This last week I went on a ski hut tour in the Bernese Oberland mountains of Switzerland. This is the heart of the Swiss Alps, and during the course of 6 days we skied a variety of routes across the largest glacier system in the Alps. Each night we ate and slept in Swiss alpine huts along the way.
Read further to see the whole trip report from this incredible adventure, with LOTS more photos and info about the trip! Continue reading “Bernese Oberland Ski Hut Tour”
This week I met up with Jonas, a splitboarder from Finland, and we went on splitboard tours around Engelberg on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday. Here are a few photos from the last three days.
In the top photo, you can see Wetterhorn down the valley.
Titlis dominates the scene at Fürenalp.
The recent misty, rainy weather down in Engelberg gave way to fresh powder and sunshine up high on Titlis this morning!
The somewhat heavy powder was perfect for arching fast carves down the Steinberg Glacier.
A peek off the rugged backside of Titlis.
The igloo bar, with a view of the heaps of off-piste on offer, including Titlis and the Steinberg Glacier at upper left.
Still scoring powder in Engelberg! Monday offered an alltime powder day, with 30cm of fresh and bluebird skies above the inversion clouds. Tuesday offered more fresh tracks for those of us willing to hike a bit above the ski area lifts. I’m loving it here lately!
At the top of the line, with an impressive spire overhead.
Skier: Zapatilla.
Today I met up with a skier from Montana for a ski/splitboard tour near Engelberg. I had scoped some north facing lines during Sunday’s hike up the Surenen valley, and I thought they would offer the best potential for any remaining powder after nearly three weeks of blue skies since the last storm.
Skier: Sam Cox.
We skinned up the valley and of course we chose to go for the highest couloir there! The snow was promising on the way up, but as we got higher into the couloir it turned to hard icy snow. After pounding steps into the slope for a few hundred feet, without crampons or ice axes, we decided that it just wasn’t happening! A crusty descent took us back down out of the couloir, and then we scored some nice turns down the open slope of smooth old wind-rippled powder.
Looking back up at our carves down the nice section. We had come out of the couloir at top right. All in all it was about an 1800′ descent, with probably the best (or should I say “most decent”) snow left around here.
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! Continue reading “Brunnistock Traverse”
Today I took the train down valley from Engelberg and met up with a new splitboarding buddy who lives in Bern. We checked out a ski zone accessible by a small cable car, and ended up scoring a beautiful untracked 800m powder descent! Continue reading “Niederrickenbach”
Rider: Prof. Shredding the Steinberg glacier.
The snow gods have blessed us with bountiful powder the last three days in Engelberg. Thursday was my first full-on powder day here, and… well… what can I say… this place rocks! Friday was a tough day… uber deep powder… knee-deep… chest-deep… but no visibility… none… total foggy whiteout. It was brail survival riding just to make it down the marked pistes. So Friday was a bust, but all the off piste remained untouched due to the whiteout, so Saturday… Saturday was full harvest in action. The weekend warriors were out in force, but even the shitshow crowds of powder hounds missed a few large stashes which I was happy to shred until the end of the day. So, when’s the next storm???
