Alpino Vino the highest restaurant on this list, it’s also the most hoity-toidy.
Cloud Nine: Aspen-Snowmass, Colorado (10,900 ft.)
Clocking in at just under the 11,000 mark, Cloud Nine aims to transport its patrons to Switzerland. The cozy restaurant offers table service, fondue and apple strudel. Also on the menu is raclette, steak tartare, and caviar. Clearly, Cloud Nine doesn’t offer your average American pub food on a ski hill. With that menu, it’s no surprise that Aspen-Snowmass claims that Cloud Nine provides the most boisterous après ski scene in North America. Sounds like something we should all experience, you know, just to say we did.
The Overlook on Peak 9: Breckenridge, Colorado (11,274 ft.)
Boasting a revamped menu this year, The Overlook has introduced more items distinct from normal on-hill samplings. The homemade Gold King Ramen with pork or bison will provide the carbohydrates required to ski all afternoon (or lead to a food-induced nap). Meanwhile, the house specialty of homemade roast turkey with flaky vegetable pot pie remains quite the gourmet offering for an on-hill restaurant. My favorite aspect of the menu, however, are the breakfast burritos. We’ve all had to choose between eating breakfast or getting first chair in the morning (and consequently convinced ourselves that cliff bars will suffice), but hitting up The Overlook allows you to do both.
Two Elk Lodge: Vail, Colorado (11,240 ft.)
Speaking as a local Vail skier, the Two Elk Lodge offers back bowl enthusiasts a perfect lunchtime stop to refuel with great food. The common Vail lunch stop is Mid-Vail, but for those who are intent on lapping Blue Sky and China Bowl all day, Mid-Vail is a little out of the way (waiting in the chair 4 line after lunch? no thanks). Two Elk Lodge offers largely the same foods with shorter lines and better views. If you’re traveling to Vail anytime soon, do yourself a favor and avoid the mid-Vail circus and enjoy a burger here instead, followed by an immediate drop-in to score China bowl pow.
Threes!xty: Saas-Fee, Switzerland (11,483 ft.)
No, that’s not a typo. Threes!xty is the highest revolving restaurant in the world. The menu has everything you would want after a morning of skiing, from “heartwarming soups” to burgers and even chicken curry. The restaurant offers spectacular views of the Saas Mischabel Mountain Range, Eiger, Mö and Jungfrau. Its prices are by no means cheap, but they’re what you’d expect from an on-hill restaurant at a high-end ski resort. The slogan of Saas-Fee is translated as “the pearl of the alps,” and the special atmosphere of Threes!xty surely underscores that tag-line.
