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PowderGuide final gathering 2023/24 | Engelberg

A powdery end to the season

by Sebastian Siep • 05/07/2024

Danke an PowderGuide, dass ihr das möglich gemacht habt!

Sammy Theurer

Danke an PowderGuide, dass ihr das möglich gemacht habt!

Sammy Theurer
On the last weekend of April, the PowderGuide team met up with friends, partners and long-time companions in Engelberg to celebrate the end of the season in style.

Skiing - Five stars for the big five

When the oracle announced the last PowderAlert with the centre "Titlisboden" at the beginning of last week, the first PowderGuiders set off on Wednesdays and Thursdays to flatten the white carpet for the rest. On Friday, the whole crew gradually arrived to meet up somewhere in the Steinberg. The soles of the feet were pushed to their pain thresholds in the finest broken snow, wind cover and residual powder. When the first ones were already hanging on to the hops, the hardy ones made an ascent towards Jochstock and were rewarded with a powder run through the softened top, which was celebrated by the spectators at the chalet in FWT style. 

On Saturday, no-one felt the urge to head for the north faces or the round tour early in the morning. Instead, they headed for the easily accessible descents. Some skied over the "Messer" towards Reissend Nollen. The majority tried to navigate the Galtiberg. With amazingly good snow in the upper and middle sections, which was praised with shouts of joy and fountains of foehn down into the valley, the lower sections offered the very best in combat skiing. And all the way up to the bus stop at 1100 metres, where the flowers were in bloom and the hops shone golden in the afternoon sun. As we glided up to our base station, we could see the foehn jet over the Laubersgrat, which filled the "Lange Wand" with dry powder. We immediately headed for it and covered 1000 metres of altitude in a few seconds to reach the finest powder. The pushing passage down to the valley was rewarded with a cold drink from the boot.

On Sunday, only a few PowderGuiders still felt the call to ski. But the pistes were perfect for warming up again for the Steinberg. The best slab powder was waiting there, which brought a smile to the whole group. This transitioned seamlessly into braking snow, which allowed one or two more threes and jumps before the boarders were condemned to a hike. Fortunately, the never-ending boot provided the final compensation. FIVE star skiing and FIVE star crew!

Alexandra Zolotykh
Alexandra Zolotykh

The supporting programme

After the sundowner homerun from the Jochstock, the last knee-deep turn in front of the PowderGuide Core audience at the fabulous accommodation is as full as a PowderGuide Merino T-shirt. Here we met on the marmot terrace with a direct view of the snow-covered glacier, Steinberg, Jochstock and Titlis for a Bavarian hop brew.

The first heated discussions about equipment were soon underway. Skis and boards were pushed through front and back, equipment was scrutinised and compared. And of course, the highlights of the past season, as well as all other seasons, were exchanged over a snowman's yarn.

Of course, no successful final gathering should be without an afternoon programme. Here we had the opportunity to learn from each other. Johannes gave us an exciting first aid refresher course and those who had their hands free and could briefly part with their sundowner drink tried out the rescue blanket, the emergency tent and other rescue equipment.

With the sun on our faces, we were also able to learn about the powder slopes of Engelberg from the local mountain guide Jasper. But he didn't just show us the lines, he also gave us an insight into the mountain world around Engelberg, its special features and dangers, and told us a few anecdotes along the way.

The accommodation, the charming Chalet Trübsee in Engelberg, is hard to beat in terms of location and equipment for PowderGuides. The PowderGuides, who usually gets up early, has exclusive access to the gondola from there and is almost on the Titlis in just a few minutes. This meant there was no need for early starts at night and there was plenty of time for a hearty breakfast, where all the intensively planned ski routes could be discussed in detail and the highly motivated participants set off into the snow in appropriately sized groups.

The chalet offers a spacious bed landscape with the finest duvées and plush pillows in various individual multi-bed rooms. In consideration of the very early start of the powder hunters, there was of course a rather quiet evening programme with reading circles and a singing circle. The latter turned into a hit parade and a sociable red wine and cheese battle. On one evening, the celebrities at table football left hardly any questions unanswered and so, as a rule, almost everyone found their way to bed more or less early. Because well-rested, well-fed and well-drunk, there was plenty of strength to face the jewels of the mountain.

Because everyone wanted to make their mark in the powder or win the human slalom against their own youth on the family's own ski slope. The Zipfelboaboardercross league was no less ambitious early on, presumably with more experienced PowderGuiders. Regardless of the programme, there are always new groups of highly motivated powder skiers.

Sammy Theurer
Sammy Theurer

The PowderGuide community has evolved from a project that has existed for more than 20 years. A brief look back at this year's successes and progress and a not-so-brief round of introductions make the healthy and great heterogeneous composition of the team clear to everyone. With such diversity and energy, things can only continue to go well!

In terms of the final event, the young purchasing and kitchen crew deserves a special mention, as they single-mindedly prepared an invigorating, healthy tasty treat to the sound of aperitif-heavy music. But hello, they really went the extra mile and prepared a three-and-a-half course five-star treat!

Speaking of stars, compared to previous season closings, this and all other closings in the PowderAlerts's general subscription with the oracle. It's not just the bag of snow he brought with him that's impressive!

In future, the CR lifetime achievement award winners will apply for an eight-star overall rating for such great final events and award PowderGuide and Engelberg-Titlis the highest rating for three days. 

Many thanks to everyone who made this possible!

Alexandra Zolotykh
Alexandra Zolotykh

Photo gallery

This article has been automatically translated by DeepL with subsequent editing. If you notice any spelling or grammatical errors or if the translation has lost its meaning, please write an e-mail to the editors.

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