Melchsee-Frutt is a

mountain resort A mountain resort is a place to holiday or vacation located in an elevated and typically at least relatively isolated area. The term resort implies integral hotel or inn accommodations, restaurants, and either or both sports facilities or sceni ...

village in

Switzerland Switzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation, is a landlocked country located in west-central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the south, France to the west, Germany to the north, and Austria and Liechtenstein to the east. Switzerland ...

. It is located near the lake Melchsee, in the municipality of Kerns, canton

Obwalden Canton of Obwalden or Obwald ( ; ; ; ) is one of the Canton of Switzerland, 26 cantons forming the Switzerland, Swiss Confederation. It is composed of seven municipalities and the seat of the government and parliament is in Sarnen. It is traditio ...

Overview

The village is located at above sea level and is the heart of the resort. The main attractions of this resort are alpine skiing, snowboarding, cross country skiing, snowshoeing, sledding, hiking, biking, rock climbing, paragliding and fishing. The village is accessible by car during the summer, but with some time restrictions. It can also be reached by use of a

gondola lift A gondola lift is a means of cable transport and type of aerial lift which is supported and propelled by cables from above. It consists of a loop of steel wire rope that is strung between two stations, sometimes over intermediate suppo ...

Ski Resort

From early December until early April, the ski resort is open to the public. The four

chairlift An elevated passenger ropeway, or chairlift, is a type of aerial lift, which consists of a continuously circulating steel wire rope loop strung between two end terminals and usually over intermediate towers. They are the primary on-hill tran ...

s, four

T-bar lift A surface lift is a type of cable transport for mountain sports in which skiers, snowboarders, or mountain bikers remain on the ground as they are pulled uphill. While they were once prevalent, they have been overtaken in popularity by higher ...

s and two gondola lifts service the 32 acres of lift-accessible terrain. The base station, Stöckalp, is located at 1080 meters above sea level. The three peaks, Erzegg, Balmeregg and Bonistock are at 2150, 2255 and 2160 meters, respectively.

History

Tourism began in 1936 when Otto Reinhart organized the installation of the first gondola that connected Stöckalp with Melchsee-Frutt. There were two cabins with a capacity of four passengers apiece. By 1945, the gondola was upgraded to two cabins with a capacity of eight passengers apiece. Over the next decade, tourism increased, and in 1956, Habegger AG was commissioned to build a new Gondola with two 33 passenger cabins and a maximum capacity of 156 passengers per hour. In 1976 the gondola was once again replaced and capacity was increased to 750 passengers per hour to meet the ever growing demands, especially during the winter ski season. This lift was decommissioned in the fall of 2012, and the current gondola entered service on December 15, 2012. It nearly doubled the capacity to 1325 passengers per hour and also reduced the travel time from 20 minutes to 10 minutes. Just as the gondola has been upgraded over the past 60 years, so have the other ski lifts. Modern high-speed detachable chair lifts have been installed for the ascent between Stöckalp and the Bonistöck and the Erzegg lift. Only the Balmeregg summit and the Vögelbuel beginners' area are still serviced with t-bars.

External links

Official site
(German)
Private site in German

Melchsee Frutt tourism site
Villages in Switzerland Ski areas and resorts in Switzerland Tourist attractions in Obwalden Car-free villages in Switzerland Kerns, Switzerland {{Obwalden-geo-stub