If the standard après ski regimen of beers and nachos is feeling a bit tired, take it to the next level with champagne sabering. According to legend, the practice of champagne sabering dates back to Napoleon Bonaparte who famously opened the pricey bottles with his saber. Today, it's a spectacle that livens up ski towns like Whistler, Park City, and Aspen, and we have the guide to all things sword and bubble related. Be warned, however, that the advanced, "ski-sabering-of-champagne" is not recommended; ask Lindsey Vonn, who cut a tendon in her right thumb during one attempt.
↑ The glamorous St. Regis Deer Valley busts out the swords seven nights a week at dusk on the hotel's Mountain Terrace. As the sun sets, resort staff explains the history of sabering before chopping the head off a poor bottle of bubbly. Attendees get tastes, of course, and individual sabering lessons taught by a sommelier are $150 per person.
↑ One of the best (and most expensive) restaurants in Whistler is Bearfoot Bistro, and their champagne sabering is quite an experience. The event is held in the restaurant's underground wine cellar, a room that holds over 20,000 bottles and is worth a trip on its own. Bearfoot Bistro also packages your sabered cork in a little box as a souvenir.
↑ The St. Regis Aspen also gets in on the sabering action with nightly swashbuckling on the hotel's front drive. Come at 5:00 pm as beverage experts entertain the crowd and offer attendees a glass of the bubbly.