All activities / Skiing & Snowsports / Malbun
Skiing & Snowsports in Malbun
Liechtenstein's only ski resort, a sheltered south-facing bowl at about 1600 metres at the head of the Steg valley above Triesenberg, with a compact network of lifts and pistes framed by the Sareis ridge, the whole principality's winter playground.
Why here
Malbun is the only ski area in Liechtenstein, and that is the charm of it. A single road climbs from the Rhine Valley up past Triesenberg and Steg to a sheltered high bowl at around 1600 metres, where the country learns to ski. The princely children learned here, and the terrain is honest and family sized rather than vast: a handful of lifts serving roughly 23 kilometres of piste that top out near the Sareis ridge at about 2000 metres, with gentle blue runs by the village and steeper reds off the chair. It is a place to actually learn or come back to skiing rather than tick off a mega resort, with short lift queues, a nursery area right in the village, and floodlit sledding and winter walking to fill the afternoons. Snow holds well in the cold north-facing hollow through the heart of winter.
Best months
The season runs roughly mid December to early April, with the most reliable snow from January into March in the shaded bowl. The area is small and best suited to beginners, families and intermediates rather than expert skiers chasing steeps or big vertical. Cold, still mornings are common at altitude, and the compact layout means little time is lost between runs.
Getting there & around
Malbun sits at the end of the mountain road above Triesenberg, about a 25 minute drive or a post bus ride up from Vaduz. There is no train in Liechtenstein, so most visitors base in Vaduz or the Rhine Valley towns and drive or bus up for the day, or stay in one of Malbun's handful of hotels. Ski hire and lift passes are sold in the village at the base of the lifts.
Skill levels: beginner, intermediate
Schools & guides (2)
Bergbahnen Malbun AG
OutfitterBergbahnen Malbun AG operates the lifts of the Malbun ski area, Liechtenstein's only resort, including the Sareis chairlift that carries skiers and summer walkers up to the ridge at around 2000 metres and the Tali and Hochegg lifts serving the pistes above the village. The company runs the winter piste network of roughly 23 kilometres and the summer walking and biking trails from the same base, and sells lift passes and season tickets for the bowl above Triesenberg.
Schneesportschule Malbun
SchoolSchneesportschule Malbun is Liechtenstein's official Swiss Ski School, founded in the winter of 1986/87 when Engelbert Buhler set up a children's lift and the first ski courses in the Malbun bowl. It runs private and group lessons in skiing and snowboarding for all ages from three years up, with a team of up to 60 certified instructors working the nursery slopes and pistes at the base in Triesenberg / Malbun. It is the resort's main teaching operation and part of the Swiss ski school network.