Skier under the rugged spire of Hasenstock (2729m).
Skier: Kevin Gertner
Last Thursday I joined Kevin, an Engelberg-American pal, for a high ski/splitboard traverse through the rugged peaks north of Engelberg. We traveled through seven basins, crossing over 3 glaciers and 4 high passes along the way, with a long descent at the end.
See lots more photos from the adventure below!
Skinning past a farmer's cabin in Bannalp.
High above the Grosstal valley which drains into the massive Urnersee lake - terrain reminiscent of Norwegian fjords.
Skiing towards the west side of Engelberger Rotstock (2818m).
Skier under the rugged spire of Hasenstock (2729m), with the snowy Griessental valley below.
The spectacular Griessental valley. The Griessenfirn glacier is at left, Ruchstock (2814m) at right, and Titlis (3238m) in the left distance. The town of Engelberg is directly down-valley from here, though any practical winter route is blocked by massive cliffs.
Skier traverses under Engelberger Rotstock (2818m).
Uri Rotstock (2928m) towers above the flatlands to the north.
Heading towards Schlossstocklücke.
Wissigstock (2887m)
Skiing the Blüemlisalpfirn glacier with Brunnistock (2952m) in the background.
Kevin Gertner skis past one of many frozen waterfalls in the Grosstal valley.
Skiing below massive cliffs in the Grosstal valley.
Our all-day journey through the high peaks on skis/splitboard was only the first half of the adventure… 3 more hours of buses and trains finally brought us back around the mountains to Engelberg! It’s great that the thoroughly interconnected Swiss transportation system makes this sort of traverse possible without a lengthy car shuttle!
Geez, Jack, some incredible skiing and some great photos.. Looks like my kinda place for fun. Keep the great adventures coming.
Thanks Paul! This route was actually not so much about the skiing, since the only real descent was at the end… but just traveling through this scenery was incredible indeed!
Great series, jack! Some of the most inspiring skiing through amazing winter mountainscape images I’ve ever seen.
Thanks Dave! Yeah the mountainscapes around here are so awesome… the mountains here keep reminding me of the Dolomites, but more “alpine” if that makes sense. The Griessental valley was especially amazing, and I hope to return there again for a multi-day outing (with the big camera)!
Simply epic!!
Thanks Jesse!
Hi Jack,
Have been following your blog for a few months now. Always great and inspirational shots, keep it up! Are you shooting mostly on digital now (5d mk2 ?), and if so how are you finding it? Anyway keep the great shots coming, it allows us to live the dream vicariously through your blog. Hope you’re enjoying Europe.
Dave.
Thanks Dave, I’m glad you like the photos! All my skiing/snowboarding shots, like these, are taken with a Panasonic GF1 + 20mm lens. Oftentimes I make stitched panoramic shots like some of these, when I need wider angles.
Otherwise, my camera of choice these days for landscapes and backpacking is the Canon 5DII. I am loving it… great camera, with some great lenses.
This looks like am unbelievable escape from civilization. Not sure if its just the point of view but it looks there is not a soul around for miles and miles…. beautiful.
Hi Ed, the funny thing is that although there weren’t a lot of people around that day, there were lots of tracks and it was obvious that lots of people had been up around there already! Pretty amazing, actually, how people get after it around here.
[...] a photogenic alpine valley that I vowed to return to after seeing it the first time during the Brunistock traverse a few weeks ago. This valley is directly above the town of Engelberg; in fact I can see the [...]