The Toggenburger Bergbahnen
The Toggenburg Bergbahnen AG is a company in the Toggenburg region which operates the lifts, hospitality facilities and the ski school at Chäserrugg. The Chäserrugg area belongs to the Federal Inventory of Landscapes and Natural Monuments of National Importance.
Lifts
Toggenburg Bergbahnen AG, TBB for short, operates a total of nine facilities. These include the traditional funicular between Unterwasser and the Iltios plateau as well as the aerial cable lift connecting the plateau with the summit of Chäserrugg. The Stöfeli Lift is also in the immediate vicinity and comprises a valley, middle and top station. This axis is supplemented by T-bar lifts for skiers.
The TBB also owns the combined lift with the chairs and gondolas on the Alt St. Johann - Alp Sellamatt axis. This connects to the hiking trails on the Churfirsten Alps. In winter the chairlift at Ruestel rounds off the axis from Alt St. Johann for skiing. The top station of the combined lift and the valley station at Ruestel are connected by a platter lift.
Hospitality
Several catering establishments belong to the TBB. The Summit Restaurant designed by the architects Herzog & de Meuron is located at 2,262 metres above sea level. The Espel Pavilion with its sun terrace, which offers culinary breaks directly at the edge of the slopes in winter, was also designed by the same architects. In the middle of the Chäserrugg area, the Stöfeli Mountain Inn offers visitors the opportunity to spend the night in the mountains or enjoy traditional dishes on the terrace during the day. With its natural playground, the view of the Churfirsten and the easily accessible location, the Iltios Mountain Restaurant is especially popular with families.
Chäserrugg Ski School
With the two Iltios and Alt St. Johann meeting points, the Chäserrugg Ski School is a versatile and flexible snow sports school. The meeting point in Alt St. Johann is located directly next to the valley station and can be easily reached on foot. This makes it ideal for parents who want to hand their children over to the ski instructors in the valley. The Snow Kids Village at the meeting point with its three lifts, the Magic Carpet, a rope lift and an T-bar lift is the perfect place to start your winter sports adventure.
The meeting point and the Snow Kids Village on the Iltios can be reached by funicular and is located in the middle of the ski area. The Magic Carpet and the practice lift also provide the perfect place for beginners to start.
Varied slopes await skiers and snowboarders throughout the region and children and adults can learn the techniques and finesses of the sport in the natural terrain.
With the Race Academy, Chäserrugg Sport AG actively promotes the next generation of skiers and offers children from three years of age and young adults the opportunity to train and hone their ski-racing skills.
History
The first cable lift company was founded in Toggenburg on 11 September 1933. It operated the funicular railway Unterwasser-Iltios. In 1971/1972 the aerial cable lift connecting Iltios with the summit of Chäserrugg was built.
In 2008 Sportanlagen Alt St. Johann Selamatt AG and Bergbahnen Unterwasser Iltios Chäserrugg AG merged and the newly formed company then became Toggenburg Bergbahnen AG (TBB).
Five years later, in 2014, Skilift Iltios AG and Berggasthaus Stöfeli of Stöfeli AG were integrated into the company. In June 2015, after one year of construction, the top station of Herzog & de Meuron with the Summit Restaurant was opened. In the autumn of the same year, TBB merged the Unterwasser and Alt St. Johann ski schools and integrated them into Chäserrugg Sports AG. In January 2016, the Stöfeli Lift was built and opened, also in cooperation with Herzog & de Meuron.
In the summer of 2017 the Iltios Mountain Restaurant was integrated into the company and in December the Espel Pavilion, another project implemented with Herzog & de Meuron, was inaugurated. The Sport Shop on the Iltios was integrated into TBB in September 2019.
The TBB can look back with gratitude over its history which spans almost 90 years – with pride and commitment at the same time.
