Engelberg

In 1120 AD, upon completion of their monastery in stunning alpine valley above Lucerne, the Benedictines were rewarded by a glimpse of singing angels. Stuck for a name, the obvious reaction was "The mountain of the Angel: Engelberg!" and so it is known today. According to the tourist blurb, the angels haven't been seen since - equally with climbing, there's a tendency rather towards the demonic!

A couple of miles into the mountainous interior from the resort of Engelberg, the broad alpine valley narrows and shimmers under the reflected light from waterfalls and the glacial spills above. From these, a cool wind funnels past the north-facing crag making 'Schlengge' the perfect place for the summer. The rock rises immediately above the jogging track which follows the perimeter of an alpine golf course; Zurich matrons, ladies who later will be doing lunch, are filling their day Nordically walking or chasing mechanised golf carts and glance (momentarily) at the scruffy camraderie equally being indulged at the base of the rock.


The angels are there but they ain't obvious; the crag consists almost entirely of slopers. The pump comes from hanging, searching for tiny hidden crimps lost in a sea of over-chalked desperate groping. Sometimes a tiny edge on the lip of a sloper, sometimes an unexpected sidehold. Too late; you're off! This must be one of the hardest crags in the world to on-sight, even on the easy routes. All the more credit to Dave Graham's flashed ascent of Schwarze Glass.

1 No Name F6? First route on the left. 2 Chockli F6? Up to LO left of fallen tree 3 Mr Higgins F6? Up to same LO left of fallen tree 4 Linke Sau F6? Up to LO below fallen tree 5 Tein aber Gemein F6? Up to same LO below fallen tree 6 No Name F7? Broken by ledge and veg. 7 Seillangen TAN3 F6a+ Nice warmup after start. 8 Schottenpiste F6b/6b+, F6? Diagonal line of white corners. Good. 9 Popeye/Six Killer F6c, F6c+, F7a Starts up black streak then steadily gets mean. 10 Bengelzwere F6c, F7a+ Popular to unpopular stopper move at 1st LO 11 Stramme Tits F7c Bouldery start out of grey alcove 12 Strammer Bolzen F7a, F7b+/7c Lurch left out of alcove then white strip. Good. 13 Zollo del L'Achel F7c/7c+ Squeezed in start. 14 No Time For Wanking F7b+, F8a Popular powerful direct up alcove to LO then tech scoopy wall. 15 Laserblade F7b, F8a Diag R out of alcove, R into hanging corner, LO. Then upper arete! 16 Schwarze Glass F8b+ Boulder up, then reach and cross small overlap high up.

17 Termalator F8b+ White streak high up, R of small overlap 18 Onan der Masterbator F8a+ Black streak above the obvious 'drainage flake'. 19 Good Friends F6c Awkward groove to LO to R of 'drainage flake' 20 No Name F8a+ Continues up white to R of 'drainage flake'. Popular 21 Merry Xmas F6b+/6c Enjoyable R wall of groove. 22 Viatova F7c Moves R from LO and continues up headwall. Popular. 23 Pervert Man F7c Similar but breaks out right over headwall. Popular 24 Sessamestrasse F6c+ Intense black line, finshing over naughty overlap. Classic. 25 Ottoc F6b/6b+ White groove 26 Muhleweg F7a+ Continues into awkward hanging corner, high up 27 Groove F6a+ White groove eases with height 28 Damoclese F7b Continuation up higher hanging rib 29 Black Arete F6b Move right from 27 onto awkward rib. 30 White Groove F6? Final groove. 31 Der Wohn Zinnn F? Very short line over overhangs.

Where?
Engleberg is in East Central Switzerland, south of Zurich/Luzern and is a beautiful summer and winter resort and, despite being in a hanging valley below the glacial heights of Titlis (3239m), is oddly but not unpleasantly suburban. The crag consists of a steep wall of relatively featureless limestone with a major tendency towards slopers. It is well-bolted and there are other secret crags hidden in the valley. Walk up the valley from the chairlift and gaze up at the project ropes to the left. There are easier crags and vias ferrata higher up towards the summits as well as bouldering.

Facilities?
All main facilities are available in Engelberg (clean, cosmopolitan, rather manicured in fact) and there is one very civilised campsite (contact the Eienwaldli), halfway to the crag, which could be busy in the height of summer but was still quiet at the end of May. It's very friendly and english is spoken.
The valley is the perfect place for family holidays in the summer, with biking, glacier skiing, downhill 'Trotti'bikes (giant scooters let loose from the ski stations) and a very convenient crag with routes from 6a+ to 8b+ sat above a picnic spot five minutes from the road. It should be possible to climb here without your own transport as Easyjet flies to Zurich and the train runs to Engelberg.

The Topo
Routes at Engelberg figure in the hit list of many 8a.nu habituees and yet, apart from a mention in a recent UK magazine article, there seems to be no details available in English. Asking at the local Tourist Info and the local mountain guides turns up nothing. It is however a popular evening crag for the Luzerne climbers and they are very willing to pool what knowledge they have. With apologies for any mistakes, I've put together a basic topo here which tries to sort out the sometimes 'mix and matched' lines and extensions (...many of the routes have separate grades to the first and second lower-offs.) Treat the topo as a starting point,and ask the locals for clarification. Footnote: there is now a topo (under the name Schlanggen) in the most recent (2006) edition of Schweiz Extreme Band 1; however the lines are not very clear so, for the moment, I shall leave this topo online.


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