Alpine cheese dairy Blackenalp

Many Germans like to spend a summer helping out at a farm in the Swiss Alps. Carolin Haag and Sven Schmid did exactly that at the Blackenalp over several summers, with Sven working as a herdsman and Carolin assisting with the cheesemaking. They enjoyed it so much that in 2019 they took on sole responsibility for farming on the Blackenalp, which belongs to Kooperation Uri.

The Blackenalp is situated right at the end of the Engelberg valley, close to the Surenen Pass, placing it in the canton of Uri. Thankfully, Engelberg and Uri have long since laid to rest their feud over which canton the Blackenalp belongs to. From Uri, the Blackenalp is reached via the Surenen Pass and from Engelberg via the Stäfeli and the legendary Stäuber mountain torrent. If you want to avoid much of the upward climb, you can take the Fürenalpbahn cable car.