Johan Jonsson finds world-class skiing in his Engelberg backyard

Featured Image: Elias Lundh

Swapping travel days for ski days last season, Johan Jonsson found that he didn’t need to travel far from home to realize his dreams of skiing world-class terrain and bottomless powder snow. With his focus aimed at local lines, avoiding the stress of booking plane tickets, packing bags and traveling to faraway places, Jonsson was able to learn about the amazing offerings right outside his door.

In his own words, Jonsson explains, “This last winter Engelberg had it’s worst start of the season since 1865, and of course I got stressed and started planning trips to other parts of the world. But then I took a step back and started thinking about all this… airplane time, jet lag, hunting new and more dangerous stuff, travel for the sake of travel. After thinking about my situation for a while, I figured that I didn’t have to fly to the other side of the globe to explore new stuff.”

Exploring close to home is a perspective that’s contagious—one that we can all adopt. “One of the first Swedish ski pros once said to me ‘A day of travel is a day you don’t ski,’ and… since I like skiing more than traveling, I stayed at home in Engelberg.” Good call, Johan, good call.