I skied three days in Crans Montana in early January 2024 and I had a great time there. But I’m not sure I'll every go back. Being based in the US, I figured I’d go check out the latest euro-addition to the Epic Pass. Andermatt I’ve skied a couple of times already and I love the place. But where Andermatt still is very much a place for serious skiers, Crans Montana attracts the tourist crowd, and the ski resort is a lot heavier on the “resort” than the “ski”. The crowds are definitely a factor here and this may be the closest I’ve come to American lift lines in Europe - I waited in line 45+ min the first day to take the gondola up. If you don’t want to wait in line, you have the option to purchase “Fast Lane” access for your ski pass. And that was a first for me as I’ve never seen this option in a ski resort before. The fact that this is even an option is probably a good indicator of what the crowds can be at times. But still, what is this, Disney Land?
But this I will give Crans Montana, the weather is insanely nice. And so is the scenery. Where Andermatt is a bad-weather ski resort, Crans Montana is very much a nice weather ski resort. Situated across the valley of Verbier, Grimentz, etc, the resort is on the sunny side of the valley. Most of the ski area is above 2000m and although the snow gets sunbaked during the day, the snow quality before noon on a powder day is awesome. Nice and fluffy, and with sunny skies and gorgeous alpine peaks as your back drop. I got lucky as it snowed heavily the evening I arrived and was able to find good powder lines for the next two days, although with increasing effort as time went by.
My first day of skiing was Crans Montana at it’s best with half a meter of fresh powder and sunny weather. The top of the ski resort did not open and the obvious powder tracked out quite quickly. But with some effort powder was found. Since Bella Lui was not open I found some great and quite steep untracked lines by hiking up towards the Bella Lui a bit and then skiing off the edge towards the Nationale Express. There was also some decent tree skiing down towards the Nationale Express. On the Violettes side there is ample off piste terrain, but perhaps with limited options for advanced skiers. The second day the sun was again out, but there was no fresh snow fall. However, the top of the resort was now open and I was able to find untracked snow there. The run off the glacier has some good lines on the skier’s left of the run close to the top, and then on skiers right a bit further down. There were also good runs on the back side of Bella Lui, both down to the T-bar and off the run that goes down to the Violettes side. The third day I skied it was foehn-wind and rain all the way to the top so the pistes are where I skied. The pistes are excellent in Crans Montana and were I primarily an on-piste skier I’d probably go back for those as they were at times far more exciting than the off piste terrain. The black slopes are definitely challenging, and the red ones are fun to just let the skis run on. Snow quality on-piste stayed surprisingly good throughout most of the day all days I skied. But for a true powder hound, the action is off piste.. A lot of the off piste terrain in Crans Montana I would categorize as “good”, but not necessarily “great” as many of the lines are not very long and not super challenging (there are exceptions).
Apres ski was decent, (at least for Switzerland..). The ZeroDix bar at the bottom of the gondola on the Crans side was the best apres I found. The restaurant scene is also quite good. A local told me that most of the people who work in the restaurants in Crans Montana are Italians so try some Italian food while there and it turned out to be a good tip. Au Centre was excellent (remember to make reservations!) and pasta tossed in the giant Parmesan wheel at Le Farniet was another winner. On-mountain dining options are also very good. Italian coffee at the restaurant at the top of the Petit Mont Bonvin was a solid insider tip from a local (remember not to have more than two if you're planning to ski back down...). And raclette at Cabane des Taules is a must try - remember to bring cash as they don’t take credit cards.
Accommodations are abundant as is to be expected in a tourist/resort town like this. I stayed at Hotel du Parc in Montana, an older hotel that definitely has some mileage on it, but price was very reasonable. The Crans side is the fancier place to stay and perhaps has the better lift access too. Should I go back I may decide to stay on that side for the easier access to the Cry d’Er vs the Montana side. In either case the bus service is quite efficient between the gondolas that take you up on the mountain.
