Oktoberfest at Snowbird

On the 12th of October 1810, Crown Prince Ludwig of Bavaria married Princess Therese of Saxe-Hildburghausen and held a massive feast and party for the people of Munich. The festival was so popular that the tradition has carried on ever since with the nearly monthlong festival of beer, music, food, dancing, and revelry known as Oktoberfest.

It was a beautiful, cool day in October. My parents wouldn't arrive to meet me in Salt Lake City for another day, and my friend Dominik had the day off from work. We decided to drive up into the mountains above Salt Lake City to Snowbird, one of the ski resorts near the city which was hosting their very own Oktoberfest.

We thought we were being smart by getting to the resort early, but the parking lot was already full when we arrived! We ended up taking the free shuttle to the fairgrounds at the resort. Entry to festival was free, and tons of local shops and artisans had set up booths in the Oktoberfest Market selling souvenirs, art, t-shirts, and more. We explored the shops while waiting for the food and drink tents to open at 11.

We were first in line for the bierhall to open, and after paying for our first round of drinks, I found some good seats and Dominik went out to search for food. 

A rotating group of bands were playing constant German music, and the atmosphere inside the bierhall tent was lively and fun with lots of people dancing and singing along to the Oktoberfest drinking songs like "Roll Out the Barrel" and "Ein Prosit".

There were four different types of beer on tap: Oktoberfest Black Bier, Uinta Pumpkin Ale, Bohemian Oktoberfest, and Oktoberfest Harvest Ale. We decided to try them all!

You have to buy a glass, which come in one of three sizes. Dominik bought the big liter-sized glass stein, and I bought the small jar. After you have your glass, you can refill it for slightly cheaper. We ended up sharing one liter of Bohemian Oktoberfest, and that ended up being way too much, so for our next three beers, I had my jar refilled and poured half into Dominik's stein. That way we were able to taste each beer without having too much.

Of course, Oktoberfest isn't just about beer. It's also about food! We decided to share so that we could try everything that we wanted, but we had no idea how large the portions would end up being.

We started with a bratwurst with sauerkraut, potato cakes with applesauce, and a plate of spätzle with sweet red cabbage and sauteed mushrooms.

Next, we had a pretzel. I was expecting a normal sized soft pretzel, but this turned out to be the largest pretzel I had ever seen in my life. It was bigger than the paper plate it was served on and hung off the sides! It came with a big cup of melted cheese to dip it in.

Finally, already full but wanting dessert anyway, we had a slice of German chocolate cake, which isn't actually German, but rather named after the American chocolatier Samuel German whose chocolate was used in the original recipe (which was developed in the 1950s by a Dallas, Texas housewife). Still, it was thematic, and I doubt most people know that pretty obscure fact.

The ski lifts were running, but a ticket to the top was pretty expensive and we didn't really want to pay just to ride up and down. Instead, we sat to listen to some live music and digest our gigantic meal. The weather was beautiful - it was in the low 60s and sunny. We spent some time relaxing at the resort before waddling back out to the car to head back to Salt Lake City.