 Poster: A snowHead
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I often find this list useful and am skiing in various places this week due to social commitments so here goes...
As of 2025-12-16, coverage is generally patchy below 2k here, though the valley run on the Titlis side is open thanks partly to snowmaking.
I was advised the Brunni side is not being worth bothering with except shortly after snow; I haven't been up there.
No snow apparent from yesterday's storm - it was too far south.
Above 2km, pistes are generally in good condition but off-piste has thawed and refrozen everywhere, so it's all rock-hard. Coverage on anything not N-facing remains thin and sharks are plentiful. Some ski-tourers I spoke to on-piste yesterday claimed to have a friend who'd take them to some good "moquette" (spring snow) but an invitation was not forthcoming! Probing in a possibly slightly wind-loaded N-facing location off-piste at ~2500m revealed 160-210cm snow, so there is certainly some base...just need the surface fixed!
tl;dr - pistes here are in nice condition generally, everything else is not.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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@weustace, many thanks good info.
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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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Hello Guys; anyone been to Engelberg lately?
Just back from my family trip to 3V but itching to get a short trip to Engelberg booked for a months time(haven't been for 3 years) but I just love the simplicity of the place and the terrain.
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Echoing the question above, any first-hand info on the current snow conditions there?
Engelberg is included in my season pass (AlpsPass) so I definitely want to visit it this season; just wondering if I should go in March already, or if I can better focus on other (lower) resorts for now and leave Engelberg for April/May.
I enjoy off piste (easy stuff, next to the slope) but it's not a deal breaker, especially with my knee issues; I'm mainly concerned about the slope conditions.
Thank you!
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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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I am heading out on Sunday to ski Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday.
Expecting firm mornings, then fun off piste.
Lunch and apres outside so should be great few days!
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@scottydonald, cool, please let us know how it is! And enjoy it!
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Any updates or tips good pistes good lunches for engelberg ? Going next weekend
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well I literally just got back after 4 days in Engelberg. I am useless with names so apologise.
Stayed at Ski Lodge and the place is exactly like I remembered it. Did I ski just ski spring snow, yes but still has so much fun. I love steep skiing and the atmosphere of the mountain was so cool. I felt I only skied one steep run in the 3 valleys in January!
The ski out was just torture each day, going off piste too early was a terrible idea and it was death ice for the bottom third of the glacier. come 12 ish it was awesome. Piste skiing was fun, flying about on my ON3P Billy Goats was interesting as they are a tad too wide but they were awesome off piste in the spring snow.
Fresh snow now so who cares for a week or so.
I will be back!
On a side note spoke to - Mike Douglas, Marcus Caston, Felix Lundin, Chris Anthony and got skied past at the base of the.Glacier by Maxime Chabloz numerous times. And numerous others, place is just a Mecca.
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| Snowbird22 wrote: |
| Any updates or tips good pistes good lunches for engelberg ? Going next weekend |
Lunch on the mountain? I didnt have a bad meal once, not cheap but its Switzerland!
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Back after a great weekend. Friday was a bluebird day with some powder left over at the top. Snowed all day Saturday day & night - visibility was poor but conditions improved throughout the day. Joined a guided group with Mountain Guides Engelberg and did Groß Sulz, Steintali and the Laub - incredible and exhausting day. Sunday morning woke to 10cm snow in town and 35cm from mid-mountain. Slightly delayed opening but once we got up there it was glorious. Will be back!
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
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@Tropical Gaper, 1 woman in the gondola and she died
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@Tropical Gaper, why are you particularly surprised at this happening in Switzerland?
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You know it makes sense.
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@sugarmoma666, There's an assumption of good engineering, good maintenance, etc.
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Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
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| Chaletbeauroc wrote: |
| @sugarmoma666, There's an assumption of good engineering, good maintenance, etc. |
Exactly. And Engelberg is quite a renowned destination; also, it didn't necessarily look like an older gondola or something.
Of course looks can be deceiving, and for sure no country is perfect in that regard, but still.
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Poster: A snowHead
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When you look at the Crans Montana fire disaster.
And now the Engelberg gondola tragedy.
Switzerland ain't all that safe.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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@Whitegold, For sure, not to mention the on-slope avalanche in Crans-Montana a few years ago.
I think the gondola accident just feels even more surprising because it's ran by a large organisation. And so many times we've sat in a gondola or chairlift under strong winds and thought "it's ok, it's shaky but there's no way this thing can simply fall off...". Well, apparently it can...
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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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| Tropical Gaper wrote: |
| Chaletbeauroc wrote: |
| @sugarmoma666, There's an assumption of good engineering, good maintenance, etc. |
Exactly. And Engelberg is quite a renowned destination; also, it didn't necessarily look like an older gondola or something.
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No, it was opened in 2015. We watched it being built from our apartment just 100m from the base station.
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Very sad news.
Of the many many different resorts I had the chance to visit in my life in Europe or elsewhere, its easily one of the best.
Between this, Crans Montana, and 1 or 2 bus/train accidents I heard of on the news, it is true that Switzerland's mountain communities suffered their fair share of disasters this winter...
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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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| ck_v2 wrote: |
Very sad news.
Of the many many different resorts I had the chance to visit in my life in Europe or elsewhere, its easily one of the best.
