La Robella
Origin of the name La Robella
Name origin: not explained by the sources consulted. National maps distinguish a Grande Robella and a Petite Robella on the slopes south of Buttes.
Founding of La Robella
La Robella is a Jura plateau at 1220 m above the village of Buttes (770 m), on the territory of the former municipality of Buttes, now in the municipality of Val-de-Travers (merger of 1 January 2009). The site became a ski resort at the end of the 1960s, with the construction of ski lifts and the Buttes-La Robella chairlift, operated by the T.B.R.C. cooperative (Télésiège Buttes-La Robella et Téléskis Chasseron Nord). The family ski area has some twenty kilometres of runs between 770 and 1457 m. Since the 2000s the association Sauver La Robella has developed summer activities (rail toboggan, pumptrack, minigolf).
History of La Robella
1969. Construction of the Crêt de la Neige ski lift (built by Bühler).
1970. Opening of the two-seat Buttes-La Robella chairlift (Bühler), 1'580 m long with a vertical drop of 450 m, and of the Les Lisères and Le Mignon ski lifts.
1980. Renovation of the chairlift by the Müller company.
1990. Major conversion of the chairlift by Von Roll: the number of chairs rises from 76 to 106.
2004. Construction of the Féeline summer toboggan run; first tests in December at minus 13 degrees, with village schoolchildren.
2005. Official inauguration of the Féeline toboggan, with former alpine ski champion Roland Collombin as patron; the project was made possible by a gift of about 500'000 francs received by the association Sauver La Robella.
2009. On 1 January Buttes merges with eight other municipalities to form the municipality of Val-de-Travers, to which La Robella now belongs.
2018. Construction of a pumptrack.
2023. A minigolf course opens at the end of the year.
2025-2028. The T.B.R.C. cooperative issues a tender to replace the chairlift with a gondola, with works planned between 2025 and 2028.
Historic sites in La Robella
Buttes-La Robella chairlift. Two-seat chairlift built in 1970, renovated in 1980 and converted in 1990, linking the village of Buttes (770 m) with the La Robella plateau (1220 m); it serves skiers in winter and walkers and mountain bikers in summer.
La Robella plateau. Starting point of the runs towards the Chasseron; the site has a restaurant, the Féeline toboggan (2005), a pumptrack (2018) and a minigolf course (2023).
Sources
- Robella Val-de-Travers, « Télésiège »
- remontees-mecaniques.net, « Station de La Robella »
- remontees-mecaniques.net, « TSF2 Buttes - La Robella »
- Courrier du Val-de-Travers Hebdo, « Ça s'est passé il y a 20 ans : La Robella montait en grade grâce à la descente ! » (23 mai 2025)
- tenderlift.ch, « Télécabine Buttes - La Robella » (appel d'offres de la Coopérative T.B.R.C.)
- Dictionnaire historique de la Suisse, « Buttes » (Eric-André Klauser)
- geo.admin.ch, service de recherche de lieux (swisstopo)
Other villages near La Robella
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