Crans-Montana or St. Moritz: two sunny Swiss names, one much higher
The Ski Snug teamUpdated 12 October 20266 min read
Crans-Montana and St. Moritz both sell sunshine. It is on our list for each of them, both run from December to April, and our matching engine makes Crans-Montana the closest Swiss resort to St. Moritz. On the share of piste steeper than one in four they are close, and on the share that is black they are level.
Beyond that they are different holidays. St. Moritz is glamour, sunshine and a lake full of events, with more to do off the snow than most. Crans-Montana is a sunny plateau with wide views over the Rhône, smart rather than glamorous, with golf, spa and families on its list. And one of them is a great deal higher than the other. The numbers first.
The numbers, side by side
| Figure | Crans-Montana | St. Moritz |
|---|---|---|
| Village altitude | 1,500 m | 1,822 m |
| Top of the skiing, measured | 2,868 m | 3,266 m |
| Linked ski area | 140 km, all joined | Separate mountains on an Engadin pass quoted at 350 km. St. Moritz's own, about 106 km |
| Piste we measure around the village | 85 km | 106 km |
| Blue and easier | 22 km, 26% of the piste | 30 km, 28% of the piste |
| Black | 12.9 km, 15% of the piste | 16 km, 15% of the piste |
| Marked off piste itinerary | 3.2 km | None measured |
| Piste steeper than one in four | 22% | 24% |
| Piste gentler than 15% | 36% | 28% |
| Piste at or above 1,800 m | 79% | 97% |
| Season | December to April | December to April |
| Nearest airport | Geneva | Zurich |
The altitude rows are the headline: St. Moritz is higher at the door, at the top and everywhere between. The ski area row is the one to read slowly, because the two big figures in it are not the same kind of number.
Altitude: St. Moritz is higher at every point
St. Moritz sits at 1,822 metres, the highest village of the 15 Swiss resorts we cover and 322 metres above Crans-Montana's 1,500. Its skiing reaches 3,266 metres by our measure, 398 higher than Crans-Montana's 2,868, and even its lowest piste, at 1,722 metres, finishes 259 metres above Crans-Montana's lowest.
Both count as snow sure on our measure. At St. Moritz, 97 percent of the piste we measure is above 1,800 metres, the joint fifth biggest share of the 55 resorts we cover, up to 3,266 metres. At Crans-Montana it is 79 percent, up to 2,868 metres, itself the fourth biggest share of the 15 Swiss resorts we cover. The gap shows more higher up: 87 percent of St. Moritz's piste is above 2,000 metres, against 51 percent at Crans-Montana.
Nobody can promise snow. But if your dates sit at the very start or end of the season, or snow is the first thing your group worries about, St. Moritz has almost all of its skiing well above the line.
Size: one linked mountain against several separate ones
The quoted figures make St. Moritz look far bigger, and they need care. The Engadin's 350 kilometres is a pass figure across separate mountains, Corviglia, Corvatsch and Diavolezza among them, not one linked area. St. Moritz's own skiing measures about 106 kilometres. Crans-Montana's 140 kilometres, by contrast, is one linked area, a figure three independent sources agree on to the kilometre.
Our own measurement of the piste around each village, the tighter count, gives St. Moritz 106 kilometres and Crans-Montana 85, about 21 more at St. Moritz. So St. Moritz has more skiing, and more again if you count the other Engadin mountains on the pass. Crans-Montana has the convenience of all of it being joined up, so a day never starts with working out which mountain to go to.
The skiing: Crans-Montana is the gentler of the two
The steep and black rows are close: 24 percent steeper than one in four at St. Moritz, 22 at Crans-Montana, both under the 26 at a typical resort we cover, and 15 percent black at both. St. Moritz has a little more black in kilometres, 16 against 12.9, and its longest piste is the Hahnensee, a black of 3.2 kilometres with 764 metres of vertical. Crans-Montana's longest we measure is also a black, a longer one: 4.0 kilometres with 843 metres of vertical.
22 km blue and easier 26%50 km red 59%13 km black 15%
30 km blue and easier 28%60 km red 57%16 km black 15%
Marked off piste itinerary, kept out of the piste totals: Crans-Montana 3.2 km.
The difference is at the easy end. Thirty six percent of Crans-Montana's piste is gentler than 15 percent. At St. Moritz it is 28 percent, the second smallest share of the 15 Swiss resorts we cover. St. Moritz has more blue and easier piste in kilometres, 30 against 22, but neither has a great deal of it, and Crans-Montana's is the kinder.
Off the piste, neither is an itinerary resort on our figures: 3.2 kilometres at Crans-Montana, none measured at St. Moritz. St. Moritz's best known off piste is the guided glacier descent from Diavolezza.
Who each one actually suits
St. Moritz suits groups where not everyone wants to ski every day. Its frozen lake becomes a venue each winter, with snow polo and horse racing on the ice, and there is the Cresta Run, the spas, the shopping and the grand hotel bars. Couples and multi generational families do especially well. On the snow, Corviglia is the sunny cruising above the town, reached by funicular from Dorf; Corvatsch is the high one, with the steeper runs and night skiing once a week. Where you stay shapes the week: Dorf is the smart address above the lake, Bad the more relaxed one beside it, and the Engadin villages share the lifts.
Crans-Montana suits families who want sunshine and smartness with a gentler mountain. It is on our list for sunshine, golf and spa, and families, and its sunny plateau, with wide views over the Rhône, sums it up. It suits families whose children are steady on blue, and intermediates who want gentle reds under them: they average 19.2 percent on our measure, under the 19.9 of a typical Swiss red. It is also the shorter trip, from Geneva rather than Zurich.
The bit nobody tells you
At St. Moritz, the grades sit close together. Measured, its blues average 16.4 percent, the second steepest of the 15 Swiss resorts we cover and above the Swiss average of 15.0. Its blacks average 25.5, under the Swiss average of 26.7, and the reds sit between, at 21.0. At Crans-Montana the spread is wider: blues 13.3, reds 19.2, blacks 27.1.
These are averages per run segment, and a run's grade is set by its steepest pitch, so read them as how the week feels rather than as a verdict on any one run. What they say is that at St. Moritz the colour on the map tells you less. A nervous skier will find the blues stiffer than expected. A confident one will find the blacks closer to reach than the label suggests. At Crans-Montana the blues are kind and the blacks are proper blacks, so the map means more.
So, which one
snow is your first worry or your dates sit at either end of the season, your group includes people who will spend as much time off the snow as on it, or you want the glamour, the lake and the history.
you want all your skiing on one linked mountain, gentler blues and reds for a family or a nervous member of the group, sunshine, golf and spa, and a shorter journey from Geneva.
It is higher at every point, has more piste around the village and almost all of it above 1,800 metres, and few resorts give the non skiers as much to do. Crans-Montana is the right answer for a family that wants a gentler, simpler mountain in the sun.