Between this, Crans Montana, and 1 or 2 bus/train accidents I heard of on the news, it is true that Switzerland's mountain communities suffered their fair share of disasters this winter... |
For sure the Crans fire was a terrible tragedy but while this may get headlines, it looks like a freak accident and only affected one person (albeit fatally) and you can be sure that every lift company in Switzerland will be double checking their maintenance records as a result!
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Yeah, I hope at least the "aviation accident" effect will apply here as well and they'll use this case to correct/improve security standards so it doesn't happen again. Still, scary stuff.
I heard they'd had maintenance work done last September, but the gondola hit a pole. Apparently this gondola's clamps had previously been evaluated by the Swiss transport safety council as "bad" (along with 52 others in the country...)
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@Tropical Gaper, where do you get the info that the clamps were bad?
The cabin was caught by a strong gust of wind and swung against a mast. That seems to have broken or opened the clamp.
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@Steilhang, from 6iBrief, a Swiss newsletter.
They quoted the Blick: https://www.blick.ch/schweiz/zentralschweiz/obwalden/bauteil-sorgt-immer-wieder-fuer-unfaelle-bund-warnte-schon-2021-loeste-diese-klemme-den-tragischen-gondelabsturz-aus-id21794709.html
Here's 6iBrief's article:
Frau stirbt bei Seilbahnunglück in Engelberg
Kurz nach 11 Uhr ereignete sich der Unfall. (Foto: Kantonspolizei Nidwalden)
Ein tragischer Unfall erschüttert das Skigebiet Engelberg: Gestern Vormittag stürzte eine Kabine der Titlis-Bergbahnen kurz nach einem Mast mehrere Meter in die Tiefe. Eine 61-jährige Frau aus der Region kam dabei ums Leben.
«Eine Gondel darf einfach nicht abstürzen», sagt Titlis-Bergbahnen-CEO Norbert Patt im Tages-Anzeiger. «Uns werden Menschen anvertraut, umso schwerwiegender ist der Unfall.»
Obwohl die Anlage erst im September revidiert wurde, riss es die Gondel aus der Verankerung. Expert:innen vermuten eine fatale Kombination aus extremen Windböen von über 100 km/h und einer Kollision mit der Stütze.
Auf SRF etwa hält Seilbahnexperte Reto Canale menschliches Versagen oder technische Defekte, wie Materialfehler oder ein Verhängen an der Stütze, für mögliche Ursachen. Die starken Winde könnten Querpendelungen ausgelöst haben, mutmasst er. Dass das Seil aus der Klemme gerissen wurde, sei im modernen Betrieb «sehr ungewöhnlich» und bewege sich im Bereich des äussersten Restrisikos.
Die genaue Unfallursache wird nun von der Staatsanwaltschaft und der Sicherheitsuntersuchungsstelle (Sust) ermittelt. Letztere stellte besagten Klemmen bei 52 Bahnen schon im Jahr 2021 ein schlechtes Zeugnis aus, schreibt der Blick.
(Google translation)
Woman dies in cable car accident in Engelberg
A tragic accident has rocked the Engelberg ski resort: Yesterday morning, a gondola belonging to the Titlis cable car company plummeted several meters to the ground shortly after colliding with a pylon. A 61-year-old woman from the region was killed.
"A gondola simply shouldn't fall," Titlis cable car CEO Norbert Patt told the Tages-Anzeiger newspaper. "People are entrusted to our care, which makes this accident all the more serious."
Although the system had only been overhauled in September, the gondola was ripped from its moorings. Experts suspect a fatal combination of extreme wind gusts exceeding 100 km/h and a collision with the pylon.
On SRF radio, cable car expert Reto Canale considers human error or technical defects, such as material flaws or the gondola becoming entangled with the pylon, to be possible causes. He speculates that the strong winds may have triggered lateral oscillations. The fact that the cable was ripped from the clamp is "very unusual" in modern operations and falls squarely within the realm of the absolute minimum risk.
The exact cause of the accident is now being investigated by the public prosecutor's office and the Transportation Safety Investigation Board (STSB). The STSB already gave the clamps on 52 cable cars a failing grade in 2021, according to Blick.
And 2 other sources:
https://www.tagesanzeiger.ch/gondelunfall-titlis-frau-stirbt-nach-absturz-in-engelberg-928417029711
https://www.srf.ch/news/schweiz/seilbahnunfall-in-engelberg-experte-ungewoehnlich-dass-ein-solcher-unfall-geschehen-konnte
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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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@Tropical Gaper, "Letztere stellte besagten Klemmen bei 52 Bahnen schon im Jahr 2021 ein schlechtes Zeugnis aus". Bad translation. It doesn't actually say that the 'bad' clamps were those on the cable car that failed here! It just says that 52 tested 'Bahnen' (Lift Operators) were given bad notes. May be that the Titlis one was among that number, maybe not. The other article not behind a paywall just says that such accidents are quite unusual!
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@Steilhang, Upon further inspection/translation (I don't really speak fluent German), I think you are right indeed, my bad for the poor journalism haha!
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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Anyone been to Engelberg recently? Will be there coming weekend (onwards) and wondering how the conditions have been with all this heat (especially the slope conditions)
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