History

In March 1985, Ueli Bärfuss and Leo Caminada founded HeliBernina AG. They started operating on June 1st in 1985 with one helicopter and two employees. Shortly after this, the team doubled in size and in their first year they carried 4,500 tonnes of material to various mountain construction sites.

In 1990, HeliBernina moved into its own hangar. It was set to be a record year. The turnover doubled thanks to the storm front 'Vivian', which resulted in countless logging jobs. The colour yellow became the brand’s colour. In 1991, the Ecureuil B2, HB-XXL was purchased and proudly sported the new colours.

The company celebrated its 10th anniversary in 1995. It was an occasion to look back with satisfaction at our many successful projects, including the small Val Champagna power plant, the various film projects, and the major construction site at Lago Palü in the Poschiavo Valley. Once again, our loyal retail customers contributed the most to our positive annual returns.

The summers were often marked by forest fires in the Poschiavo Valley, Val Bregaglia, Misox and the areas above Bever. HeliBernina was significantly involved in helping to extinguish the fires. The winter avalanche of 1999 went down in history. For weeks, all HeliBernina helicopters were in use for evacuations, reconnaissance and avalanche triggering flights.

In the year 2000, founder Ueli Bärfuss retired. Despite the company reaching the 20,000 flying hours mark, this was the worst year in its history. During a landing in the mountains, one of the helicopters tilted onto its side. Ueli Stocker, our pilot, chief mechanic and dedicated member of staff from the very outset, lost his life in the tragedy.

The winter of 2003 is considered to be one of the best years in the company's history. The FIS Alpine World Ski Championships were held in St. Moritz, and 14 Helicopters of Heli Bernina and its partners were in use throughout the two-week event.

2004 saw the completion of the 10-year project to develop and install a high-voltage power line from the Poschiavo Valley over the Bernina pass and into the Engadine Valley. During the following years, HeliBernina assisted with the execution of construction projects as well as avalanche safety measures and clean-up operations in the region. During the years 2011-2014, HeliBernina took part in several extraordinary support missions in the field of public security in Greece, Macedonia and Albania.

Perfect weather conditions, interesting contracts for high alpine construction sites, notably for a new cable car and chairlift, numerous loggingjobs and very demanding aerial work in special forestry missions, protection measures in the mountains and a renovation project of the Albigna dam characterized the anniversary year 2015.

On 23 August 2017, a rockslide occurred at Pizzo Cengalo, with devastating consequences for the entire Bergell valley. Well into the autumn, we experienced what was probably the longest and most intensive operation, as well as the most challenging period of work in our company’s history. Over several weeks, thanks to the tremendous personal commitment of all our staff, we were able to help deal with the rockfall in Val Bondasca. 

The years 2019 and 2020 could not have been more different! In 2019, many things turned out differently from a typical year. Storm ‘Vaia’, which swept right across our operational and contract area in October 2018, brought us an enormous amount of work. From the end of the winter months until the onset of winter in November, we were able – often using up to three machines – to carry out timber clearance work in the forests, some of which had been severely damaged, on behalf of the municipal forestry offices and forestry contractors. Added to this was an interesting and challenging transport operation for the reconstruction of the high-voltage power line across the Albula Pass, which had been partially destroyed by ‘Vaia’.

Working in excellent collaboration with the project managers and the workers involved, we were able to play a key role in the renovation and extension of the Chamanna d’Es-cha hut (SAC Bernina Section) in the Piz Kesch area. The year 2019 goes down as a record year in HeliBernina’s history!

In stark contrast, the Covid years of 2020 and 2021 were very different. The temporary slump in work posed a major challenge for both the management and staff across all departments (Operations Management, Flight Operations and Technical Services).

The cooperation and support of all our staff deserve a huge and heartfelt THANK YOU!      

Numerous mountain hut conversion and renovation projects characterised our diverse and varied activities between 2021 and 2023. Between mid-May and October 2021, the Grialetsch Hut (SAC Davos Section) in the Davos-Dischma/Flüela area was extended with a functional annexe and extensively renovated. The construction programme was completed on schedule despite difficult conditions (including periods of inclement weather, COVID-19 safety measures and the logistical challenges of an alpine construction site, etc.). Also in 2021, following various phases of extension and refurbishment, the Chamanna Cluozza in the Swiss National Park was comprehensively rebuilt in accordance with sustainable building principles and extended with an annexe. In the area of energy and electricity supply, the continuous extension of two 380-kilovolt Swissgrid lines between Scuol/Pradella and La Punt was completed in 2022. This work, which was highly demanding and extensive for both operations planning and the flight assistants and pilots, was completed without a hitch and to the satisfaction of the installation contractors involved and Swissgrid.    

Today, thanks to their large and loyal clientele, HeliBernina is firmly anchored in the region. Their varied activities and services are focused in the public domain, in line with their original vision. Although legislation has changed greatly over the years, the passion for helicopter flying still remains as strong as it was in 1985.