The Stoos is a mountain that towers above Lake Lucerne, roughly mid-way between Brunnen and Flüelen. The Stoos overlooks the Tell chapel, which marks the spot where Wilhelm Tell supposedly reached the shore after escaping incarceration and, subsequently, made his way to Küsnacht under the cover of darkness to murder Gessler, the villainous viceroy of the Habsburgs. Stoos is also the name of the village that sits at the top of the mountain.

The Stoosbahn

The Stoosbahn has an inclination of 47 degrees, with a gradient of 110% at one point, which means that for every 100 metres of horizontal distance, it covers an elevation of 110 metres. It’s not quite the steepest railway in the world, though. That distinction goes to the Katoomba cable car near Leura in the Blue Mountains of New South Wales, which descends into a gorge at the base of the Three Sisters with a 52 degrees inclination.

To make the journey as comfortable as possible for passengers, the carriage is divided into three round cabins. The train has been designed so that the individual cabins slowly start to rotate as the gradient increases, ensuring that each cabin element remains level. It’s rather crafty, actually.

Stoos and Fronalpstock

The journey from Morschach to Stoos takes roughly ten minutes. If you’re nervous with hights, I recommend you don’t look out the window.

Up on the Stoos there’s plenty of snow, and there are quite a few skiers taking advantage of the good conditions.

From Stoos you can continue further up to the summit of the Fronalpstock by chairlift. The views are brilliant, but be warned, it gets quite breezy on the lift.

If you’re lucky and it happens not to be covered by clouds, the summit of the Fronalpstock affords some gorgeous views of Lake Lucerne, which stretches out before you far, far below. From up here I can even see the legendary Rütli.

If all the fresh air gets you hungry, there are several places you can go. Up on the Fronalpstock is your typical mountain top restaurant. Although the smell of all things fried is difficult to stomach. Alternatively, there are a few places down in Stoos – such as the Stoos Lodge, which has a self-service and à la carte restaurant.

Conclusion

I think I was quite lucky on my visit to Stoos. There was plenty of snow. At the same time, though, there weren’t quite so many visitors and skiers around as there tend to be later on in the season. The Stoosbahn is quite something, but it does make you feel quite light headed if you look out toward the valley below as the train ascends.