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Little cable cars, big mountains and friendly
farmers. In the Swiss Alps, you are never far
from the next “Buurebähnli”, as the privately
owned mini-lifts or “cow lifts” are called. We
embarked on some lift-based ski touring on the
mountains high above the Engelberg valley.
MOOOO! The cows stare at us, a lit tle
f rightened, a lit tle curious, as we pass close
behind them. They move su lkily to the sides of
the barn as we step across the grit ty concrete
f loor in our ski boots, our skis over our right
shou lders and our poles in our lef t hands. The
smell of countr y life per vades
the barn – cow manure and
hay. The cat tle are clearly
unaccustomed to seeing f re-
eriders like us, in our colour-
f u l ski gear. As we open the
barn door the light f loods in,
blinding us for a moment, but a second later we
can see the snowy mountains ahead. I leave the
barn of cows at the Obera lp farm, 1, 413 metres
above sea level, with a feeling that I have just
sur v ived a dangerous moment. Far below us lie
the Engelberg va lley and the Diegisba lm va lley
station of the lit tle red four-seater cable car.
Here’s the thing: I do not like anima ls. I
never pet them. I do not eat them. Cats that rub
against my legs don’ t do it for long as I gently
but f irmly push them away. Dogs that want to
play I ignore. Honestly, I want on ly one thing
f rom anima ls – that we leave each other in
peace. When Fredrik Schenholm, who has long
been my good f riend and colleague, suggested
doing a lif t-based ski tour using the Swiss “cow
lif ts”, I was sceptica l. Unfor tunately, I seem to
have had ex tremely selec tive hearing, as when
he told me about it I on ly noticed the phrases
“ it ’ ll be an adventure”, “we don’ t need to ski a ll
the way up f rom the va lley because the lif ts
can take us up to a lmost 1,500 metres”, “ loads
of untouched terrain”, and “ lit tle or no compe-
tition on the powder f rom other f reeriders”.
Once we received a message f rom
Engelberg skier Oscar Hübinet te that snow
had f ina lly fa llen on the mountains surround-
ing Engelberg we set of f to explore the areas
outside the resor t. On the days that followed
we drove a car down f rom the v illage and
parked on f ields or sma ll car parks close to the
tiny cable cars. Our days of skiing were f illed
with terrible cof fee and even more terrible
home-brewed schnapps with the mountain
farmers who of ten inv ited
us into their homes. We
under took various ski tours
that of ten saw us enjoy ing
powder runs a ll by our-
selves. But let ’s get back to
those cows at the Obera lp.
As we ex it the cow barn and our eyes
get used to the bright sun light, I feel a sense of
panic spreading throughout my body. Ahead of
me are nine cows, a ll of them loose. They stare
at me and make a lot of noise. This, in combi-
nation with their horns, scares me more than
I can say. I move as far as possible f rom the
cows and as close to the fence as I dare – bet-
ter a sting f rom the elec tric fence than a lick
f rom a rough and slimy tongue. Once we get
well past the anima ls we put on our skins and
star t wa lking. My travelling companions are
amused by my fear and tit ter among them-
selves. We follow a snow-f illed track that leads
to the Lochhüt te A lpine dair y. As we head f ur-
ther into the va lley we come across an exciting
ski bowl, squeezed in between the Gräf imat t-
stand summit (2,050 m a.s.l.) on the right, and
the Kerna lp and the steep Ar v igrat ridge on the
lef t. This 400 ver tica l metre ski playground
has various kinds of terrain to enjoy. Now I
understand why I agreed to come a long!
“Now that snow had finally
fallen it was time for us to
explore the mountains.”
inside
Solche Bilder brauchen
keine Worte.
No words are needed.
Fakten zu den «Buurebähnli» im Engelbergertal
Was:
Kleine Seilbahnen, die von Bergbauern oder anderen Privatleuten betrieben werden
Wo:
www.engelberg.ch– nach «Buurebähnli» suchen.
Wie:
Telefonhörer in der Seilbahn abnehmen, oben bei Ankunft bezahlen (ca. 7–10
CHF), Ski anschnallen und die gewünschte Route/Piste fahren, die auf der Karte einge-
zeichnet ist. Sie wissen nicht, wohin? Wenden Sie sich an einen Bergführer.
Wann:
Die beste Zeit ist von Januar bis Ende März; in schneereichen Wintern auch noch im April.
Wer:
Jeder, der Lifte und Skiabenteuer mag
Warum:
Geringe Konkurrenz durch andere Skifahrer, tolle Erlebnisse
Facts about the “cow lifts” in the Engelberg valley
What:
Small cable cars run by farmers or other private owners.
Where:
www.engelberg.ch,search “Buurebähnli”
How:
Pick up the phone in the cablecar, pay the money at the top (CHF 7–10), put on skins and fol-
low your desired ski tour on the map. If you don’ t know where to go, contact a mountain guide.
When:
Best time is January to end of March. In a year with lots of snow you can easily do it in April too.
Who:
Anyone who likes lift-based ski adventures
Why:
Fewer skiers and great adventures