Hi, I’m Vic.

I’m a lifelong skier and a Creative Director based in Denver, Colorado.

I created Après as a tribute to everything we love about skiing. Because after a day on the mountain, we never want it to end with the last run. This is a game to keep ski days going long into the night — and, of course, it took a few long nights to bring it to life.

2017: The Idea

The idea for Après first came, as so many ideas do, while sitting in Colorado’s infamous I-70 traffic jams.

At first, I was just naming as many ski jargon terms as I could think of to keep from going stir crazy while inching along the snowy highway. But pretty soon all the brainstorming led to another thought: It’s pretty fun how all of these different pieces add up to make a great ski day. And on the best ski days, a snowy Après hot tub soak is always followed by late night board games.

While my friends and I love some Catan, Codenames, or Ticket to Ride, these games all have one thing in common: They have nothing to do with skiing! So, I decided to turn my little list of ski terms into a game made especially for skiers.

2020: Game Design

By “decided to,” I mean the idea sat in my iPhone Notes for years. It wasn’t until the ski season got cut short in 2020 that I finally broke out the index cards and sharpies to make the first playable Après prototype.

Inspired by popular set collection card drafting games and the idea of events unfolding over the course of a “ski day,” the gameplay began to take shape. And in our little quarantine bubble, brainstorming cards and workshopping rules quickly became the game of the year.

Night after boozy quarantined night, we made up for our lost winter by playing out the best ski days of our lives around the kitchen table with a bunch of hand-drawn cards.

2021: The Artwork

Even on the latest late-night game nights, my homemade cards were… a little less than ideal. So, after a year of refining the gameplay I called up my old ad agency pal, the brilliant illustrator Cait Gamble, to bring my scribbles to life.

Inspired by classic ski travel posters, trail maps, and a timelessly retro color scheme (with a light dusting of snow), we worked for months to transform Après from just another covid project into a real life card game. It’s her charmingly iconic illustrations that give the game that feeling I can only describe as “a cold beer after a long day on the mountain with your best friends.”

Thanks, Cait! For making my I-70 daydreams come true.

Cheers!

This game never could have happened without the help of my fun-loving friends who test-played the hell out of countless versions and variations, but somehow never got sick of it. Maybe the free beer helped. So, if you find yourself enjoying a round of Après with friends as great as mine, raise a glass to Grahame, Marissa, Matt, Lauren, Josh, Patrick, Casey, Kevin, Nicole, Brian, Katie, Christin, Abby, Teddy, Jared, Ellie, Scott, Jason, Drover and, of course, Tara.