Crans-Montana is a

municipality A municipality is usually a single administrative division having corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality'' may also mean the ...

in the district of Sierre in the

canton Canton may refer to: Administrative division terminology * Canton (administrative division), territorial/administrative division in some countries, notably Switzerland * Township (Canada), known as ''canton'' in Canadian French Arts and ente ...

Valais Valais ( , , ; frp, Valês; german: Wallis ), more formally the Canton of Valais,; german: Kanton Wallis; in other official Swiss languages outside Valais: it, (Canton) Vallese ; rm, (Chantun) Vallais. is one of the 26 cantons forming the S ...

Switzerland ). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...

. On 1 January 2017 the former municipalities of Chermignon, Mollens,

Montana Montana () is a state in the Mountain West division of the Western United States. It is bordered by Idaho to the west, North Dakota and South Dakota to the east, Wyoming to the south, and the Canadian provinces of Alberta, British Columb ...

and Randogne merged to form the new municipality of Crans-Montana. 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 Icogne () is a municipality in the district of Sierre in the canton of Valais in Switzerland. History Icogne is first mentioned in 1233 as ''Ucogni''. In 1249 it was mentioned as ''Ucogniez''. Geography Icogne has an area, , of . Of this ar ...

, Lens, Mollens, Montana and Randogne), four of which merged to form the municipality of Crans-Montana.

History

Chermignon

Chermignon is first mentioned in 1228 as ''Chermenon'' and ''Chirminon''. It became an independent municipality in 1905 when it separated from Lens.Amtliches Gemeindeverzeichnis der Schweiz
published by the Swiss Federal Statistical Office accessed 19 July 2011

Mollens

Mollens is first mentioned about 1250 as ''Molaen''. In 1286 it was mentioned as ''Moleing''. The municipality was formerly known by its German name ''Molei'', however, that name is no longer used.

Montana

Montana is first mentioned in 1243 as ''Montana''. In 1905 it separated from Lens to form an independent municipality.

Randogne

Randogne is first mentioned in 1224 as ''Randonni''.

Ski resort

The resort is located in the heart of the

Swiss Alps The Alpine region of Switzerland, conventionally referred to as the Swiss Alps (german: Schweizer Alpen, french: Alpes suisses, it, Alpi svizzere, rm, Alps svizras), represents a major natural feature of the country and is, along with the Swis ...

in the French-speaking part of the canton of

. It is located on a plateau above Sierre at an

elevation The elevation of a geographic location is its height above or below a fixed reference point, most commonly a reference geoid, a mathematical model of the Earth's sea level as an equipotential gravitational surface (see Geodetic datum § ...

of about

above sea level Height above mean sea level is a measure of the vertical distance ( height, elevation or altitude) of a location in reference to a historic mean sea level taken as a vertical datum. In geodesy, it is formalized as '' orthometric heights''. Th ...

, allowing good view over the

Valais Alps The Pennine Alps (german: Walliser Alpen, french: Alpes valaisannes, it, Alpi Pennine, la, Alpes Poeninae), also known as the Valais Alps, are a mountain range in the western part of the Alps. They are located in Switzerland (Valais) and Italy ...

and

Weisshorn The Weisshorn (German, lit. ''white peak/mountain'') is a major peak of Switzerland and the Alps, culminating at above sea level. It is part of the Pennine Alps and is located between the valleys of Anniviers and Zermatt in the canton of Val ...

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 of

piste A ''piste'' () is a marked ski run or path down a mountain for snow skiing, snowboarding, or other mountain sports. This European term is French

s, and includes the

Plaine Morte Glacier (its largest tongue: german: Rezligletscher) , photo = Plaine Morte.jpg , photo_caption = Wildstrubel and glacier , type = horizontal ice field , location = Lenk, BE (Crans-Montana, VS), Switzerland , coords = , ar ...

