Adelboden Lenk has long been on Powderhounds.com’s list on places to ski but we have been somewhat loathed to visit, which is hindsight was in error. An early February jaunt showed us why it is so rightfully popular with the locals but also confirmed a couple of niggling issues that we thought might be deal breakers. And whilst it turns out they aren’t true deal breakers, and there are parts we would love to visit again, Adelboden is far from a perfect ski resort, with a few niggles that we expand on further below.

Adelboden is a popular ski area with the Swiss. Whilst we get why, it is not generally a ski area we would be attracted too. Perfect for lovers of groomed pistes, après ski & mountain dining, it still does have some positives for powder hounds. It is an expansive ski area with a huge variety of terrain options on all aspects. In fresh snow it could be a cracker, particularly with a little local knowledge.

Wandering around the many piste trails is what Adelboden Lenk is first & foremost all about and we did enjoy aspects of it. Hurtling down the World Cup piste from Chuenisbärgli (1,730m) down to Boden (1,290m) is fantastic, but it is much better to combine it from all the way at the top on 1,903m Höchsthorn. Whilst not as frightening as some (Kitzbühel’s Hahnenkamm comes immediately to mind), it certainly is spicy and worth doing. The top pitch on Höchsthorn is intermediate piste 84, but it should be rated ‘black’ as it plunges down with the valley laid out splendidly before you. Our favourite runs on the hill for sure.

A delightful top to bottom piste is on Betelberg starting at over 2,000m altitude, a cruisy start becomes an intermediates’ special on the Tschuggen piste (no.6), one can go all the way into Lenk via the number 16 piste at the bottom or turn right and head back to the gondola. Either way it is one of the best runs in the region.

Another one worth doing is the valley trail from Geils all the back to the car park at the base at Oey in Adelboden. It’s not steep (in fact its occasionally almost flat) or necessarily challenging but it is interesting; narrow bridges, road crossings, intermediate rope tows, a bit of skating, and a mix of alpine, forest, river valley and rural surrounds. A fine way to end the day and one can ski all the way into the car park. We loved it.

For lift accessed off-piste, terrain in the alpine bowl below the Seewlehorn summit has the finest snow and longest consistent fall-line skiing in the resort. Best accessed via the top of the chair at Lavey (2,200m), one can get nearly 700m of vertical into the chairlift base at Aebi. In full winter conditions, on the Lenk side of the main ski area, descents of over 1,000m vertical would be possible all the way from top to bottom into the outskirts of Lenk village. Sadly the snow on sunny-aspect slopes below 1,400m was non-existent on this visit, so hopefully we will have better luck next time. The broad chutes under the chair lift to Luegli would be fun on their day (they were bit skied off when we visited). Snow quality is great on a cold, north aspect slope. Sidecountry terrain is awesome from around the top of Betelberg. And so it goes on…

Rating the ski lifts in the overall region is difficult given the incredible breadth & diversity. We rated it at 4-paws because it’s so vast and covers a lot of ground, but also acknowledging there are some very old, slow lifts amongst the better ones, particularly on the ‘satellite’ ski areas. The ponderously time-consuming 35-year-old, 6-seat gondola from the Adelboden resort base at Oey (1,252m) to Bergläger (1,490m) and hence up the mountain to Sillerenbühl (1,974m) will eventually be replaced with a modern 10-seat version. Allegedly on a more direct route to Sillerenbühl, the new gondola will slash travel times in the morning and provide a vast improvement in the ski resort.

Away from the main ski area between Adelboden & Lenk, it is genuinely surprising how busy the Adelboden ‘satellite’ ski area of Elsigen-Metsch can get. One, because it is a simple traditional no-frills mountain with ancient lifts; and two, because the road going up to it and the parking are absolute shockers. The narrow, shaded, icy road is a single lane for most of its journey up. The car parking at the lowest lift (Elsigbach) is on glacier-like ice and frozen wooden mesh panels. Don’t get me wrong; we love a bit of adventure driving and parking to get to a ski area, but we just expected it to be bereft of humans. Instead it was insanely busy in the middle of the week. Wasn’t until later that we realised that this was the one week of the school holidays for Bern & surrounds. Aaargh….

At Engstligenalp, the skiing is all about touring above the lifts, with peaks like Tschingellochtighorn, Ammertenspitz and Grossstrubel (3,243 m) with descents over 2,00m vertical possible in good conditions all the way into the valley near Lenk. Smaller tours in the main bowl provide an extra 500m vertical above the top lifted point. The lifts here are open to early may – a stark contrast to the ski lifts in Adelboden Lenk which closed at the end of March. There is an early bird lift option on weekends from March to May to go up on a 7am cable car. Costs more of course but could be worth it for primo conditions.

And so to the niggles. The main niggle is the altitude and snow coverage down low. Snow reliability at the lower end of the ski resort is becoming more questionable over time. During our visit, in a difficult season, the cover at the lowest altitudes was just adequate for skiing but failed to impress in regard to a winter-like atmosphere in the villages.

Another niggle is in regard to transport & getting around. Day car parking in Adelboden costs …… in Lenk it is free. However buses are only free with a guest card, and in Lenk, particularly before lunchtime, there are conductors on the buses checking tickets and taking payment for fares. In a ski area that relies on a bus to join the main Adelboden Lenk sector with the Betelberg sector and Lenk village, it is a tad weird for skiers to have to pay for a ticket, but such is life in some Swiss ski areas.

Yet another niggle is that the village of Adelboden sits disconnected from the main ski area. It has an atmospheric main street and beautiful sunny position with a spectacular backdrop of precipitous mountains; however it is a disappointment to find how awkward it is to get to/from the ski lifts. Adelboden village is connected to the ‘Oey’ lift base and day car park by a 35yr-old pulse gondola. It works OK during off-peak times, but we wonder what it would be like during peak periods. There is an option to walk down to Oey (its only 500m & 100m vert), but we imagine most visitors staying in this high-falutin village would not even consider it a realistic option. It is definitely realistic!

Deciding where one would stay overnight is not easy, but we will put it this way. Adelboden is more expensive, more atmospheric, prettier and more interesting than Lenk, but it has a level of pretence that may not appeal to all. Access to the skiing is not the easiest, but it is not the worst we have ever come across. Lenk on the other hand has the benefit of accessibility by train, more affordable accommodation, and a more relaxed vibe. We will stay in Lenk if we return (as we are unpretentious tight-arses); plus maybe do a night up in on the mountain at Engstligenalp just to mix it up.

Despite the few ‘niggles’ (and the daily lift pass price being one of the more expensive in Europe), we would certainly consider coming back to Adelboden & Lenk but only if the resort had full snow coverage from top to bottom. And we would avoid visiting during the February school holiday period for the local canton too. Ooops! We reckon a midweek day or five here otherwise could be quite special.

See our thoughts on the pros and cons of this ski resort via our Adelboden Lenk overview page.