Engeberg_Magazin_No_17

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

Solche Bilder brauchen keine Worte.

No words are needed.

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 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 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,

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 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! 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

“Now that snow had finally fallen it was time for us to explore the mountains.”

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