Adelboden and Lenk. Two charming villages, surrounded by mighty mountains and covered with a thick layer of snow. This is the Swiss ski area Adelboden-Lenk. A place that offers everything for the perfect winter holiday. Whether you enjoy descending challenging slopes or prefer sipping a hot chocolate in a cosy mountain hut, you’ll feel right at home here. Another advantage: it’s incredibly quiet, especially outside the peak season.

Winter sports by train to Adelboden-Lenk

Our winter sports trip to Adelboden-Lenk begins with a train journey from our hometown. Wonderfully relaxed and stress-free without traffic jams. We arrive at the station just before 8 o’clock. Ski gear with us, so we’re heavily laden. At 8:08, our train departs, which will take us to Basel. From there, we need to change trains twice more to arrive in Lenk. With Swiss precision, we expect no problems with the trains. However, lugging the baggage and skis is a bit of a chore. We’re happy to do it to arrive at our destination well-rested and without traffic stress.

We have first-class tickets and reserved seats. This means even more relaxed travel. With a good internet connection and regular coffee breaks, we pass the time easily. The landscape changes as we travel further into Germany. We pass Freiburg and the Black Forest. The rhythm is pleasant, and our compartment is nicely quiet. Nodding off, we reach Basel. There we need to change trains.

Indeed, the Swiss trains run precisely on time. We have no problem making our connection. Lugging the baggage goes surprisingly easily. This repeats itself once more when we change at Zweisimmen to the regional train to Lenk. Although the transfer time is only 6 minutes, we manage it easily. In less than 20 minutes, this train brings us to Lenk. Fortunately, our hotel Alpenruh is close to the railway. In a few minutes, we walk to our hotel and can check in.

Betelberg, ideal practice area in Adelboden-Lenk

It’s been a while since we’ve skied together. That’s why we’re starting slowly today. We choose Lenk’s “home mountain”, the Betelberg, as our first ski destination. Also because it’s a grey day, we find this a better start. On the Betelberg, everything is clear and we don’t easily lose our way. This ski area is one of the sub-areas in Adelboden-Lenk and is somewhat isolated from the others.

We reach the Betelberg by bus in a few minutes. At the valley station, it’s quiet, we can immediately board and float upwards. At almost 2,000 metres altitude, we step out of the gondola. A pristine white environment invites us to put on our skis immediately. It’s incredibly quiet here, hardly any other skiers on the slopes. The feeling is wonderful, wide slopes made for fantastic swooping. There are about 45 kilometres of slopes ready for us, almost all blue and red descents.

We carve away, each descent more fun than the last. Our favourite is the red slope 6, the “Tschuggen”. It’s a full seven kilometres long and runs from the highest point to the valley. We ski between snow-covered fir trees. This makes for beautiful scenes. We also like the red 8 descent, which transitions into the red slope 10. A stop at the cosy Walleg-stube is a welcome break from all the sporting activities. All in all, we experience a fantastic first ski day in the Adelboden-Lenk ski region. This bodes well for the remaining days when we’ll explore the larger area.

The real winter sports pleasure in Adelboden-Lenk

The following days, the weather is perfect, the sun shining benevolently in a clear blue sky. Ideal conditions to discover the larger contiguous area of Adelboden-Lenk. This time too, we take the bus. With our Swiss Travel Pass, we can use any form of public transport for free. The bus departs not far from our hotel and brings us, punctual as a Swiss watch, in 5 minutes to the valley station of the Metsch lifts. There we meet more winter sports enthusiasts, but without waiting time we step into our gondola. This takes us to Metschstand, at 2,100 metres altitude. The panorama is unbeatable. Below us, beautifully prepared slopes where no skier seems to have gone yet. Looking up, the great Alpine giants pierce the clear sky.

The tranquillity on the slopes allows us to discover all corners of the largest sub-area of Adelboden-Lenk in one day. The descents are generally quite wide. Some are quite challenging and deep red. This makes this region ideal for the advanced skier. The possibilities are endless. For a true beginner, we don’t find it the best choice. There aren’t many blue slopes here, and the red ones are often too difficult.

We don’t experience waiting times at the lifts. It’s straight on and up again. The lifts are generally modern. Adelboden-Lenk has invested heavily in the facilities in recent years, ensuring that skiers are quickly back up. We’re here outside the peak season, the tranquillity in the area is overwhelming. But even during holiday periods, it seems the crowds are quite manageable. Wonderful, but on the other hand, also incomprehensible. Because Adelboden-Lenk has a lot to offer the sporty winter sports enthusiast.

