What is quaffing?

A Game of Skill and Spills

The story of Gelände Quaffing begins with the legendary Jackson Hole Air Force. In the early days, members of this unofficial skiing fraternity gathered at the Bear Claw Café, a bar and restaurant at the base of Jackson Hole Mountain Resort. For entertainment, the staff would slick the bar top with a wet rag and slide mugs of beer down to patrons, reminiscent of a Wild West saloon.

Around 1986, a sliding beer mug accidentally flew off the end of the bar, seemingly destined for the floor—until a quick-thinking drinker snatched it out of midair, punctuating the catch by chugging the remaining beer.

Gelände Quaffing, named after the German term geländesprung (a skiing jump over an obstacle), evolved from this moment of spontaneity. It took its current form in January 2008, with the first "official unofficial" quaffing competition held during Jackson’s annual ski industry trade show.

HOW TO PLAY

Teams of four compete

Two teammates stand at opposite ends of a long bar. 

  • Gameplay

    One teammate slides a beer down the bar, and the other catches it mid-air and drinks it. 

  • Scoring

    Each round you can only catch your mug a certain way to get awarded points:

    • 1st Round - 1 point for a catch or 2 points for a handle catch

    • 2nd Round  - Quaffer must spin in a circle really fast before catching their mug. 1 point for catching and 2 points for a handle catch

    • Final Round - Quaffer must do one of every catch first. Catch by the handle, spin before catching, and underneath the leg. As soon as a team has made all 3 catches. Freestyle begins and teams can start to try to score extra points for doing extra special pitches and catches. Things like setting the table on fire, doing a back flip, use of props, anything you can imagine to wow the judges. During freestyle judges give anywhere from 0 - 5 points for a freestyle pitch and Quaffe. 

  • Elimination - team with the most points win.

Teams wanted for jan 18th tournament

We are looking for teams to compete! If you are interested please fill out the form below and you will be contacted by a Moniker representative with further details.

  • Each team will receive a 2025 Quaffing tournament T & 4 quaffing mugs

  • Winners will get a $150 gift card to Moniker and 4 extra special quaffing championship liter steins

 

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