Braunwald: shareholders fight the end of skiing, owner offers 32 rappen a share

Braunwald above the Linth valley, with the Tödi in the background. Photo: Kanton Glarus, Samuel Trümpy Photography via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 2.0

Braunwald, the car-free village above Linthal in the Swiss canton of Glarus, goes into winter 2026/27 without piste skiing for the first time. On Monday 26 October 2026 a group of shareholders asked the cantonal conciliation authority to annul four decisions of the general meeting of 26 August. On 5 and 6 November the Glarner Nachrichten and Blick reported the reply of the main shareholder: Richi Bolt offers the small shareholders 32 rappen a share.

• Sportbahnen Braunwald AG lost CHF 1,641,406 in the year to 30 April 2026 and is over-indebted under Swiss company law, its auditor writes.
• The board decided on 18 June 2026 to end piste skiing; the Gumenbahn is closed since 19 October 2026.
• The shareholder group "Bruuwald zäme" filed with the conciliation authority on 26 October, the last day of the two-month window.
• Bolt, who holds a little under half of the shares, now offers 32 rappen a share, double the group's offer of early October.
• Winter 2026/27 runs from 19 December to 14 March with two lifts, sledging, snow tubing and winter hiking.

The group's release, published by glarus24 on 29 October, names four decisions of the general meeting of 26 August 2026: the minutes of the 2025 meeting, the annual accounts for 2025/26, the carry-forward of the loss of CHF 1,641,406.31, and the election of Torgler Revision AG as auditor for 2026/27. The group says the accounts do not reflect the announced end of skiing, and it questions the auditor's independence. On the lifts it writes that a sale of infrastructure, in particular the Gumenbahn, "will be fought with all available legal means".

Tages-Anzeiger reported on 31 October that the deadline for legal steps expired on that Monday, according to Christian Portmann, the group's spokesman and vice-president of the association of non-resident property owners. No hearing date was public as of 7 November 2026.

The main shareholder did not sell. In early October the group had offered CHF 300,000 for Bolt's stake, which it puts at about 46 percent, on the condition that he waive the loans he gave the company. NZZ wrote on 11 October that Bolt let the deadline pass and declined to comment. After a meeting in the week of 12 October the two sides agreed on an independent valuation of the installations. "The price expectations for the shareholdings are far apart," initiator Bettina Ledergerber told Blick on 14 October.

The Südostschweiz reported on Thursday 5 November that Bolt now offers the small shareholders 32 rappen a share, double the group's offer. Blick added on 6 November that Bolt holds a little under half of the shares. With a majority he could take decisions alone; the group advises its members to keep their shares. The company has not published the total number of shares, so the total value of the offer is unknown.

The audited accounts for the year to 30 April 2026, published for the general meeting, show the state of the company:

The auditor writes that the company is "over-indebted within the meaning of Art. 725b CO" and that the board avoided a notification of the court because creditors subordinated CHF 1.4 million. The board's own report says the winter started without skiing for lack of snow, after more than 40 seasonal staff had been hired and about CHF 1 million had been spent on preparation. The board concludes that a ski operation is "highly loss-making and highly risky" for the company.

The board took its decision on 18 June 2026 and announced it on 19 June. At the general meeting of 26 August the board commanded 52 percent of the share votes and rejected a motion for a special investigation, SRF reported. "We did not take this decision carelessly or hastily," Bolt said after the meeting.

The funicular from Linthal to Braunwald belongs to a separate company and runs daily. The canton of Glarus secured its liquidity with CHF 600,000 on 17 August 2026, the first step of a package that needs CHF 2.8 million more to mid-2027.

Braunwald was a family hill: seven installations between 1,256 and 1,901 metres, according to NZZ. A family that skied there now looks at Elm, Flumserberg or the Klausen side for the same kind of day. For that day the ski does not change: a forgiving carving or narrow all-mountain ski in the 76 to 84 mm range, such as the Elan Wingman 83 Ti or the Head Supershape e-Rally, and a shorter, softer model for the children.

Our best beginner skis and best carving skis lists sort the options by skill level, and the Pick-A-Ski tool matches length and stiffness to weight and ability.

• glarus24, "Aktionäre fechten GV-Beschlüsse an und wehren sich gegen Verkauf der Infrastruktur", 29 October 2026
• Südostschweiz / Glarner Nachrichten, "Richi Bolt macht Kleinaktionären Kaufangebot für ihre Aktien", 5 November 2026
• Blick, "Richi Bolt will Aktien zukaufen", 6 November 2026; "Aktionäre wollen Gumenbahn retten", 31 October 2026; "Jetzt laufen doch Verkaufsgespräche", 14 October 2026
• Tages-Anzeiger, "Aktionäre fechten Beschlüsse der Sportbahnen Braunwald an", 31 October 2026
• NZZ, "Eine Gruppe will die überschuldeten Sportbahnen Braunwald übernehmen", 11 October 2026
• SRF, Schweiz Aktuell, 26 August 2026
• Sportbahnen Braunwald AG, annual accounts and board report 2025/26, winter offer 2026/27 and operating hours, read 7 November 2026
• Bruuwald zäme, release of 29 October 2026 and interim business plan of 5 October 2026