 Poster: A snowHead
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Another late April trip to Engelberg and again the ski area delivered with another fantastic five days. Gorgeous weather, quiet slopes and plenty of snow, given the huge amounts that have fallen this season.
In strict contrast to April 2017, when heavy snowfall was the order of the day, blue sky and warm temperatures prevailed. This meant typical spring conditions: hard packed first thing, lovely corn snow around lunchtime and heavy stuff lower down later on. Somehow, the resort had managed to keep the valley run open and it was very pleasant skimming back into town along a narrow track through meadows of spring flowers!
The whole of the Titlis/Jochpass areas - apart from the Gerschnialp nursery areas - were open and there weren't that many skiers about midweek. The usual coachloads of Indian and Japanese tourists added their usual amusements and yet again we were inundated with requests for pictures, selfers etc! I was always happy to oblige!
Stayed in the Hotel Sonnwendhof - 93 Chf (£6 per night bed and breakfast - and it was a clean, tidy hotel with friendly service. Its location was perfect for the railway station and the Titlis lifts, which were just a five minute walk away. Eating and drinking was the usual steep Swiss experience; however, the Core Irish pub served hearty pub grub for around £16-20 depending on your choice. Beer in town was 6.50 Chf (£4.75) a pint.
Logistics again worked perfectly. Left Heathrow on the 6am flight (free ski carriage, £87 return) to Zurich. Train via Lucerne to Engelberg railway station (£64 return) and on the Titlis Express gondola by 12.30. The return was equally painless - finished skiing at 3.45 on Thursday afternoon, shower and changed in the hotel sauna area, and on the 17.02 train to Zurich Airport in plenty of time for the 20.55 flight back to Heathrow.
This easy access and decent size, high-altitude ski area and a number of decent hotels willing to book non-standard midweek stays, makes Engelberg my number one destination for a short, late-season break. I'm sure I will return in Aprils to come.
Last edited by Poster: A snowHead on Thu 26-04-18 15:01; edited 1 time in total
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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That should be £68 not
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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?
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Sounds great. Must pop over and give Engelberg a go sometime next season.
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
You need to Login to know who's really who.
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Excellent
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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Thanks for the post. I'm looking at doing something similar next week for 2 nights. The only hitch is that the Swiss flights are getting close to £300, so it looks like easyjet from Luton will be the best bet. And given I'll only have a short time I'll probably hire a car to maximise skiing time.
That hotel looks like a good bet though.
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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@LOTA, Sounds awesome. Can’t beat April in CH 😉
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@marcs44, Just a note of warning, the open areas have now contracted to the Stand and glacier areas, probably ok for a day or two, but limited otherwise.
@BobinCH, I never use the a-word! (not April!!) 
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@LOTA, thanks for that. I’m only looking at 2 half days on the travel days and 1 full day in the middle so hopefully should still be ok. Aiming for the tail end of this coming week and looks like they might get some snow before then which would be a nice bonus.
Might splurge and hire a guide for a half day touring or off piste if it seems worthwhile.
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
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@LOTA, sounds fantastic. I've done something very similar the last couple of years but didn't get it together this year unfortunately. The April powder in '16 and '17 was superb.
I've found last minute Avios availability very good on the London - Zürich route too, especially midweek.
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@LOTA, thanks again for the info.
Just got back from Engelberg - I was there Thursday to Saturday and it was great. Had some nice wet powder on Thursday. Probably only 5 other skiers up there that afternoon. I skied over to the glacier t-bar and saw it wasn't running. The guy came out of the shack and said they stopped it because no one was there, but "there's powder on this side, piste on the other, and they'll turn on the lift for you at the bottom". Private skiing! On Friday I hired a guide for a half day and we did the Steinberg and then Galtiberg. Galtiberg in particular was pretty impressive. Obviously given the time of year it required a 45 min walk down to the valley at the end but a great experience. Saturday was a typical Spring day with the pistes softening up by 10/10:30. Nice sunshine and great views all around all 3 days above the sea of clouds.
I'd happily stay at the hotel Sonnwendof again. Ticked all the boxes. Car hire at Zurich and the 1 hr 15 min drive was really easy.
The amount of Asian tour groups around was crazy. I definitely had a lot of photo requests with my skis up on the Titlis which was entertaining.
All in all, a great short trip and definitely not my last visit to Engelberg. Really hard to beat for a quick Spring trip....
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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@marcs44, Excellent, glad you had a good time. Good to have another Engelberg short break enthusiast on the board!
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