Before the lifts at Malbun, visitors arrived on foot and porters carried their luggage

In the 1930s, winter visitors reached Malbun on foot. Young men from Triesenberg carried their luggage.

In the 1930s, Malbun could be reached only on foot in winter. Visitors could entrust their luggage to young men from Triesenberg, who offered their services as porters. The episode is recorded in the historical chronology published by Bergbahnen Malbun, the lift operator in the Liechtenstein resort.

Skiers were already visiting the valley. In winter 1935/36, Liechtenstein’s first athletes bound for the Garmisch-Partenkirchen Olympic Games trained here under an Austrian ski instructor.

The Kurhaus accommodated twenty guests

The first hotel was built between 1908 and 1909 by Theodor and Heinrike Jehle-Müller. Originally called Kurhaus und Touristenstation Sareiserjoch, it later became Alpenkurhaus Malbun. It accommodated twenty guests and initially opened from June to October.

Accommodation thus preceded the first ski lifts by many years. When skiers began visiting Malbun in the 1930s, getting there in winter still involved a walk.

The tunnel and the first lifts

The Gnalp–Steg tunnel was built between 1945 and 1947 and inaugurated on 4 December 1947. Together with improvements to the Vaduz–Triesenberg and Triesenberg–Malbun roads, it improved access to the valley.

The first drag lift did not enter service until 1962, on Hochegg. The Sareiserjoch chairlift and mountain restaurant opened on 15 December 1963. The Täli and Schneeflucht drag lifts followed in 1966.