Laax’s first year after selling its lifts to its own villages shows how Swiss ski resorts are trying to stay local

On the numbers alone, the Weisse Arena Group’s 2025/26 annual report looks like a bad year. The mountain railway division’s EBITDA fell from CHF 11.8 million to CHF 2.1 million, and its EBIT went from slightly negative to CHF -2.6 million. Yet visitor numbers held at 1,093,061 first entries, and net revenue rose 2.7% to CHF 50.4 million.

The gap between those two facts is the story. The business didn’t weaken. Its ownership structure changed.

The company that runs the lifts in Flims, Laax and Falera no longer owns them. The group sold its systemically important mountain infrastructure to Finanz Infra AG (FIAG) and leased it back, which pushes up operating costs and cuts depreciation. Seilbahn.net says the sale took effect retroactively from 1 May 2025. One later account puts the handover at December 2025, for CHF 94.5 million at book value, covering lifts, stations and eleven mountain restaurants.

Finanz Infra is a vehicle the villages already part-owned. It had been two-thirds owned by the three municipalities, who agreed to put in CHF 50 million of new capital and take it over completely. Two figures circulate in the coverage, and they are easy to confuse. CHF 94.5 million is the total value of the assets transferred, while the municipalities’ own contribution is CHF 50 million. The rest of the funding is borrowed money plus a loan from the operator. Weisse Arena Bergbahnen granted Finanz Infra a CHF 20 million loan, and CHF 42.5 million was to be financed with debt. The tenant is therefore also its landlord’s creditor.

The stated reason is defence against outside buyers. The municipalities wanted to prevent a takeover by a foreign investor such as Vail Resorts. Vail is already established in Switzerland. It bought 55% of Andermatt-Sedrun in 2022, and later took 84% of the Crans-Montana lift company. It has said it is looking for further resorts across the Alps. A project leader said Vail had shown interest in the Weisse Arena.

Gurtner himself had publicly dismissed a sale. In January 2025 he told “Bilanz”: “Ich verkaufe nicht.” The structure now in place sidesteps that question. The operating company stays in Laax’s hands, and the mountain’s hardware sits with the public.

There was also a financial logic. Blick reported that the mountain railway division’s EBITDA margin was only 24% in the previous year, which it called unsatisfactory. Lifts are expensive to build and replace, and the new model moves that burden to a different balance sheet. The group says it can now focus on efficient operation, offer quality and guest experience.

Voters were not hesitant. Falera approved with 93.24%, Laax with 93.21% and Flims with 85.48%. Reto Gurtner, the group’s 70-year-old chairman, was visibly moved. He described the deal as “bubieinfach”, meaning really simple.

Not everyone was convinced beforehand. Insiders warned of considerable costs and risks for the municipalities. Blick cited an insider’s estimate that the deal could cost taxpayers CHF 120 million. The terms were designed to answer that. The operator covers all of Finanz Infra’s costs and pays enough rent that the municipalities need no extra financial support, even for larger investments. The rent was put at roughly CHF 13 million a year.

The infrastructure project that dominated the year shows why the structure matters. The old six-person Crap Masegn–Fuorcla–Vorab gondola dated from 1978 and could no longer be operated for licensing reasons. Its replacement is an eight-person gondola with a capacity of 1,500 people per hour, rising to 2,000 on the lower section when needed. It serves the Vorab Glacier, the highest point in the LAAX ski area. 

Replacements like this are what make ski businesses capital-hungry. After the sale, such costs sit with the infrastructure owner, though the operator still pays through its lease.

The first season under the new arrangement was awkward. A very dry start gave way to heavy snowfall and some poor weather during the sports holidays. Snowmaking filled the gap, and it used 13% more electricity. Winter first entries fell 2.6%, while summer rose 19.6%. Summer is still small, at about 14% of visits. Unlike Zermatt or Pilatus, summer is not yet a second pillar in Laax.

What the group accounts show

At group level the picture is less bleak than the lift division’s. Group EBITDA fell about CHF 16 million to CHF 10.4 million on flat revenue of CHF 123.8 million, yet net profit rose from CHF 2.2 million to CHF 7.5 million, helped by roughly CHF 7 million from financial and extraordinary items that probably relate to the transaction. The same analysis points to a 27% fall in cash flow to CHF 17.6 million, since rent is a real cash payment while depreciation was not. On the other side of the ledger, debt dropped by CHF 14 million and the equity ratio rose to 37.4%. Investment fell from CHF 51.9 million to CHF 16.7 million.

Growth came from beds, not lifts. International overnight stays rose 15% to 66,517, and the group’s rocksresort gained two buildings. The dividend rises from CHF 4 to CHF 5 per share.

The same analyst notes that the full weight of the new structure will only show in 2026/27, because rent only started in December. The risk is the mirror image of the benefit. Rent is due in good and bad winters, and visitor numbers are flat. Gurtner’s role raises a further question, since he is 70 and will soon have to hand over the reins. The analyst calls the succession still open.

Gurtner’s own summary of the year was one word. “Das Wirtschaftsjahr 2025/26 stand im Zeichen von Fokus.” Whether focus pays will depend on how many skiers, and how many summer guests, arrive to cover a rent that no longer bends with the weather.

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