Hiking in the alps

Hiking season is over...

2009-10-29T00:52:00.001-07:00

This is October 12th 2009, and is definitely the end of the hiking season.

We woke up to a brand new Engelberg valley. The Thursday before it was 21 degrees and mountainbiking weather, but suddenly everything wass covered in perfect, pristine, pre-season powder. Over night it had rained really hard outside our windows, but 200 metres up everything was just white, white, white.

The lifts haven't opened for skiers yet, but the girl in the lift let us up to do a couple of photos. So we hiked up from the lift, clicked in and...well let's say we don't miss summer anymore. Super light powder, and amazing views over Engelberg. And with no base whatsoever to comfort our skis...

We'll see you next summer with more hiking updates. In the meantime, we hope you come by Ski Lodge to enjoy the valley in a snow cover!

Cheers/Eric, Niklas, Johan & Ursula

Hiking: Engelberg - Jochpass

2009-10-08T00:27:00.000-07:00

The first weekend of October we decided to do a shorter hike from the village up to Jochpass. Since we are now longing for the upcoming winter we decided to hike up where we usually have the most amazing powder runs during the winter, Laub and Sürzli. After passing Gershnialphütte where the local cheese we serve for breakfast is produced, a steep hike up Laub followed. Well, to be honest we were actually walking skiers left (hiker’s right) of Laub, right under the cable car. After one and a half hour of high speed hiking, we arrived exhausted to Trübsee where the rest of the Ski Lodge team met up (the lazy ones who took the lift up).

After a short break we continued with some off track hiking up in Sürzli, a nice and open offpiste area in the winter with a cool icefall and some nice drops. On our way up we were stunned by the amazing nature and the view over the Engelberg valley. We also took the opportunity to check out some nice lines and realized that the cliffs we dropped during last winter looked slightly scarier without a comforting layer of snow underneath.

Our hike ended up at Jochpass and it took us three hours to get there from the village. At Jochpass we met some downhill bikers enjoying the new downhill tracks. In a couple of weeks the snow will be deep up there so they, like us, had decided to take the opportunity to experience one of the last days of summer activities this season. Eventually we took the lift down to the village again and ended our day with a bath in the hot tub with our new neighbours, the alpcows, keeping us company.

Now we are starting to get ready for a new season with lots and lots of snow!

The four lakes' hike

2009-10-05T02:51:00.000-07:00

On the last weekend of September, a group comprising a Central African resident, three Peruvians and three Swedes set off on the beautiful hike that starts at Trubsee (1800m.a.s.) and continues via Engstlensee and ends in the nearby ski resort Melchsee-Frutt. The hike is relatively easy, with the most challenging part being in the beginning (Trubsee to Jochpass, around 400 vertical). From Jochpass it is more distance than steep climbing. The hike itself is about 4 hours, but we took it nice and slow, with a celebratory champagne stop, some eagle spotting and a short pic-nic. All in all the hike took us 5 hours. From Melchsee-Frutt, you take the cable car down, then a bus to Sarnen and from there a train to Hergiswil, and then change trains to the Engelberg train. This makes the roundtrip closer to 5 hours. There is a pre-packaged ticket from SBB for around CHF 40, but with the Halbtax-card you get a 50% discount. This is a beautiful hike, with restaurants at Jochpass, Engstlensee and one closer to Melchsee-Frutt as well. On the road, we also found Marmots, Gems (mountain goats) and two large birds of prey (most likely eagles).

Hiking: Engelberg - Rugghubelhütte - Bannalp - Oberrickenbach

2009-09-12T09:19:00.000-07:00

We took off this morning to do a hike round the Bannalp mountain behind Brunni. It was a foggy cold morning, but with an optimistic smile we checked in at the Brunni cable car at 9 AM. And we were rewarded. Just as we reached Rugghubelhütte, the sun came out of the clouds and gave us some view. And the hosts at Rugghubelhütte had just taken a plum pie out of the oven. Coffee break at mountain hut, swiss style.

Around the hut, there are tons with marmots. They are preparing for the winter, and look like overweight hares standing and looking at you. Funny little creatures. The hike continues up to the Rotgrätli pass at 2556 m, and then you walk along with beatiful views of the surrounding glaciers. We ended up at Chrüzhütte, had some bread and cheese and headed back to Engelberg with lift to Oberrickenbach, then bus to Wolfenschiessen and then train. It sounds worse than it is, the swiss public transport works great as always.

