Engelberg
Little known and under-rated even by its home-nation, this quiet
resort has huge skiing among striking mountains and one of the world’s
biggest vertical drops from the top of the lift system to town, of 2000
metres.
Our Rating:
| Advanced | | *** |
| Intermediate | | **** |
| Beginner | | *** |
Arriving among the impressive Belle Epoque hotels of this sleepy
town you can still see why Engelberg’s founding father, a wandering
monk, stopped in his tracks, had a vision and set up a monastery. It’s
not just the dramatic Hahnen peak spreading wing-like snowfields to the
south, but a huge sweep of crags that almost surrounds the town.
Beneath the highest summit to the west is the Titlis glacier, a vast
north facing deep freeze so well stocked with powder that Engelberg is
fast becoming the ski-bum’s resort of choice for consistent and easy to
find deep-snow thrills. The chief drawback of Engelberg – that the town
is resolutely not built for skiing, with a two-minute shuttle bus ride
or fifteen minute schlep on foot to the main lift station – is a small
price that accomplished skiers seem happy to pay and even the series of
long rides to reach the very top pale into insignificance when the size
and quality of the descents is taken into consideration. For others
these are significant issues, particularly for advanced intermediates
who’ll rapidly eat up the pistes but won’t be able to take advantage of
the terrain on the far side of the fence. Despite these shortcomings,
it’s a puzzle that Engelberg isn’t better known: within an hour of
Lucerne and its densely populated surroundings, and with good
connections from further afield, this is one of the easiest-to-reach
ski areas in Switzerland and it comes with more than 80 km of piste and
a good snow record. The tentative plan to form a lift link with the
Meiringen ski region to the west would put Engelberg in the major
league though its growing profile in recent years suggests it will be
making an international impact even without the expansion.