Crans-Montana is a
ski resortA ski resort is a resort developed for skiing and other winter sports. In Europe a ski resort is a town or village in a ski area - a mountainous area, where there are ski trails and supporting services such as hotels and other accommodation, restaurants, equipment rental and a ski lift system...
in western
SwitzerlandSwitzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition....
, in the heart of the
Swiss AlpsThe Swiss Alps are the portion of the Alps mountain range that lies within Switzerland. Because of their central position within the entire Alpine range, they are also known as the Central Alps....
in the canton of
ValaisThe Valais is one of the 26 cantons of Switzerland in the southwestern part of the country, around the valley of the Rhône from its headwaters to Lake Geneva, separating the Pennine Alps from the Bernese Alps. The canton is one of the drier parts of Switzerland in its central Rhône valley...
. It is located on a plateau above
SierreSierre is the capital of the district of Sierre in the canton of Valais in Switzerland. It has a population of 14,355.It is situated on the French–German language border of the canton of Wallis...
at an
elevationThe elevation of a geographic location is its height above a fixed reference point, most commonly a reference geoid, a mathematical model of the Earth's sea level as an equipotential gravitational surface ....
of about 1500 m (4921 ft) above sea level, allowing good view over the Valais Alps and
WeisshornThe Weisshorn is a mountain in the Pennine Alps, in Switzerland. With its summit, it is one of the major peaks in the Alps and overtops the nearby Matterhorn by some 30 metres. It was first climbed in 1861 from Randa by John Tyndall, accompanied by the guides J.J...
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 is topped by the
Plaine MorteThe Plaine Morte is a glacier located at an elevation of , in the canton of Bern in Switzerland. The ice field, which covers , is located below the mountain of Wildstrubel in the Bernese Alps....
at 2750 m (9022 ft).
Crans-Montana is famous in
alpine ski racingAlpine skiing is the sport of sliding down snow-covered hills on skis with fixed-heel bindings. Alpine skiing can be contrasted with skiing using free-heel bindings: Ski mountaineering and nordic skiing – such as cross-country; ski jumping; and Telemark. In competitive alpine skiing races four...
for the 1987 World Championships and is often on the
World CupThe FIS Alpine Ski World Cup is the top international circuit of alpine skiing competitions, launched in 1966 by a group of ski racing friends and experts which included French journalist Serge Lang and the alpine ski team directors from France and the USA...
schedule, usually for women's speed events. It also hosts the only winter mountain pop rock festival Caprices Festival and the second largest european golf event
Omega European MastersThe Omega European Masters is the Swiss stop on professional men's golf's European Tour, and in 2009 will become the first event in Europe to be co-sanctioned by the Asian Tour....
, (an event from the European and Asian Tour) which takes place each September.
Famous residents
EnglishEngland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
actor
Roger MooreSir Roger George Moore KBE , is an English actor, perhaps best known for portraying British secret agent James Bond in seven films from 1973 to 1985. He also portrayed Simon Templar in the long-running British television series The Saint.-Early life:Moore was born in Stockwell, London...
has owned a chalet there for many years since moving from
GstaadGstaad is a village in the German-speaking section of the Canton of Berne in southwestern Switzerland. Part of the municipality of Saanen, Gstaad is known as one of the most exclusive ski resorts in the world....
;
Sophia LorenSophia Loren, OMRI is an Italian actress.In 1962, Loren won the Academy Award for Best Actress for her role in Two Women, along with 21 awards, becoming the first actress to win an Academy Award for a non-English-speaking performance...
had an apartment overlooking the 8th green.
AustraliaAustralia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
n golfer Adam Scott and
SpanishSpain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
golfer Francisco Valera also have a home there.
FrenchThe French are a nation that share a common French culture and speak the French language as a mother tongue. Historically, the French population are descended from peoples of Celtic, Latin and Germanic origin, and are today a mixture of several ethnic groups...
chef & restauranter
Michel RouxMichel Roux is a French-born chef and restaurateur working in Britain.Born in Charolles, Saône-et-Loire, Roux moved to Paris with his family after the war, where they set up a charcuterie...
External links