Though it's named after the latitude of Aspen, come 3 o'clock in the afternoon, 39 Degrees feels like it's the center of the universe. Located inside the Sky Hotel, this is the most happening après scene in town for the youngish crowd. The lounge is retro, with spiky silver Sputnik chandeliers, low-slung sofas, and a fireplace. For après eats, try the Italian meatball sliders or the bruschetta with spinach and fontina cheese. Don't miss a peek at the pool area out the window—and bring your swimsuit if you'd like a piece of the action. The hotel hot tubs are open to all those with a 39 Degrees tab.

Open daily noon to 1:30 am.

The place to go for live music, period. With long lines that sometime wind around the block, the club can seem like a scene from another city. But once you get inside the large, tiered room, with rich wood chairs lined up along the low bars overlooking the stage and round bar tables huddled into cozy booths, you'll know you're far from a dingy city club. And the acoustics are amazing, too. Go to the Web site for upcoming shows.

Opens nightly at 8 pm.

With its enormous deck at the bottom of the Eagle Bahn gondola, the bar is an après-ski people-watching magnet—especially during the March–April spring season. ("Is she wearing a bikini?") It's also known for its daily drink specials and overall kicked-back vibe.

It only seems like the Last Dollar Saloon exclusively sells Budweiser longnecks. A scruffy (but fully stocked) spot with a pool table, fireplace, and Clapton's "I Shot the Sheriff" on the jukebox, it shouts a happy dive vibe. Beware the nickname: The Last Dollar is usually called the Buck by the same unintentionally misleading locals who call Colorado Avenue "Main Street."

Winter fashion here veers toward flannel–lined jeans and woolly Ugg boots, but if there's one place suited to the little black dress, it's Noir Bar. A swank joint below the Blue Point restaurant, the environment invites you to sit down—on a leather couch or leopard–print bar stool, or in a velvet–lined booth—then commands you to rise again for the beat, especially when DJs Ryan or Harry are spinning.

This elbow-to-elbow packed bar, where ski-boot-clad revelers gather in Vail Village after a day on the hill, has a great selection of local microbrews. There's also live acoustic music nightly—expect to hear some Elton John and the occasional Goo Goo Dolls riff. Beat the crowds by reserving a table in advance on the website.

You can't throw a stein in the Sheridan without hitting a Realtor, but they're generally convivial these days (Telluride's in the midst of a record real estate boom). Besides, the bar's usually too loud for them to hard–sell much. Telluride's oldest watering hole (inside the New Sheridan  hotel), the Sheridan retains a 19th–century elegance with mahogany paneling, a hand–carved bar, and a giant, vintage painting of a Rubenesque nude.

Owned by three young guys, this is party central in Vail Village, complete with $15 cocktails. The nightclub draws a young, sexy crowd gabbing on their Razr cell phones. The gimmick is themed rooms—including a 1950s jukebox room, disco dance floor, and a smoking lounge.

If Austin Powers were in town, there's one place you'd find him here, pinky in the air, at the Lucite bar. Opened in 2007, Social restaurant and lounge has candy-colored chairs and funky flowered wallpaper stuck to every flat surface. The menu is global tapas and the cocktail list reads like a pretentious travel guide, from the San Tropez (with absinthe, cognac, champagne) to the Hong Kong (iced green tea with Chivas). When it gets late and the restaurant clears, head upstairs to the cozy wine bar.

For the après–ski scene, follow the ka–chunk, ka–chunk of hard plastic boots to the West End, located on Telluride's free bus route, one block from lift 7. This is ski–world central, drawing as many raccoon–eye and hat–head victims as any ski bar in the West. It replaced a tired German joint in 2003, and its margaritas win kudos as the best around.