Engelberg: A Little Swiss Village With Great Skiing!
By Bob Wilbanks, NCSN

If you want to offer a ski trip to a European destination that none of your members have ever experienced before, try the small Swiss village of Engelberg. Fewer than 4,000 people live there permanently and while you can easily walk from one side of town to the other in half an hour, the little village contains an ancient monastery -- complete with cheese factory, a few excellent restaurants, a casino, and several large, picturesque hotels that were originally built to house British tourists who wanted to vacation in the Alps more than 100 years ago.

Now, a century ago, most Swiss folks thought that the British were a bit daft -- because “everybody” knew that there were evil spirits in those mountains and only fools would dare go into them willingly. But, since the British were willing to pay good money to hike into the mountains, the Swiss -- who have always been famous for their hospitality -- built hotels and an excellent infrastructure to accommodate the Brits. Many of those old hotels remain today -- much remodeled and modernized to be sure -- but they’re still there and they offer both excellent and affordable accommodations for ski clubs.

Later in the twentieth century, the sport of skiing became increasingly popular and, since Engelberg was surrounded by beautiful mountains on both sides of their deep valley, skiing quickly became a way of life there, so much of their clientele switched from British hikers in summer to Swiss and German skiers during the winter. The area thus became a year-round resort.

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This is the closest ski resort to Zurich, located just above Lucerne, it is only a two-hour train ride, starting right out of Zurich’s international airport. Still, very few American skiers had ever heard of Engelberg until recently. Then the National Ski Club Newsletter published an article about the resort in early 2002 and the National Ski Council Federation held their annual meeting there in September, 2004. With all this exposure, we suspect that Engelberg is about to become a household word in the U.S. -- at least in those households that contain ski club members!

The skiing here is accessed by lifts that begin on opposite sides of town. The more famous, north-facing, Titlis Mountain is topped with a huge glacier that is accessed via a rotating gondola. Once at the top of the mountain, you can can ski the immediate area for most of the day, then end your ski day by gliding several miles into the village without ever using another lift -- passing a few little farms and lots of summer barns on the leisurely intermediate run that goes back into the village.

The smaller resort on the north side of town is Brunni and there is a well-known cross-country ski area, Furenalp, just east of town. Brunni boasts a mountain-top restaurant that offers an excellent lunch buffet -- as well as the Aelplermagronen, a cozy little mountainside Swiss-chalet-turned-restaurant that serves excellent Swiss food and is accessed via skis or a short lift ride from town. There are also several other really good restaurants in and around the village, including the restaurant in the Hotel Bankialp which serves an excellent fondue while being entertained by local musicians, so don’t plan to eat in your hotel every night while you are here -- even if dinner is included in the price of your room!

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