Engelberg off-piste & powder guide

Obwalden, Switzerland · 1000m to 3020m · 5 documented zones

Finding powder at Engelberg

Engelberg is built around the Big 5, a set of five long freeride descents off the Titlis that can all be reached without taking the skis off. The scale is the thing here: the Galtiberg alone drops 2,000 vertical metres, which is more than most resorts have in total.

Lift-accessed zones — no walking

Ride up, drop in. These 5 zones need no hiking, which also means they are the first to get tracked out after a storm.

The Laub

Titlis sector

Backcountry - no patrolAdvancedGuide recommended

A single enormous open face of 1,200 vertical metres, world famous among freeriders for its width, its length and how easy it is to reach. Known as the Elephant.

Outside the ski area boundary. No avalanche control, no patrol and no rescue service. Full avalanche equipment, training and a partner are the minimum, and a guide is strongly advised.

Lift access
Laubersgrat chairlift
Walk in
No hiking — Lift-accessed and traversed in from the piste.
Getting back
Runs out at the bottom of the face, from where you rejoin the lift system back into the resort.
Known hazards
  • A very large open avalanche face
  • Cliff bands
  • Neighbouring wildlife protection zones

The Galtiberg

Titlis sector

Backcountry - no patrolExpertGuide recommended

Two thousand vertical metres from the top of the Titlis down to Engelberg, and one of the longest freeride descents in the whole of the Alps. The king of the Big 5, and not a run to improvise.

Outside the ski area boundary. No avalanche control, no patrol and no rescue service. Full avalanche equipment, training and a partner are the minimum, and a guide is strongly advised.

Lift access
Titlis Rotair cable car
Walk in
No hiking — Lift-accessed from the top of the Titlis.
Getting back
Descends all the way to the valley floor at Engelberg.
Known hazards
  • Glaciated high-alpine terrain
  • Crevasses
  • Large cliffs
  • Difficult navigation

The Steinberg

Titlis sector

Backcountry - no patrolExpertGuide recommended

Playful, undulating glacier terrain with several ways down, the best known being the classic S line.

Outside the ski area boundary. No avalanche control, no patrol and no rescue service. Full avalanche equipment, training and a partner are the minimum, and a guide is strongly advised.

Lift access
Titlis Rotair cable car
Walk in
No hiking — Lift-accessed from the top of the Titlis.
Getting back
Descends towards the Truebsee mid-station and the piste network.
Known hazards
  • Crevasses
  • Active glacier terrain
  • Complex route-finding

The Sulz

Jochstock sector

Backcountry - no patrolIntermediate

Comes in small, medium and large versions, which between them suit most tastes and most abilities. The most forgiving of the Big 5.

Outside the ski area boundary. No avalanche control, no patrol and no rescue service. Full avalanche equipment, training and a partner are the minimum, and a guide is strongly advised.

Lift access
Jochstock-Xpress
Walk in
No hiking — Lift-accessed from the Jochstock.
Getting back
Rejoins the Engstlen and Truebsee piste connection.
Known hazards
  • Avalanche terrain; always read the forecast before heading out

The Steintaeli

Jochstock sector

Backcountry - no patrolAdvanced

North-west facing, which is why good powder can often still be found here days after the last snowfall. Drops off the far side of the Jochstock from the Sulz.

Outside the ski area boundary. No avalanche control, no patrol and no rescue service. Full avalanche equipment, training and a partner are the minimum, and a guide is strongly advised.

Lift access
Jochstock-Xpress
Walk in
No hiking — Lift-accessed from the Jochstock.
Getting back
Rejoins the Engstlen and Truebsee piste connection or the lower chairlifts.
Aspect
North-west-facing· Holds powder longest
Known hazards
  • Avalanche terrain
  • Hidden rocks
  • Narrow entries

The avalanche danger scale

Every European bulletin uses this five-level scale. The column that matters most is the last one: around half of all avalanche deaths happen at level 3, not at the extremes, because that is when the snow still looks worth skiing.

1. Low

about 5% of fatalities

Generally stable snowpack. Triggering is only possible with high additional loads, and only in extreme terrain. Natural avalanches are small at most.

The most favourable conditions of the season. Terrain choice still matters in isolated extreme spots.

Forecast on about 20% of the season

2. Moderate

about 30% of fatalities

The snowpack is only moderately well bonded on some steep slopes. Triggering is mainly possible with high additional loads. Very large natural avalanches are unlikely.

Conditions look benign and catch people out. Roughly a third of fatalities happen at this level.

Forecast on about 50% of the season

3. Considerable

about 50% of fatalities

The snowpack is moderately to poorly bonded on many steep slopes. Triggering is possible even from a single skier. Large avalanches are possible.

The most dangerous level in practice. It carries about half of all avalanche deaths, because the skiing still looks good and the snowpack no longer needs much provocation.

Forecast on about 30% of the season

4. High

about 10% of fatalities

The snowpack is poorly bonded on most steep slopes. Triggering is likely even from a single skier, and numerous large natural avalanches are expected.

Off-piste travel should be limited to low-angle terrain well away from anything steep above you.

Forecast on only a few days a year

5. Very High

rare enough that no share is published

An extraordinarily unstable snowpack. Numerous very large and often extremely large natural avalanches are expected, even on moderately steep terrain.

Do not go off-piste. Roads and parts of the resort itself may be closed.

Forecast on very rarely forecast

Scale and statistics from European Avalanche Warning Services - Avalanche Danger Scale.

What you need to carry

Transceiver

Worn on your body, not in your pack, and switched to transmit before you leave the lift. Every member of the group needs one; a single person without makes the whole group less safe.

Probe

Pinpoints the burial once the transceiver has brought you close, so you dig in the right place first time rather than in a hole beside them.

Shovel

A real collapsible avalanche shovel. Digging is the slowest part of a rescue, and it is what actually gets your partner out.

Airbag pack (optional)

Helps keep you nearer the surface in a moving slide. It supplements the three items above and never replaces them.

How to ski it

Read the bulletin before you go, every day

The danger level, the problem type and the aspects and altitudes it applies to matter more than anything on this page. Conditions change overnight.

Practise with your kit until the search is instinctive

Owning a transceiver is not the same as being able to use one under pressure. Run search drills at the start of every season.

Never ski off-piste alone

Companion rescue is the only rescue fast enough to matter. Burial survival drops sharply after about fifteen minutes.

Ski steep slopes one at a time

Exposing one person at a time keeps the rest of the group free to dig, and reduces the load on the slope.

Hire a guide for terrain you do not know

Local guides know which aspects have loaded, which lines cliff out and where this season's weak layer sits. Every resort guide on this page says the same thing.

Plan the exit before you drop in

Several classic routes finish in a different valley or a long way from a lift. Know how you are getting home, and what time the last lift and last bus run.

Keep planning

Engelberg snow report & forecastSnow history & depthMore resorts in Switzerland