Most beautiful slopes in Adelboden-Lenk

We can be brief about this: we actually find all the descents in this area fantastic. They’re nicely wide. That’s convenient, because sometimes they’re quite steep. I prefer a slope where I can spread out widely. Here, that’s no problem at all, almost every slope gives me that opportunity.

From the Metschstand, which can be reached via the gondola in Lenk, all red slopes are delightful. Especially descent 44 is nicely long. This runs from the mountain station to the valley station of the Geils chairlift. For kilometres, we can glide wonderfully over a well-prepared slope.

The Hahnenmoos Pass connects Metschstand with the Adelboden area. There we find the red slopes between Aebi and Sillerenbühl delightful. These are just a bit shorter. Yet they are certainly challenging and varied.

We leave one slope alone. From Chuenisbärgli, a pitch-black slope descends steeply. This descent 80 is every year the course of one of the most difficult World Cup giant slalom competitions. If even the professional athletes have trouble with this descent, then we have no business there, we think. Because a red and a blue descent run nearby, we do get an idea of what the pros face: extremely steep slopes that we, as average skiers, don’t dare to tackle.

Other sub-areas at Adelboden-Lenk

We already mentioned Betelberg, the ski area close to the village of Lenk. From this area, it’s not possible to ski directly to the other areas. For that, you need the ski bus or your own transport. Around the large ski area of Adelboden-Lenk lie several other small areas.

Tschentenalp

The nice thing about this area is that you can take the gondola directly from the centre of Adelboden. On the Tschentenalp, you’ll find mainly challenging red slopes. Not too long, but fun to experience for half a day. With the gondola, you’re quickly back in Adelboden to then take on the large ski area of Adelboden-Lenk.

Elsigenalp

This is a somewhat larger area than the Tschentenalp. Here, the choices are quite extensive. There are challenging red slopes, but also beautiful blue descents. This area offers enough pleasure to spend a whole day on skis. The disadvantage is that you have to take the bus from Adelboden to reach the valley station. Because we’re staying in Lenk, the journey is even more difficult. A reason for us to skip this area.

Engstligenalp

This mountain plateau, located at 1964 metres altitude, is one of the most picturesque and unspoiled parts of the region. The ski area is not gigantic, but it has its own charm. Here, it’s more about tranquillity, nature, and an authentic winter sports experience. You’ll also need to reach this area by bus connection or your own transport.

The ski villages of Adelboden and Lenk

The ski area consists of two charming villages:

Lenk im Simmental

Our base for the Adelboden-Lenk ski area is the Alpine village of Lenk im Simmental. The village is not large, but it is the highest-situated place in the Simmental. The nice thing is that Lenk is accessible by a narrow-gauge railway. That was the main reason for us to stay in Lenk. For a lively après-ski scene, Lenk is not the ideal place. When we take an evening stroll through the village after dinner, the tranquillity is soothing. Tourists come here for peace and nature. However, there are plenty of cosy restaurants to be found in Lenk. Enjoying local Swiss specialities every evening is no problem.

Adelboden

Adelboden is slightly larger than Lenk and also a bit livelier. It’s a charming village with a cosy and car-free centre. There are nice shops, pleasant cafes and various good restaurants. We make the valley descent to this village once. That route, by the way, is not the most enjoyable slope. It’s a narrow forest path that is very flat in some parts. This means a lot of ‘poling’ to move forward. We also notice that the snow conditions are not as good on the lower parts, at the end of the season.

But the discomfort is quickly forgotten as we walk through the pleasant Adelboden. We settle down on one of the terraces in the sunshine. We indulge in a delicious lunch. Afterwards, we take another stroll through the village, before taking the gondola back towards the ski area.

Other winter activities in Adelboden-Lenk

Skiing is wonderful, of course, but there’s more to experience in Adelboden-Lenk. Are you done with the slopes for a day or want to try something else? No problem, there are plenty of alternatives. You can go snowshoe hiking, ice climbing, cross-country skiing and paragliding. At the mountain station of the gondola from Lenk, we regularly saw paragliders taking off. A magnificent sight!

Adelboden-Lenk is a versatile ski area that we thoroughly enjoyed. We particularly liked the wide slopes with sufficient challenge, the tranquillity and the atmosphere in the villages. It’s a top destination that is wonderfully quiet. An ideal choice if you’re looking for a challenging ski area in Switzerland where you can make your descents without massive crowds.

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