Crans-MontanaSunny, south facing slopes, 87km of runs, and even a glacier to play on when the snow’s well and truly exhausted – welcome to Crans-Montana.
The skiing in Crans-Montana is best described as intermediate friendly with a nice mix of flattering blues and slightly steeper reds. The can be some pretty terrifying crowds around the middle station at Merbe so try heading over to Aminona – much quieter with lengthy, tree-lined runs.
The on-piste opps for experts is fairly limited – La Toula has some decent moguls if you like riding the bumps, but the best stuff is away from the resort. For back-country thrills try Les Faverges valley. If you like honing down the mountain at 100mph there’s a free speed run in Cry D’er – always worth challenging an over-confident mate with.
The sore point of Crans is the snow. South facing slopes (with eye-popping views of Mont blanc and the Matterhorn) means afternoon slush when the suns out. Yep, there is a glacier but there’s really only one run worth mentioning. But if you have a secret penchant for a bit of wet and heavy snow (somebody out there must do?) then its worth a visit.
Down in the village of Crans (that’s the posh bit – cheaper hotels well almost certainly be on the Montana side) lives up to its 007 reputation with bucket-loads of 5-star hotels and silver-service restaurants. There’s also pretty decent off-slope entertainment to while those nights away – two ice rinks, dog-sledding, tobogganing a cinema and even a Casino (well Roger Moore does live here after-all.)
Getting to Crans-Montana is fairly easy, Sion airport is a mere 19 miles down the valley and Geneva’s only train away.
Lifts: 28
Height: 1,500m – 3,000m
Pistes: 140km
Blues: 39%
Reds: 50%
Blacks: 11%
Website: www.tourism-crans-montana.co.uk/
Sunny, south facing slopes, 87km of runs, and even a glacier to play on when the snow’s well and truly exhausted – welcome to Crans-Montana.
The skiing in Crans-Montana is best described as intermediate friendly with a nice mix of flattering blues and slightly steeper reds. The can be some pretty terrifying crowds around the middle station at Merbe so try heading over to Aminona – much quieter with lengthy, tree-lined runs.
The on-piste opps for experts is fairly limited – La Toula has some decent moguls if you like riding the bumps, but the best stuff is away from the resort. For back-country thrills try Les Faverges valley. If you like honing down the mountain at 100mph there’s a free speed run in Cry D’er – always worth challenging an over-confident mate with.
The sore point of Crans is the snow. South facing slopes (with eye-popping views of Mont blanc and the Matterhorn) means afternoon slush when the suns out. Yep, there is a glacier but there’s really only one run worth mentioning. But if you have a secret penchant for a bit of wet and heavy snow (somebody out there must do?) then its worth a visit.
Down in the village of Crans (that’s the posh bit – cheaper hotels well almost certainly be on the Montana side) lives up to its 007 reputation with bucket-loads of 5-star hotels and silver-service restaurants. There’s also pretty decent off-slope entertainment to while those nights away – two ice rinks, dog-sledding, tobogganing a cinema and even a Casino (well Roger Moore does live here after-all.)
Getting to Crans-Montana is fairly easy, Sion airport is a mere 19 miles down the valley and Geneva’s only train away.
Lifts: 28
Height: 1,500m – 3,000m
Pistes: 140km
Blues: 39%
Reds: 50%
Blacks: 11%
Website: www.tourism-crans-montana.co.uk/