Time: 5 - 6 hours
Season: July - October
Difficulty: 3/5

Canyoning: Chli Schliere

2009-07-24T08:41:00.000-07:00

25 minutes down the valley, lies one of the best spots in Switzerland for canyoning. And boy, it was good!

Canyoning is simply to go down a canyon by sliding, repelling, jumping and walking through the water. Amazing fun, and a good work-out too. The Chli Schliere-river is the most extreme Canyoning in the area, but there are several other easier ones as well.

The nature was spectacular, with cliff walls 100 meter + at times on the sides. And the rock even formed an arch above us at one place.

Difficulty: 5/5
Cost: 180 CHF including all equipment you need
Season: June - September
Time: 4-5 hours

Interested, we organise Canyoning, so call us at +41786753366 or send an e-mail to booking@skilodgeengelberg.com

Here is a video of Chli Schliere from an outdoor company in Interlaken :

Hiking: Engelberg - Zingel - Grafenort

2009-07-24T07:20:00.000-07:00

Another bluebird weather day today, so we thought we'd head to Bergrestaurant Zingel, a little mountain restaurant, pitched between a 500 meter dropoff and the Zingel Peak.

You walk from the Ski Lodge to Titlisbahn, and along the artificial Lake. At Oertingen, you take a left and thereafter the signs will start pointing to Zingel. The first part through the forest was a little wet, it is almost like a rainforest on the north facing sides here. We passed a couple of streams, making their way over boulders and waterfalls. Really nice.

The hike after that is spectacular, with amazing views of the valley and massive cliffs on both sides. We arrived at the Zingel, and had a cold platter and som cold drinks. And the view, the view ladies & gentlemen!

The hike down to Grafenort was a bit muddy through the forest, and after that we took the train back. Mission complete!

Time: 5 - 6 hours with train ride (train leaves XX.50 every hour during daylight)
Difficulty: 3/5
Season: July - October

Paragliding: Engelberg from above

2009-07-17T08:39:00.001-07:00

Yesterday our friend Kim came up to Engelberg with a tandem paragliding chute . He brought me up for two amazing flights from two different starting points on Brunni. We used his 46 m2 wing to cruise up and down the thermal winds created by the sun heating the land below us. You could stay up for almost as long as you wanted with those up-going winds. Hobby meteorologist as I am (our new weather station is hopefully up soon!) I’m really impressed by the skills of these paragliders, and how they can read the movements of the small clouds above us to find the right spots for thermal action.

The valley offers great paragliding possibilities, and has several local companies, including Flugschule Zentral , Outventure and Euroflugschule taking you up for tandem flights . Plus it’s a perfect destination for paragliding clubs schools from low land Europe (UK, Netherlands etc) to have summer camps. You can start from both the Brunni, Titlis or the Führenalp side, at various levels.

I managed to take a few pics and films below. And Kim let me steer the wing for quite a bit of the ride, but stopped my when I wanted to test a landing. Probably wise of him…

The 35km/h speed wind is causing the slightly noisy sound.

View flying over the village and our Lodge. Just above the train station in the middle it is - the small bright thing in the garden i our new sauna and hot tub deck.

View looking east into the end of the valley, towards Führenalp.

View from above Brunni, view the Flühmatt houses and village lake.

Slightly small helmet...

Happy after a smooth landing.

Hiking: Spannorthütte - amazing

2009-07-03T01:35:00.000-07:00

Yesterday we headed for Spannorthütte, a SAC (Schweizer Alpenclub) hut with a breathtaking location. Grosse Spannort and Kleine Spannort are two of the most characteristic peaks in the Engelberg valley, they look like shark teeth stretching towards the sky. The hut itself is located right under the massive cliffs.

The walk to the top is about 4 hours, and the first hour is an easy walk in the valley. We took a dip in the river before the really steep part began. The hike is a bit technical, with ropes to hold on to when it gets too steep. At the top, we had lunch and a chat with Marianne who runs the hut. Really nice.

You can do it as a day hike, or you can have dinner and sleep under the stars at the hut and walk down the day after. It costs 66 Swiss francs, roughly 42 €, for dinner, bed and breakfast. And the view of course...

Their home page is spannorthutte.ch

Difficulty: 4/5
Time: 7 hours
Season: July - October

Extreme Hiking Picture.

