Crans-Montana Rebuilds Tourism Six Months After Fatal New Year's Day Fire

The hot June sun beats down on us as we coast down the mountain path and back to town.

The world is quiet in that winding stretch between civilisation and the world above the clouds, where we have spent the morning squeezing all we dare from our mountain bikes. On a clear day like today, you can make out the little communes on the other side of the valley and hear the ringing of bells as cows trudge back and forth across the Alpine pastures.

Crans-Montana remains a world unto itself, accessible by funicular and removed from the noise of the outside world. The Swiss resort town has grown around its tourist population in recent years, but retains the calm of the immense natural environment, built as it is around the contours of its many lakes and hills.

The quiet was tragically interrupted in the early hours of New Year’s Day, when a fire at a bar in the town claimed the lives of 41 people and injured 115 more. The incident shook the small community of 10,000, prompting holiday cancellations and spurring a national debate on fire safety.

Six months on, people are returning to the resort for summer activities, though the mark of the fire is still felt. A memorial set up a short distance from the scene of the fire, Le Constellation bar, is a harrowing reminder, adorned with stuffed animals and possessions of those whose lives were lost.

We arrive just before the start of the summer season. A representative for the tourist board says travel to the resort seems to have recovered, though it may still be too early to tell. Around 80 per cent of guests are local to Switzerland. The rest are largely Italian or French, but increasingly British, too.

So the story goes, it was British travellers who helped shape the region as a destination for outdoor sports, setting up a golf course in 1906 and the first organised ski race in 1911. A century on, the resort is now preparing to hold the FIS Alpine World Ski Championships in February, and should host races for the Winter Olympics in 2038.

Winter sports and après-ski are integral to the local flavour. But a wider summer offer is necessary to keep residents in work as climate change threatens to shorten ski seasons across Europe and foreign investors choose when to shut the ski lifts.

Here, the community has invested in bike tracks and hiking trails, built around the ski slopes, as well as indoor sports and a range of waterborne activities.

“We have to work together because it’s one resort, Crans-Montana. It’s not little villages and that’s good,” explained John Bonnet, 57, an outdoor sports trainer. “The best improvement we have made is to have one destination and we all work on that before winter or in summer.”

Crans-Montana was formed through the merger of several tiny Alpine communities nearly a decade ago, allowing a joint offer under one banner. Mr Bonnet, who also teaches people how to ski, said locals work together to ensure there is a mix of activities year-round, so there is out-of-season work for residents who are dependent on tourism.

The resort benefits from 300 days of sun each year but is high enough to avoid the unworkable heat found at the base of the valley, he said. In Geneva or Sierre, summer temperatures can now reach 30 or 35C in the day.

“Here it’s 24 degrees, and you find it’s less crowded than in other resorts ... You have the fresh air, especially during the night. It’s around 18 degrees, so you sleep well. From my point of view, summer activities will improve it over the next 10 years,” he said.

Caroline Ogi, the owner of the acclaimed CaSy restaurant in town, said it is common for them to work with other firms in the area to deliver for guests, too. She said at the time they were planning a dinner with four other restaurants, all cooking from one menu to feed diners around one long table in the middle of the street.

There is something refreshingly unpretentious about this resort and its positioning. There are lavish hotels and luxury shops around for those with the means to enjoy them. But four days in Crans-Montana, at least in summer, can be done on a budget, too. One night for two adults at the five-star Six Senses hotel costs £762, but a night at the three-star Hotel Ad'Eldorado, with balcony views overlooking the Alps, costs £165 with breakfast included. A burger in town costs around £15 and a pint in the pub £7.30. Mountain bikes can be rented from £82 per day, and the walks cost nothing.

Crans-Montana is still working to heal in the wake of the tragedy that struck on New Years’ Day. Locals say they do not want to forget what happened but have to find a way forward for their livelihoods and employees.

“It’s still in the mind of the people here,” Mr Bonnet acknowledged. “And now, what are we going to do? We have to think about them. But we also have to think about the future.”

Officials have banned have some practices in the months since, including the use of pyrotechnics in indoor spaces, which was blamed for the tragedy. Fire safety regulations have come into focus and there are calls for harmonised national standards in light of the stain on Switzerland’s otherwise exemplary safety record.

“We are trying to learn to live with this incredible pain. Our thoughts are daily with the victims and their families,” said Ms Ogi. “But Crans-Montana is strong and together we try to move on step by step hand in hand all together.”