The Ski Boot Shot Glass: How a Crazy Idea Became a Product

At the Apres Allstars hut at Mirabellplatz (Mirabell Square), mini skis hang from the ceiling, and on each one sits a small glass shaped like a ski boot. Pick one up and you’ll soon notice: the glass sits in a real little ski binding. Here’s how this ski boot shot glass grew out of an idea between two friends.

What is the ski boot shot glass? The ski boot shot glass is a 4 cl (40 ml) glass shaped like a ski boot that clicks into a small plastic ski binding. It was developed by Tobi Deckert and Michi Gasteiger from Siegsdorf in the Chiemgau (the Chiemsee area), and their stall, Apres Allstars, is one of the huts at our Christmas market at Mirabellplatz.

You’ll find all the huts at Mirabellplatz further down.

Who is behind the ski boot shot glass

Behind the glass are Tobi and Michi. On their website they introduce themselves as product developers, graphic designers and long-time friends. A note on our own behalf: Tobi Deckert also writes for this blog.

According to our exhibitor page, the two lived together for 15 years at the LiftlaOim on the Zinnkopf in the Chiemgau, a flat share with its own ski lift in the garden. To birthdays and weddings they always brought a Shotski (a ski with several shot glasses mounted on it), in their case glasses glued onto an old ski.

From crazy idea to the 17th version of the binding

“The shot glasses with a binding started out as a Schnapsidee (a crazy idea – literally a ‘schnapps idea’)!” write Tobi and Michi on their About us page. The joke turned into work, and according to Apres Allstars this is how it went:

1. Sketches at the flat-share table: on evenings together in the flat share, the two sketched and designed.
2. 3D-printed prototypes: the first bindings came out of a 3D printer and were tested thoroughly.
3. The 17th version: a few months later there was an attic full of glasses, and the binding had reached its 17th version. That version is injection-moulded, which means liquid plastic is injected into a mould.
4. A company of their own: in the end the project became a business of its own, Apres Allstars GbR in Siegsdorf.

According to our exhibitor page, a trade fair gave them a push as well: in 2020 Tobi and Michi presented a different product at the ISPO sports trade fair. They had only brought a 3D-printed Shotski along to draw people to the stand, and that was exactly what caught everyone’s eye. It grew into the modular system of glass, binding and modules that you see at Mirabellplatz today.

A small online shop and 10,000 glasses in the hallway

The two started small: with an online shop, and everything packed and shipped from home. On their website they thank their partners and flatmates for their help and patience, because at times there were 10,000 glasses and bindings standing in their hallway.

Then, as they put it themselves, they had to learn to think a little bigger. Today the sets are assembled by hand in workshops for people with disabilities: the Pidinger Werkstätten (workshops of Lebenshilfe Berchtesgadener Land) and the Caritas Wendelstein Werkstätten (Caritas workshops in Rosenheim). Who works there and what exactly the workshops do is in our article Pidinger Werkstätten: who assembles the ski boot shot glasses by hand.

How the glass and the binding work

The glass clicks into the binding, and the binding gets screwed down, just as a ski boot sits in the binding on a ski. According to the product page and our exhibitor page, these are the details:

• The glass: real glass, 4 cl (40 ml), 69 × 36 × 74 millimetres. The glass mould, their own design, is made by a partner in Austria. The glass is calibrated and dishwasher safe, and it can also take hot drinks such as Glühwein (hot mulled wine, spiced with cinnamon, cloves and orange).
• The binding: 110 × 38 × 24 millimetres, made of break-resistant POM, a tough engineering plastic, produced in Germany. The screws for mounting are included.
• Where to put it: the binding can be screwed onto a wooden mini ski, onto the Shotski, onto a wall, a serving board or an old ski.
• To wear around your neck: you can swap the binding’s so-called DIN screw (on a real ski binding, the screw that sets the release value) for the eyelet that comes with it. Then you hang binding and glass around your neck on a cord.

The binding has two drilled holes, and a small cross-head screwdriver is all you need to mount it. That way the glass can also be screwed onto a retired ski that means a lot to someone. We collect more ideas along those lines in Gifts for skiers and in our article on souvenirs from the Christmas market.

Try the ski boot shot glass at Mirabellplatz

At the Apres Allstars stall you can take a close look at the glass and the binding. According to Tobi, you can also have a go on the Shotski there. How drinking together from the ski works, where the idea comes from and what the drinking age is for schnapps are all in our article What is a shotski?.

According to our exhibitor page, besides the ski boot glass the hut also has the modular SwigSki3000 Shotski, wooden mini skis to wear around your neck, a Party Gondola for four mini skis and other accessories. And if you’d rather have something warm after your go on the Shotski: what makes Glühwein, Glühmost (hot spiced cider) and Punsch different is explained in our article Glühwein, Glühmost, Punsch, Kinderpunsch: what’s the difference?.

There’s more about the hut, with photos and links, on the Apres Allstars page in our exhibitor overview. The whole story in Tobi and Michi’s own words is on their About us page, and the dimensions and what’s in the box are on the product page for the ski boot glass.

Frequently asked questions

Sources

Retrieved on 30 October 2026: Apres Allstars, About us (origins, workshops, glass mould, binding) · Apres Allstars, product page for the ski boot shot glass with binding (dimensions, what’s included, mounting) and the online shop’s product list · our Apres Allstars exhibitor page · information from Tobi Deckert (Apres Allstars), 30 October 2026 · our page Opening hours and directions