Easy hiking: Trübsee - Engelberg

2009-07-01T06:04:00.000-07:00

Me and Johan did an easy morning hike today in the amazing weather. We took the cable car up to Trübsee, took a stroll around the lake and wandered down the meadows and cows to Engelberg. It is a easy 2-hour walk, perfect if you only have a couple of spare hours or arrive at lunch.

The snow is almost gone up in the ski system now, so the Jochpass hikes over to Engstlensee will be avaliable soon. Oh, and by the way, today we officially opened up for the summer season. Welcome!

(green is lift, red is walking.)

Difficulty: 1/5
Time: 2 hours
Season: June - October

Approaching 30, better save the legs.

"The hills are alive, with the sound of muuuusic"

Happy guy.

Cows are big, Johan is small

The peak of Titlis.

Me in the foreground, but even nicer is our new after-hike hangout. Soon ready!

Via Ferrata - Führenwand

2009-06-17T14:07:00.000-07:00

Me and Niklas took off at 4 pm to do a Via Ferrata, and as happy beginners, we went straight for the "difficult" of course. How scary can it be? Well, it was a bit scary. At least if your name is Niklas and you suffer from vertigo as soon as you click out of your skis.

But, it was a stunning climb up to Führenalp, especially the last part where you climb on a rope ladder for 30 meters. The weather today was perfect bluebird, 23 degrees - and we wouldn't recommend to do it in anything but dry weather. There are better places to slip. (No worries, Via Ferrata is perfectly safe. But slipping is never fun.)

As we were beginners, we also managed to miss the last lift down, so we had a nice jog down the mountain instead. And found a brand new downhill biking trail, which will eventually end up on this blog too.

Here are some pics:

Yes, that's the guy with vertigo to the right.

Niklas examining the ladder closely.

In this picture, he still has no clue what awaits.

"Slowwwwlllllyyyyy, sloowwwwlllllly."

The climb is about two hours to the top, and you can take a lift down after a cold beer. For the lowdown on what/where/when/why, go to Engelberg.ch's Via Ferrata Guide.

Tip: Lake Lucerne

2009-06-15T09:42:00.001-07:00

Oskar & Jon on a pedal boat
Originally uploaded by Ski Lodge Engelberg

If you (or your feet!) feel like doing a day excursion from Engelberg, Lucerne is just a 60 minute train ride away. Grab some grilled chicken and baguette at the station, walk over the bridge and rent a pedal boat - and pedal away. The cleanest lake in Switzerland, an alpenpanorama and a picnic. Life isn't just about hiking...

VIa Ferrata - Brunni

2009-06-15T00:26:00.000-07:00

Yesterday, we were testing the Via Ferrata-trails on the Brunni-side. Via Ferrata can be described as rock climbing for beginners, a more advanced form of hiking. Brunni has several trails, and we started out with easiest one. There are several Via Ferrata-trails in the Engelberg valley, ranging from easy to difficult. A difficult one is right next to Fuhrenalp, where we go biking - looks pretty steeeeeeeeeep.

A link to Engelberg.ch with all trails.

Mountainbiking at Führenalp

2009-06-12T09:28:00.000-07:00

Me, Elin & Joline killed it today...or at least we made it down from Führenalp in one piece. 23 degrees, sunny and beatiful today.

(Green is where you take the lift, red is when you bike.)

Hiking: Engelberg - Grafenort - taking the train back

2009-06-11T01:41:00.000-07:00

Today we logged another great hike in the valley. We found a nice service called Quikmaps, so you get a better picture of where we've been.

We started at the tourist center, walking up along monastery and up through the forest to Flühmatt. I stayed at the Flühmatt farm during the winter season 2003, at Fränzi & Bixi. So I've walked this 40-minute hike more times than I can remember.

From Flühmatt, we continued all the way up to Brunnihütte, and then we turned north and had the mountain ridge on our right hand side. Loads of cows, beautiful flower fields and stunning views. We ended up in Grafenort, 500 meters below Engelberg, and took the train back to the village. After enjoying a cold one down at Gasthaus Grafenort.

Eric

"Hmm, I think its upside down"

90 minutes to Brunnihütte

Cow attack! 22 degrees, sunny and nice.

The swiss know their signs.

Aaaahhh.

Lunch with a view. And a BBQ too!

Gasthaus Grafenort.

Hiking: Rugghübelhütte – we could see it all the way from our Lodge!

2009-06-04T05:03:00.000-07:00

For this week’s hike, we decided to go for Rugghubelhutte, as it’s early in the season and there is still snow left on north facing slopes. During dinner Tuesday evening, we looked up on the mountains north east of us, and spotted the hütte Oskar had pointed out for us.

