Engelberg
Big vertical and serious freeride near Lucerne.
- The villageThe lowest village in Switzerland.
- 1,000m
- SeasonLonger than the December to April season that 42 of the 55 resorts we cover run.
- December to May
- Top of the skiing307m above the median of 2,697m across the 55 resorts we cover.
- 3,004m
- Lift-linked from the villageThe third smallest lift-linked area of the 24 resorts we have a connected figure for. That is piste you can reach from the village without a bus, not what the pass covers.
- 70km
Is Engelberg right for you?
Engelberg is a monastery town with a giant mountain above it, the Titlis, and one of the biggest lift served vertical drops in the Alps. The village sits at 1,000m and the skiing tops out at 3,004m, and the season runs December to May. The top is high, but the village sits at 1,000m, so in a warm March the bottom runs go first.
Engelberg at a glance
- Ski area
- Engelberg-Titlis
- Best for
- Off piste · Non skiers · Snow sure
- Fly to
- Zurich or Milan Malpensa
- Transfer
- About 1h10 by road from Zurich
- Doorstep skiing
- Limited, use lifts
Who Engelberg suits, and who it suits less
Best for
- Off piste. Freeride runs from around 2,000 metres and the Titlis glacier above give strong skiers big terrain, with a valley run that drops 2,000 metres to Engelberg.
- Non skiers. The Titlis Rotair revolving cable car, the Cliff Walk suspension bridge and a glacier cave make the mountain worth the trip even without skis.
- Snow sure. Just over half the piste we measure is above 1,800 metres, and the skiing reaches 3,004 metres on the Titlis glacier above the village.
Less good for
- Mileage chasers. There are about 82 kilometres of slopes across the Titlis and the Brunni, a modest count for skiers who want to roam far each day.
- Beginners. The easy slopes are spread across several small areas rather than one big gentle zone, so beginners may spend time moving between them.
Skiing from 1,000m to 3,004m, village at 1,000m.
Where these heights are
- Lowest skiing
- 1,000mEngelberg valley (valley run to the Titlis Xpress base).
- Village
- 1,000m
- Top of the skiing
- 3,004mOur measurement of the highest marked piste.
- 1.4km green3%
- 18km blue40%
- 22km red48%
- 4.5km black10%
We found no official split by colour for Engelberg, so this is our own measurement of the marked runs around it, from the piste map.
No green: Swiss pistes are graded from blue.
- Black piste
- 4.5km, 10% of the pisteLess than the median of 11% across the 55 resorts we cover.
- Ski area
- Engelberg-Titlis, 82kmNo larger linked area.
- Cross country
- 43km of trails
Sources
- Village height: titlis.ch
- Village height: engelberg.ch
- Lowest skiing: titlis.ch
- Cross country: engelberg.ch
- Ski area: titlis.ch
- Top of the skiing: our measurement of the highest marked piste
- Piste by colour and the steep end: our measurement of the OpenStreetMap piste map
The published figures were read on 29 October 2026.
70km from the village. The pass says 82km.
- 20km green and blue43%
- 22km red48%
- 4.5km black10%
Of the 20km green and blue, 1.4km is green.
- First timersThin
- Improvers, blue into redFine
- Confident intermediatesFine
- Strong skiersThin
The spreadIt scores 0.86 for evenness, where 1 is a perfect three way split between green and blue, red and black. The largest share is red, at 48%.
Longest piste5 Talabfahrt Standard Trübsee to Engelberg, 2km of blue with 356m of vertical.
The Engelberg-Titlis pass covers 82km across two separate areas that are not all joined to each other. From Engelberg you can ski 70km without getting on a bus, train or car.
Our own measurement of the run geometry around Engelberg comes to 46km of graded piste, and that is what the profile below is drawn from.
Sources: skiresort.com
The lowest village of its Swiss peers
Of these five, Engelberg has the lowest village, 1,000m. The median across the 55 resorts we cover is 1,350m.
Who should look elsewhere
If you are booking for late March or Easter
A higher village is the safer bet. St. Moritz sits at 1,822m and Arosa sits at 1,775m.
Know the mountain before you go.
The skiing
The famous Laub and the glacier descents are the draw for confident skiers, while the lower slopes look after families and improvers. Snow up high is excellent well into spring.
The village and the evenings
The town is down to earth and friendly rather than glossy, with the old abbey giving it a distinctive character. It is refreshingly unpretentious.
Getting there
Zurich is only about an hour and a quarter away, one of the shortest Swiss transfers going.
- Zurichabout 1h10 by road
- Milan Malpensaabout 2h50 by road