Alp Maran – like the three neighboring Alps Carmenna, Praetschli, and Sattel – are owned by the community and the farmers of Chur, the oldest alpine city in all of Switzerland. About 400 cows, the majority brown and the rest red ones, spend their summers on these four Alps located just above the ski resort of Arosa, on altitudes of 5,500 feet and higher. On Maran, there are about 60 cows. There are also some small herds of sheep, goats, and pigs on all four of these Alps in the Graubünden (Grison) canton.

The dairy on Alp Maran was completely renovated in 2009 and now also handles the milk – which is sent to the production place on Maran via pipelines – from the other three Alps. Walter Niklaus, a veteran Adopt-an-Alp cheesemaker, is in charge of all the cheeses and dairy products.

For the 2023 season some old and new faces are part of the Maran crew. Selina, is in her third year and full into the exam as a dairy technologist. She starts the day early with master cheesemaker Walter Niklaus: "We function really well together. After an early morning coffee, we start work without talking a lot." Lucia Seiler has joined the crew. She has finished her apprenticeship as a baker and confectioner, and now starts an apprenticeship as a dairy technologist as well.

A new face is Xaver Berlinger from Bregenzerwald (Austria). As an apprentice in agriculture he's doing an internship in the dairy. Two German ladies share the last open spot: Rebecca Riess and Victoria Baumann. Rebecca is a physical education teacher and will spend 6 weeks on Maran. She will be followed by Victoria who has been on Maran in 2022. She's a nurse and dreams to own a farm dairy in Bavaria.

And there is, of course, the master himself: Seasoned master cheesemaker Walter Niklaus has a new hobby: With a 34-year old Steyr tractor he's collecting wood, because on Maran they install a wood fired heater.

100,000 gallons of milk

After the facility was extended in 2016 with an annex to produce fondue and they also increased the aging space. A freezer cell was added and a new butter churn.

During the summer, Niklaus expects to transform over 100,000 gallons of milk into wonderful cheeses and other delicacies. The dairy is public domain of the Citizens Union of Chur and the crew members are therefore employees of the union.