(look, just left of the red flag it is, you might have to zoom a bit...)

On Wednesday morning at a quarter to 10 we started from the Lodge. You could take the Brunni cable car, which would save you an hour and a bit, but we felt strong and wanted to do it the proper way. With Elin being a former cross country skier and Joline ex-road racing cyclist, I didn’t have to wait. It was more the other way around to be honest… Wet of sweat we got up to the hütte, which serves nice food and actually has 80 beds for stayovers (seems to me as very tight, as the place isn’t that big at all). After investing in beer and soda, we sat down outside and hungrily ate the salmon pasta salad Elin had prepared.

(Joline and Elin walking up the first part of Brunni)

(the viewpoint just above Rigidal- but honestly all of the hike is a long viewpoint - our goal in the upper left corner)

(Elin looking at Hahnen, the mountain on our logo)

(beer and salomon pasta sallad)

There are several roads and trails to choose from to get up to the upper eastern part of the Brunni ski area. From here, just above Rigidalstafel, there is only one trail to follow, as you are walking with a massive cliffdrop below you on your right and one above you on your left hand side. This is the only way to access the fields of which the Rugghubelhutte is located on. We took the decent route down from Rigidal to the left, towards Ende der Welt, through the forest on the east side of Brunni.

(on the way down - really cool rock shapes)

(low tech internet map - black pen points at Rugghublehutte and blue at Rigidal)

We needed 3.5 hours to get up, including some photo and water breaks. We spent an hour and a half up there and walked down in 2.45h. This is a nice day project that can be done without going up too early and still coming home timely before the pre dinner sauna. No tricky parts, and no steep stuff, so people afraid of heights can still do it.

Today I’m slightly tired in my legs, and a bit red in my face as I forgot to put on sunscreen. However, feels good to have been up there. Later this summer I’m keen on continuing up to the ridge north of Rugghubelhutte, and walk down on the back side of Brunni, ening up in Bannalp and later Niederkrirchenbach. But that’s a proper full day thing, and you should wait until July as the back side of Brunni is north facing.(Niklas stopping and drinking)

(Joline looking down towards Ende der Welt and Engelberg)

(appraktly some construction work up at the hütte - and they were lifting everything here with heli!)

On the way down we found this cool little guy on the trail.

Now back to work on our houses! Cheers!

Niklas

http://www.oskarenander.com/

Biking yesterday at Führenalp

2009-06-02T02:05:00.000-07:00

Visa större karta

Tried the downhill trail down from Fürenalp today. So nice. For a beginner like me it was perfect. Mix of technical sections were you can train your balance, and cruising parts were you can either speed up or enjoy looking at the nature. Take a 5 minute break and drink the water at the waterfall furthest in the valley.

I had to stop and walk down a few tricky passages, but if I get to practice it some more, I might be able to do it without putting down feet. Now I feel it slightly in my leg and back muscles – good feeling after a day on the mountain. Now I’ll go to bed, and tomorrow follow Söderling in the French Open. Elin and Joline will take the bikes and ride tomorrow.

//Niklas

Spannorthütte - 1956 meters above sea level

2009-06-01T07:59:00.000-07:00

This is a photo from Spannorthütte, one of the mountain huts in the Engelberg Valley. A night up there costs about 30 € pp with dinner, and we plan on hiking up there during next week. Full report coming up. Check out their homepage here. (German only!)

Hiking in the alps

2009-06-01T07:42:00.000-07:00

Welcome! Here you will to able to follow us while we hike the peaks around Engelberg. During the summer, we'll publish pictures, hiking itineraries and maps to the best hiking around Obwalden. From Engelberg, you can reach more than 16 mountain huts (SAC-hütten) for day hikes or longer excursions.

I work at Ski Lodge Engelberg, a cozy swedish-owned lodge. I founded it together with some friends last year, because we missed a place in the alps where you could have hearty breakfast and dinner, a sauna and laid-back atmosphere and staff. A place where we would want to stay ourselves. So we created that place.

Engelberg is widely known for its world class off-piste skiing, (We've skied 150 resorts in 5 continents, so yes, it's true!) What is less known is the hiking which is world class too. The Engelberg valley itself has more than 160 kilometres marked trails, ranging from easy half-day hikes to proper big wall climbing. If that's your game.

We'll be updating here during all of summer, so check back, check out skilodgeengelberg.com or follow us on Twitter to the right.

//Eric