. It is topped by the

Pointe de la Plaine Morte The Pointe de la Plaine Morte () is a mountain of the Bernese Alps, located on the border between the Swiss cantons of Bern and Valais. It overlooks the large and flat glacier named '' Plaine Morte Glacier'', from the south-west side. The Point ...

at . Crans-Montana is famous in

alpine ski racing Alpine skiing, or downhill skiing, is the pastime of sliding down snow-covered slopes on skis with fixed-heel bindings, unlike other types of skiing ( cross-country, Telemark, or ski jumping), which use skis with free-heel bindings. Whether ...

for the 1987 World Championships and is often on the World Cup schedule, usually for women's speed events.

Other activities

The area hosts the winter mountain pop rock festival, the , and a professional golf tournament, the European Tour's

Omega European Masters The Omega European Masters is the Swiss stop on professional men's golf's European Tour, and in 2009 it became the first event in Europe to be co-sanctioned by the Asian Tour. Founded as the Swiss Open in 1923, the tournament was prefixed with Eu ...

, which takes place each September. The area 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 The 1984 Tour de France was the 71st edition of the Tour de France, run over in 23 stages and a prologue, from 29 June to 22 July. The race was dominated by the Renault team, who won the team classification and ten stages: Renault's French rid ...

, won by Laurent Fignon, who also took the overall race win that year. The has four courses, one designed by

Seve Ballesteros Severiano Ballesteros Sota (; 9 April 1957 – 7 May 2011) was a Spanish professional golfer, a World No. 1 who was one of the sport's leading figures from the mid-1970s to the mid-1990s. A member of a gifted golfing family, he won 90 inte ...

and another named after

Jack Nicklaus Jack William Nicklaus (born January 21, 1940), nicknamed The Golden Bear, is a retired American professional golfer and golf course designer. He is widely considered to be one of the greatest golfers of all time. He won 117 professional tou ...

. The international renowned Les Roches International School of Hotel Management is located in Crans-Montana.

Geography

Crans-Montana has an area, , of .

Population

The new municipality has a population () of .

Historic population

The historical population is given in the following chart: Colors= id:lightgrey value:gray(0.9) id:darkgrey value:gray(0.8) ImageSize = width:1100 height:600 PlotArea = height:450 left:100 bottom:90 right:100 Legend = columns:3 left:220 top:70 columnwidth:160 AlignBars = justify DateFormat = x.y Period = from:0 till:8800 TimeAxis = orientation:vertical AlignBars = justify ScaleMajor = gridcolor:darkgrey increment:1500 start:0 ScaleMinor = gridcolor:lightgrey increment:300 start:0 Colors= id:CH value:yellowgreen legend:Chermignon id:MO value:green legend:Mollens id:MON value:blue legend:Montana id:RA value:red legend:Randogne PlotData= color:yellowgreen width:30 mark:(line,white) align:center bar:1850 from: 0 till:522 text:"522" color:CH bar:1910 from: 0 till:848 text:"848" color:CH bar:1920 from: 0 till:950 text:"950" color:CH bar:1930 from: 0 till:1055 text:"1,055" color:CH bar:1941 from: 0 till:1214 text:"1,214" color:CH bar:1950 from: 0 till:1330 text:"1,330" color:CH bar:1960 from: 0 till:1520 text:"1,520" color:CH bar:1970 from: 0 till:1925 text:"1,925" color:CH bar:1980 from: 0 till:2170 text:"2,170" color:CH bar:1990 from: 0 till:2553 text:"2,553" color:CH bar:2000 from: 0 till:2711 text:"2,711" color:CH bar:1850 from: 522 till:739 text:"217" color:MO bar:1910 from: 848 till:1160 text:"312" color:MO bar:1920 from: 950 till:1261 text:"311" color:MO bar:1930 from: 1055 till:1340 text:"285" color:MO bar:1941 from: 1214 till:1536 text:"322" color:MO bar:1950 from: 1330 till:1633 text:"303" color:MO bar:1960 from: 1520 till:1806 text:"286" color:MO bar:1970 from: 1925 till:2195 text:"270" color:MO bar:1980 from: 2170 till:2504 text:"334" color:MO bar:1990 from: 2553 till:3095 text:"542" color:MO bar:2000 from: 2711 till:3481 text:"770" color:MO bar:1850 from: 739 till:1042 text:"303" color:MON bar:1910 from: 1160 till:1707 text:"547" color:MON bar:1920 from: 1261 till:2052 text:"791" color:MON bar:1930 from: 1340 till:2825 text:"1,485" color:MON bar:1941 from: 1536 till:2815 text:"1,279" color:MON bar:1950 from: 1633 till:3348 text:"1,715" color:MON bar:1960 from: 1806 till:3349 text:"1,543" color:MON bar:1970 from: 2195 till:3920 text:"1,725" color:MON bar:1980 from: 2504 till:4412 text:"1,908" color:MON bar:1990 from: 3095 till:5284 text:"2,189" color:MON bar:2000 from: 3481 till:5786 text:"2,305" color:MON bar:1850 from: 1042 till:1295 text:"253" color:RA bar:1910 from: 1707 till:2402 text:"695" color:RA bar:1920 from: 2052 till:2948 text:"896" color:RA bar:1930 from: 2825 till:4185 text:"1,360" color:RA bar:1941 from: 2815 till:3951 text:"1,136" color:RA bar:1950 from: 3348 till:4964 text:"1,616" color:RA bar:1960 from: 3349 till:4857 text:"1,508" color:RA bar:1970 from: 3920 till:5857 text:"1,937" color:RA bar:1980 from: 4412 till:6203 text:"1,791" color:RA bar:1990 from: 5284 till:8122 text:"2,838" color:RA bar:2000 from: 5786 till:8749 text:"2,963" color:RA

