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Should I ski the Laub?

 Poster: A snowHead
Poster: A snowHead
I'm off to Engelberg soon and have never really been off piste before. Has anyone tried the Laub. If conditions are good I know the rest of the group will want to do it.

How good a skier do you need to be to get down it? I would say I am intermediate.

I am comfortable on all of the runs in Engelberg and have skied the Kleine Sulze (off piste) but am not sure whether I am good enough to do the Laub. If the Laub is not recommended for a novice off-pister what are the safest bets in Engelberg that don't require a guide.

Any advice would be great.
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 Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
It's long and once you drop in there is no easy way out, you can't escape to a piste and you really don't want to hike back up.

If you've never really been off piste before I'd say the Laub was not the place to start. I'd book a lesson with the ski school, get them to teach you off piste techniques and see how you get on. If you are very fit and your technique is good maybe then ski the Laub.

As for how good you need to be, it depends on the conditions. If it's wind affected and crusty you need to be extremely good and very fit, like I say, there are no easy ways off it once you start.
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 Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Echo all the advice above - it's long, spectacular and wonderful. But only if you're properly prepared in terms of kit and ski skills.
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 You need to Login to know who's really who.
You need to Login to know who's really who.
Another consideration re the Laub is that, unless you're lucky with fresh snow and acceptable avalanche risk, the snow conditions are going to vary between top and bottom, which is not ideal if you're relatively inexperienced off-piste.

Re other routes, and whether you 'require' a guide. Any decision regarding whether you need a guide is individual; the only thing I'd say is that the glacier route ('Steinberg') requires good route-finding, and is not one I'd recommend if you're not sure of the Laub. I don't know the names of any other Engelberg off-piste routes, but I'd suggest a progression of:
- Play off the side of the pistes down from Stand
- Traverse piste-left down from Jochpass (the map shows a black run here, but it wasn't a piste last week). There is some avalanche risk on this slope
- From Jochstock, head directly under the chair, then piste-left into the valley that leads to an exit traverse to the bottom of the Engstlen chair
- From Jochpass, take the rightmost piste (which is a flat track), then continue straight on when the piste drops off left. This takes you down to an exit traverse to the same side of Trubsee
- From Jochstock, drop off the right-hand side of the piste from the top, then keep generally left (don't traverse to the right). This is a longer variant of the previous route, with the same exit
- As per previous, but traverse right from the start. Part way down you have a choice of staying left, which has one steep section beneath the cliffs, or staying right, which is probably easier. This ends up joining one exit from the Steinberg, and has some combat skiing (moguls amongst rocks and trees, but not very long) before ending up in the middle of Trubsee
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 Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Thanks all for really helpful advice. I think the Kleine Sulze is the 5th bullet in your list of suggested routes, which I did last year and I felt ok doing that - though definitely out of comfort zone. I will avoid the Laub for sure.
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