Battle of the ski resorts: Engelberg
A classic town with a gnarly mountain… how will Engelberg get on in our Battle of the Ski Resorts
Nominated by Dickie
Ease of access 9/10
Into Zurich, onto the train, step out to your hotel. It’s that easy. And if you fly Swiss, your baggage appears in your hotel room…
Sense of scale and epicness 8/10
You start nice and low in a classic European Grand Tour spa town before heading up, and up, until you reach the top of Titlis. There’s a tumbling glacier below you, and lots of pointy peaks around.
Variety and quality of the pistes 4/10
It’s a bit uppy-downy basic and distinctly disjointed. There are some excellent pistes but they all have narrow or steep bits, or rubbish old chairs creaking you back up. One for the good skiers who fancy a bit of a thrash between off-piste adventures.
Off-piste potential 9/10
The access is superb, the terrain challenging and the vertical feels endless. Once you’re bored of the glacier, the Laub, Graustock and the back of Titlis, you could always do what we did and get lost coming off Schönegg and ski through everyone’s back gardens…
Lapability 9/10
Pistes? Not really, though Alpstübli down to the base station is a great last run. Off-piste? Well, it’s good enough for the Swedes to buy hotels and houses in the town. Try doing three of the big off-piste runs in a day and you’ll know the meaning of thigh pump.
On-hill grub 4/10
Nothing special, and not particularly cheap. The Ski Hut at Stand seems to get the balance OK, and has a superb view over the glacier so you can watch in wonder/horror and work out your own line.
Après scene 7/10
Pretty good – a couple of decent bars and clubs, and good base-station drinking at download time. The bar at the Ski Lodge is where you’ll find the pros – Fall-Line lensman Oskar Enander and his skiers base themselves there for the winter.
Base suitability 2/10
It’s a worthy week in itself, especially if the off-piste is in good condition, so it’s not part of any ski safari unless the off-piste freaks want to grab a few days in Andermatt as part of the same trip.
Family friendly? 2/10
The beginner slopes are separate from the main skiing area, and it’s disjointed enough for everyone to get lost within moments.
TOTAL: 54
RANK: 28/29
