Reaching the Saas Valley

The use of different altitudes meant that seasonal migration from place to place was necessary, and therefore transport was required. Routes of several hours needed to be covered, so that often the journey took more time than the actual work itself. Loads were most frequently transported on the back (using panniers, carrying tubs and wooden back frames, depending on the goods to be transported). The mule offered a limited means of transport. But the pastures and the imported dry feed were needed for the cattle which had a higher yield. A mule was therefore often jointly owned by several families.

The growing population and increasing tourism led to a growing desire for a road into the Saas Valley. It took around 25 years from the submission of the application for the road to the inauguration ceremony in Saas-Fee.

Memories of Werner Bumann (born 1930): It was always lovely to see the heavily laden mules accompanied by the deliveryman trekking in the direction of the post office. The mules mostly carried food provisions and letters on their backs. But they also carried elegantly clothed visitors with long coats and splendid hats into the Saas Valley. When our parents rented out our own apartment to visitors in the summer months, these people received more letters and postcards. We slept on the ground floor during this period.

As more people began to build private houses, the mules were also used on a daily basis for construction, carrying stones, sand, gravel and wood to the construction sites with sledges. Mules were also used to transport goods to the mountain chalets such as the Mischabel and the Britannia. They carried firewood, food, wine, etc. as far as possible up the mountain. The warden of the alpine chalet had to carry up the goods himself for the final hour.

My older sisters worked from an early age in hotels as chambermaids or in service, later also outside Saas Valley. At this time, the road only went as far as Huteggen (Eisten). As the journey was very cumbersome, my sisters did not come home very often. When I was attending the military training school for four months in Berne, the Saas Valley road only went as far as Saas-Grund. I first had to walk to Saas-Grund and then go with the PostBus to Visp.

I remember the inaugural ceremony of the Saas Valley road in 1951 very well. The entire community, young and old, as well as people from neighbouring districts gathered on the left and right side of the road. After a long wait, we finally heard the sound of the first car. It drove slowly through the long lines of people. President Hubert Bumann greeted the onlookers, standing on his car. Accompanied by marching bands, the car drove on towards the village square where there was a big party in the afternoon. 

When the road eventually reached Saas-Fee, new hotels, chalets, ski lifts and cableways were constructed. Many locals found secure employment this way. Family fathers, who used to work as masons outside their village during the summer, could now earn their money at home. Everything progressed very quickly. On the one hand, we missed the mules that were now replaced by vehicles. On the other hand, a new chalet could now be built in eight months, whereas it had previously taken up to two years. However, in earlier times there were no machines and no stress, like there is today.