Heritage sites of national significance

The Roches des Fées and the Hotel Bella Lui are listed as Swiss heritage site of national significance.

Climate

Crans Montana has a warm summer

humid continental climate A humid continental climate is a climatic region defined by Russo-German climatologist Wladimir Köppen in 1900, typified by four distinct seasons and large seasonal temperature differences, with warm to hot (and often humid) summers and freez ...

, (Dfb) according to the

Köppen climate classification The Köppen climate classification is one of the most widely used climate classification systems. It was first published by German-Russian climatologist Wladimir Köppen (1846–1940) in 1884, with several later modifications by Köppen, nota ...

. Between 1981 and 2010 Montana had on average 101 days of rain or snow per year and received on average of

precipitation In meteorology, precipitation is any product of the condensation of atmospheric water vapor that falls under gravitational pull from clouds. The main forms of precipitation include drizzle, rain, sleet, snow, ice pellets, graupel and hail. ...

. Crans Montana has a fairly evenly distributed precipitation throughout the year, as is common in this type of climate. As with other locations in the canton of

, annual precipitation rates are quite low due to its location in the rain shadow of some of the tallest mountains in the Alps.

Notable people

* Elizabeth von Arnim (1866–1941), Australian-born British novelist, lived in Randogne 1910–1930 * Katherine Mansfield (1888–1923), New Zealand-born author, lived in Montana May 1921–January 1922 *

Roger Moore Sir Roger George Moore (14 October 192723 May 2017) was an English actor. He was the third actor to portray fictional British secret agent James Bond in the Eon Productions film series, playing the character in seven feature films between 1 ...

(1927–2017), British actor, owned a chalet at the ski resort for many years after moving from Gstaad. He lived there until his death in 2017. * Michel Roux (1941–2020), French-born chef and restaurateur who worked in Britain, lived in Crans-Montana from 2008. * Golfers Adam Scott,

Ángel Gallardo Ángel Gallardo may refer to: * Ángel Gallardo (civil engineer) (1867–1934), Argentine civil engineer, natural scientist, and politician * Ángel Gallardo (golfer) (born 1943), Spanish golfer * Ángel Ballesteros Gallardo (born 1940), Spanish poe ...

Sergio García Sergio García Fernández (; born 9 January 1980) is a Spanish professional golfer. He has played on the European Tour, PGA Tour and LIV Golf Invitational Series. García has won 36 international tournaments as a professional, most notably th ...

along with

Francesco Francesco, the Italian (and original) version of the personal name "Francis", is the most common given name among males in Italy. Notable persons with that name include: People with the given name Francesco * Francesco I (disambiguation), seve ...

and Edoardo Molinari are residents.

References

External links

*
Crans-Montana ski resort
* {{authority control Municipalities of Valais Cultural property of national significance in Valais Villages in Valais Ski areas and resorts in Switzerland