Just reaching Engelberg (tel. +41 (0) 41 639 77 77; www.engelberg.ch), a beguiling resort in the heart of Switzerland, is a totally Alpine experience. Trains depart every hour from Lucerne. During the final stretch, cogs are engaged and the Stans-Engelberg train clicks its way up to the village that lies in a high valley at about 3,400. From there, ski lifts reach to 9,900 feet for a vertical of nearly 6,500 feet -- unheard of in North America.
Engelberg's glory is its abundant off-piste terrain. The marked, groomed runs are well balanced for visitors, with the majority geared for intermediate and advanced skiers. For some people, the chopped-up layout is an issue. The two lift/piste systems, one on either side of town, are not connected. The larger Gerschnialp/Jochstock/Titlis system is further divided at mid-mountain with a lake called Trübsee between them and a horizontal quad chairlift to ferry skiers and riders from one the lift sector to another. Some of the disconnects are due to topography, others to wildlife protections areas. The free ski bus links town with cable car bottom stations.
From the west side of Engelberg, skiers and riders take several lifts to the summit -- first a two-stage gondola and then two cable cars. The upper one is the Rotair, and as it ascends Klein Titlis, its round cabin makes a slow 360-degree turn and then docks at a huge summit structure with four restaurants and shops that are clearly designed for summer visitors. Below the Steinberg ski route starts with an enormous white bowl scooped out of the upper reaches of the mountain. It takes just a few turns to enter a rock-rimmed white world from which all signs of the hand of man to disappear.
The tapestry of a snow-covered glacier, chutes, bowls and couloirs lure strong skiers and riders. It's best to go with a guide who knows the route. From the wide upper section, the glacier necks down between rock walls, falling into a short, steep drop at the foot of the icefield. Past a rockband is a smaller snowfield and then another neckdown into a natural halfpipe. Below that, the first few tenacious trees grow out of the rocks. A series of small drops, flats and rolls feed into a flat, mid-mountain valley and the frozen-over lake. That adventure route is a thigh-burning 4,000 vertical feet from the summit to the tricky ski-out and then onto a groomed run.
On the other side of the Rotair liftline and accessed from the Rindertitlis chair is the Laub, another epic off-piste run with roughly the same vertical -- but starting lower and ending in the valley. The upper part north-facing Laub is impossibly wide with a steep and fairly steady pitch. Unlike Steinberg's complexity, the main section of the Laub is straightforward. The lower section feeds into a wide meadow with several surface lifts and gentle beginner run that provide respite for tired legs. The bottom can get gummy in warm weather, so those in the know download on the Gerschinalp cable car. On the east side of the valley is Brunni, a smaller network of lifts and easier runs.
Engelberg offers ample groomed routes for cross-country skiers, snowshoers and winter walkers. The magnificent 18th century Benedictine Monastery is worth a visit. Nightlife is adequate but not wild. Accommodations range from small family-run hotels to Edwardian heaps in various states of elegance or polite shabbiness. But in Engelberg, a place to ski and ski some more, off-piste if possible, appearances count for little.
Engelberg Stats
- Lifts: 8 cable cars, 3 high-speed quad chairlifts, 1 fixed-grip quad, 2 doubles, 8 surface lifts (capacity, 26,000 per hour)
- Pistes: 82 kilometers (51 miles) of marked runs (20% beginner and novice; 60% percent and advanced; 20% expert)
- Average annual snowfall: 200 inches; ski season, late November to early June (conditions permitting)
- Vertical: 6,462 feet (village, 3,444 feet; summit, 9.906 feet)