Crans-Montana is a luxury alpine resort town in Switzerland. Crans-Montana actually comprises two ski resorts, Crans-sur-Sierre and Montana-Vermala, although for all intents and purposes, they function as one. Popular with affluent Italians, the skiing is good (best for beginners and intermediates), but the shopping, eating and drinking are even better. The resort claims to be on the sunniest plateau in the Alps, and indeed the snow is often lacking, but the views over the Rhône are superb. Every September, the resort hosts the European Masters golf tournament.
Crans-Montana is a municipality in the district of Sierre in the canton of Valais, Switzerland. On 1 January 2017 the former municipalities of Chermignon, Mollens, Montana and Randogne merged to form the new municipality of Crans-Montana.[2] Crans-Montana is also a ski resort that was created through the fusion of the two centers of Crans and Montana and belonged to six municipalities (Chermignon, Icogne, Lens, Mollens, Montana and Randogne), four of which merged to form the municipality of Crans-Montana. The resort is located in the heart of the Swiss Alps in the French-speaking part of the canton of Valais. It is located on a plateau above Sierre at an elevation of about 1,500 m (4,920 ft) above sea level, allowing good view over the Valais Alps and Weisshorn in particular. The resort is a fusion of the two centers of Crans and Montana and belongs to 6 municipalities (Chermignon, Icogne, Lens, Mollens, Montana and Randogne).
The skiing area of Crans-Montana is composed of 140 km (87 mi) of pistes, and includes the Plaine Morte Glacier. It is topped by the Pointe de la Plaine Morte at 2,927 m (9,600 ft).
Crans-Montana is famous in alpine ski racing for the 1987 World Championships and is often on the World Cup schedule, usually for women's speed events. It also hosts the only winter mountain pop rock festival, the Caprices Festival, and a professional golf tournament, the European Tour's Omega European Masters, which takes place each September. The resort has also been frequently used for bicycle racing, hosting stage finishes of the Tour de Suisse seven times and of the Tour de Romandie eight times as of 2013. In addition Crans-Montana also hosted the finish of the 20th stage of the 1984 Tour de France, won by Laurent Fignon, who also took the overall race win that year.
The nearest airport to Crans-Montana is Sion (SIR) Airport which is 13 km away. Other nearby airports include Geneva (GVA) (110 km), Milan Malpensa (MXP) (125 km), Zurich (ZRH) (150 km) and Milan Linate (LIN) (170 km). Geneva Airport can be reached within just of about 40 minutes flight time by helicopter charter, price starting from 3500 EUR (4 Pers.), Zürich Airport for 55 minutes from 5200 EUR. (5 Pers.), or Basel Airport 60 minutes from 5400 EUR. (5 Pers.)... Do not forget your camera!