Ullr Fest: Where the wild things are

Nov. 9, 2012

An unseasonably warm November sun beat down on my face as I stood on my tiptoes, adrenaline pumping, waiting for the starting signal. When it came, I shoved a mostly full mug of beer across the freshly waxed table in front of me to another member of my team, who made a one-handed grab and threw mug to mouth, spilling beer on himself and everything else in his splash zone. I raced to the other end of the table in time to make my own one-handed catch and splutter through my own mug of beer.

Sean Hanagan, Kelly Hanagan and Eric Borgerson, of team
Ullr Force, raise the gelande quaffing trophy aloft after
winning the competition at Ullr Fest.
Photo by SAMANTHA HANUS, Rival Mind Media

Around and around we went, sending mugs and snatching them in mid-air, accumulating as many style points as we could with handle grabs and spin moves. One minute later, I was drenched in beer, panting for air and high-fiving my two teammates. The crowd engulfed us in a wave of sound, cheering and raising mugs to the Norse god of snow.

This, my friends, is gelande quaffing, a 20-plus year tradition born in Jackson Hole, Wyo., and ushered into the Vail Valley three years ago by the Vail Players Club as part of the club’s annual Ullr Fest. The event features a silent auction, raffle, barbecue, beer and live music, but the centerpiece is the gelande quaffing tournament, pitting neighbor against neighbor, powder hound against powder hound, to see who can maintain hand-eye coordination after downing a metric ass-ton of beer.

Team Elvis gets a closer look at the gelande
quaffing trophy at Ullr Fest.
Photo by SAMANTHA HANUS, Rival Mind Media

This year’s beer-chugging champions, team Ullr Force, led by event organizer and all-around good guy Sean Hanagan, will be representing our little hamlet at the World Gelande Quaffing Championships in Jackson in March. The Vail Valley’s best will go up against the legendary bad boys of the Jackson Hole Air Force and other teams from mountain towns all over the country.

But sousing yourself with suds  to get to Jackson isn’t the only great thing about showing up at the Roundup Ski and Country Club every fall. In the three years since its inception, Ullr Fest has raised almost $14,000 for the Colorado Avalanche Information Center, capped by a $10,000 haul from this year alone. Hanagan said the event drew around 290 people on Saturday, Nov. 3, to drink beer and win prizes from a slew of sponsors.

Besides supporting a good cause, Ullr Fest is the Vail Players Club’s attempt to bring some of the original irreverence back to living in a ski town, complete with swearing, drinking and a little bit of friendly competition. So start gathering your team and stretching your beer muscles to prepare for next year’s gelande quaffing tournament, and in the meantime, pray for snow.

Krista Driscoll

The seething hordes gather to watch Ullr Fest gelande
quaffing on Nov. 3.
Photo by SAMANTHA HANUS, Rival Mind Media

Hophead

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