Sometimes there are places that locals and friends alike would rather I didn’t share with you, dear LiL reader, but I felt I just had to share this little nugget with you.
If you wish to try your hand at skiing but are put off by the daily ski pass rates, or are skiing with young kids who tire and/or get bored quickly, or want to put one kid in ski school and play/ski with the other(s) easily, then this really is for you.
Get yourselves to Engelberg and go to the Titlis Station, yes the one that takes you to the top of the Titlis with daily ski passes for CHF 65.-!! Buy a one way ticket to Gerschnialp for CHF 9.- per adult (or CHF 4.50 with a half tax pass); once through the ticket control area, do not go to the cable cars but go to the train on the right, much faster. Once in Gerschnialp put on your skis and have a gentle ski & walk to the first T bar lift, there buy a book of 40 tickets for CHF 16.-. This entitles a child to up to 20 runs or an adult roughly 13 runs (depending on the run you will either hand over 2, 3 or 4 tickets). The slopes are all blue and quite straight forward. When you’re hungry you can ski to the Gasthaus Gerschnialp, which offers typical ski resort fare (but well cooked and copious); the kids will love playing on the small hill just opposite whilst you take in the sun on the terrace. Then it’s time for some more gentle and fun skiing, before deciding how to head back to Engelberg.
You have three options: you can either ski/walk back up to Gerschnialp or you can pay CHF 2.- for the minivan to drive you there; then you can decide whether you want to take the train back down or, much more fun, ski down all the way to the Titlis station (it’s another blue run), or sled down. If you bring your own sled, it’s for free.
At the end of the day we spent 2 x CHF 9.- (Isabelle went for free as she has a Junior Travelcard) for the trip up, 2 x CHF 2.- for the minivan back up to the station (children go for free) and CHF 16.-, for the book of tickets.
Total: CHF 36.- for the 3 of us spent on a lovely day skiing, not bad hey? The best part, we have some tickets left and get to use them next time we go up, which will be real soon! Looking forward to seeing you there, sometimes good deals just have to be shared!
The ski schools also use the slopes here, which means that if you have an older child you can put them in the school and practice with the little ones, or ski on your own and meet up for lunch
