Luxurious mountain biking in Crans Montana

Mountainbike routes

Crans Montana in Wallis/Valais doesn’t need much introduction as a ski resort for the rich and famous. But even as a dirtbag mountainbiker you can have a lot of fun here. Whether you prefer the fast red, the more technical black or the newly build blue flow trail, you will have a great time here.

Mountain biking in Crans Montana

Pro’s

• Well maintained long tracks
• New blue track
• It’s a big amusement park

Cons

• Expensive
• All the tracks contain stretches of landrover track, give priority to the hikers.
• It’s a big amusement park

The village

Crans-Montana are two villages, ok they are actually six villages, at an altitude of 1500m. For hikers and in the winter skiers it is possible to take the lift up to 2927m. Sadly the bike park doesn’t go that high.
Like Verbier it is a luxurious mountain resort, amongst others Roger Moore used to live here. So there are plenty of other activities like golfing or horseback riding and shopping.
You can even go sailing or wake boarding on the small lakes. Or on a rainy day, you can look at the miniature trains.
Basically Crans-Montana is big amusement park, for some this is a pro, but if your looking for mountain solitude then it’s a con.

Hotels and apartments

Campings

Camping Moubra is just below the village in a beautiful location, near the lake. You can choose between pitches on the big field or look for a spot in the forest. There is a weird timer in the (free) showers that makes the light switch off every couple of minutes. And the owner usually has a couple of drinks for breakfast (no not orange juice), so it can be a bit weird and uncomfortable when you go to pay your bill. Which will not be cheap.

Mountainbike trails

The red starts near the lift, when you’re looking down the mountain to your left.
The red “Mont Lachaux” downhill trail is a fast flowline, there are a couple of sections that could be to steep for beginners, but otherwise it should be ok. For intermediate and expert riders it’s a fast and fun rollercoaster ride with some medium size jumps.
To get to the start of you black you will have to go down the landrover track on your right when looking down the mountain. It’s on the right hand side behind the hotel.
The Black “Chetseron” has a more natural character, with roots and quite a lot of rockgardens, that aren’t extremely difficult. But it’s best to stop and look for the best line on your first run.
For intermediate riders the difference between the red and the black will be to big. There aren’t always chicken runs around the more exciting parts.
My favorite part is the narrow gully, where you’re twisting and turning in a crack in between two large rocks. No matter how dry and dusty the rest of the mountain is, there always seems to be some moisture here.

There used to be a jumpline in the last part of the trails, but in the summer of 2019 these where removed, because of some building activities, hopefully they will return.

A new blue track has been build, but it wasn’t open yet, when I was there.
Have you ridden it? Please let me know in the comments below.
Judging from the video below it’s a fun, but generic flow trail, suitable for all levels of riders.

The new blue downhill track in Crans Montana.

There is skills park down at the lift, with some narrow and high northshores and a big drop.
In the parking lot are smaller north shores to practice basic skills.

XC routes

There are 11 XC/AM waymarked routes, you can find more info on this page (scroll down)
Some routes require you to pedal up, for others you can just roll down and then take the funicular up from Sierre. You can pay per ride in the Funicular or get a day ticket, which is more expensive then the bike park ticket.

Books and maps

GPS

You can download gpx tracks for the XC routes on the page mentioned above under XC routes.

Mtb trailmap

Trail map Crans Montana, Downhill and XC(pdf)

Bike shops/ guiding/ Mountainbike rental

There is a bike shop right next to the lift, where you can rent bikes, buy clothes and spare parts or get your bike fixed.
There are a couple other bike shops in Crans-Montana, but they mainly focus on selling clothes.

Tips and tricks

In the past you had to pay for the parking, but last summer it was free.

The bike wash is behind the bar on the ground floor of the lift building.

Other useful links

There used to be a nice downhill mountain bike trail nearby in Anzere, but this has been closed 🙁

Nearby

Verbier A similar Swiss mountain resort, but with a bigger bike park and proper enduro trails.
St. Luc Across the valley in a more laid back village, you will find a small bike park with 3 exciting tracks, certainly worth a visit.
Bellwald 2 tracks for the fast racers.

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