The town (or the towns rather..) make up a huge area. This is a giant year-around tourist destination and there are plenty of activities to do in town. It makes perfect sense why Vail Resorts bought this place, it’s essentially a euro-version of Vail or Park City. Plenty of fancy shops, fancy places to stay, restaurants, ski schools, and other snow/winter activities that tourists like to do when they visit the mountains. Of the “crowd pleaser activities” I would recommend the lantern walk on the Crans side on a Saturday when they have a pianist playing from an igloo and light show along the walk, it’s actually quite cool. But the tourist vibe of the town is also my main objection to Crans Montana. Whereas the terrain and skiing is quite good, the crowds made it at times unbearable. I’ll preface this with that I went there toward the tail end of the holiday season so perhaps crowds are more manageable outside of the high seasons. I got lucky with the snow and the weather for two of the three days and had a some great skiing. But lift lines seemed to be long across the entire mountain for most of the time I was there. I’ll make the prediction that of the two Epic Pass euro-resorts Crans Montana will become the new Epic favorite. But in my opinion, Andermatt is by far the better Epic Pass option for powder hounds. And then the truth also still holds that the cost of the lift ticket is not that great anyway when skiing in Europe so pass loyalty should yield to great skiing any day..
I hope my review was not too harsh. Crans Montana really is a lovely place and I would totally recommend it for families looking for a great ski vacation to Europe. I just feel that if freeriding is your goal there are far better options in the Alps both on and off the Epic Pass. (Moderators Note: Definitely not too harsh a review, absolutely on point and we couldn't agree more!)
Snow overnight & a bluebird, windless morning were the first ingredients of a busy day at Crans Montana. Add in: close proximity to Geneva plus the day being Saturday & the first weekend of high season in February - the odds of lift queues & stiff competition for powder went through the roof. But whilst the off-piste did get tracked, we rode freshies long after lunch & we didn’t even know the hill. A fantastic measure for a major ski resort!
Lift queues in the main were non-existent on this busiest of days. The longest wait was for the glacier funitel which we stupidly went for too late in the morning. Didn’t take long for those numbers to drop away as we had a coffee & apple tart in the small summit restaurant. After the seething horde had got the ‘mega rite of passage Crans Montana black run’ out of their systems, we successfully rode the entire way down in fresh off-piste powder - go figure! 30 to 40cm deep & perfect 30 to 38-degree pitch most of the way - in between some inevitable traversing.
Of the three main access gondolas from the villages, two are in locations difficult for pedestrians to easily access. The gondola at Montana from street level is accessed from a discreet passageway via a tunnel, escalator, stairs & a ramp (plus left, right, up & across). Those in the know will find it easy, those new to the resort may be best off following the aforementioned people in the know!
The Toula chair & Plaine Morte funitel (up to the glacier) are the ‘go to’ propositions on a sunny powder day. Best access is via the Barzettes-Violettes gondola. Early birds will reap a rich harvest here.
On-piste skiers will enjoy the wide diversity trails from the high glacier all the way down into the trees & ‘village’ runs – many of which in combination are over 10km long – enough to blast the leg muscles of the toughest groomerhound. The terrain park below Cry d’Er is sensational & a good challenger to the beast at Laax ski resort – reason enough for park junkies to attend Crans Montana.
One note of warning though. At the end of the day, the ski down from Cry d’Er is hellish, particularly if the weather suddenly turns bad & everyone decides to leave at once. A particular intersection of trails which leads to all three village areas is a bumped-up sea of out-of-control humanity. Look left, look right, look ahead, hell, look behind if you can – it’s a dangerous but strangely exhilarating way to end the day.
Access to the ski resort is via Sierre (French) or Siders (Swiss German) - a city of no redeeming features other than as a transport gateway to numerous ski areas on the high terraces to the north (including Crans Montana) & the isolated Val d’Anniviers to the south. Trains from the direction of Brig, Zurich, Bern, Martigny, Montreux & Geneva all converge on Sierre making travel a synch. Sierre’s modern sprawl of low-rise concrete apartments provide all the momentum one needs to head directly to the hills as soon as possible.
Three major village bases all blend into one across the entire base area. From the centre of Crans to Montana only takes about 10 - 15min to walk. To Barzettes (which has the gondola up to Violettes & the glacier) it is best to take the regular buses. Similarly, the furthest of the resort villages, Aminona, has a bus running to it every 30min during the day via Crans, Montana & Barzettes. Even though replete with high-end shops & hotels, none of the villages is particularly alluring. But the villages are not the reason to come to Crans Montana. Come here to ski, eat, drink & sleep. Leave the shopping & such to a lazy day in summer.
The following day was a gorgeous, seething blizzard of fat flakes, blowing snow & low visibility. Staying on the lower tree lined runs was the business. Crowds were non-existent. Avoid bluebird weekend days & clearly the skiing at Crans Montana is very quiet.
Double thumbs up Crans Montana. A cracking ski area that passes the 'busiest day test' with aplomb.. But not convinced about the villages. Each to their own!