Quickly pick up a portion of fries and head back to the slopes.Image: imago
Burgers, French fries, cinnamon rolls – ordered directly from the ski slopes: Sweden is the only McDonald’s in the world with a ski-thru.
December 27, 2025, 9:10 p.mDecember 27, 2025, 9:20 p.m
Kathrin Martens / watson.de
Skiing makes you hungry. That’s no surprise, as you brave the cold all day long and thunder down one slope after the other. What’s more surprising is where in Sweden you can satisfy your hunger: not in your usual mountain restaurant, but right on the slopes at McDonald’s.
In Lindvallen in Sweden there has been a McSki for years, a solution that is as absurd as it is ingenious. The Ski-Thru is the only McDonald’s in the world with an ordering window directly on the ski slopes.
McSki – every fast food junkie’s dream.Image: www.imago-images.de
The principle is simple: winter sports enthusiasts drive their skis or snowboard directly to the window, order burgers, fries or chicken nuggets, pay and can continue their journey with the snack in hand. No taking off your clothes, no standing in line on slippery ground, no interrupting your skiing fun.
McSki has been a fixture in Lindvallen since 1996 and has long been a cult for many, as the «Travel reporter» reported. In addition to the classic McDonald’s range, there are also hot drinks such as coffee and cocoa. Swedish specialties are also a must, which is why this fast food restaurant also serves cinnamon rolls. Order, eat, go to the elevator. It doesn’t get more efficient on the slopes.
The Lindvallen ski area is around 450 kilometers north of Stockholm.Image: Shutterstock
If you prefer to take a break in the warm, you can of course do that too. There is a regular restaurant with seating right next to the ordering window. So McSki is not a must, but a bonus for everyone who wants to spend as much time as possible in the snow.
Fast food in the mountains: not an isolated case
Although McSki is unique in the world, Lindvallen is not entirely alone with the idea. In the Japanese ski resort of Hakuba there is a Burger King right at the middle station of the gondola lift. Although without a ski-thru window, it still has a whopper, an indoor area and a terrace.
And in California, a Starbucks opened in the Squaw Valley ski resort at an altitude of 2,438 meters in 2012. There, too, skiers can get coffee and hot drinks directly from the slope without actually leaving the slope.
The Starbucks in Squaw Valley.image: x.com
Whether you need fast food on the ski slopes is a matter of taste. But the restaurants’ idea behind it is clear: They want to catch hungry customers before they fill their bellies in the restaurants. Of course, it also means more time in the snow for winter sports enthusiasts and let’s be honest: after a few runs it’s hard to say no to fries.