The Sierre–Montana funicular
From Sierre, a stone's throw from the station, up to Crans-Montana, a long diagonal above the vines, the country's longest funicular.
In the early twentieth century, people go up to Montana to heal their lungs. In 1901, the Historical Dictionary of Switzerland relates, Théodore Stephani builds a sanatorium there that makes the high plateau famous; nine years earlier, Michel Zufferey and Louis Antille had opened their Hôtel du Parc, and the resort grew up all around it. From the valley, there is only a road then, laid out around 1890.
Two funiculars, then one
The funicular company is founded in the autumn of 1908, and the line opens just after Christmas 1911, according to Wikipedia. Sanatoriums, hotels and holiday chalets then multiply up there, the Historical Dictionary notes. Between Sierre and Montana-Vermala lie some 4 km: far too much for a single cable, which would have weighed too much, the specialist site Funimag explains. So two funiculars are built one after the other, and passengers change cars at Saint-Maurice-de-Laques, at 1074 m. The trip then takes half an hour. In spring 1997, the line closes to be rebuilt from end to end; it reopens on 16 December as one single section, the two cars crossing on a loop at mid-point. Twelve minutes are now enough, at 8 m a second at most. With its 4191 m for 927 m of climb, it has since been Switzerland’s longest funicular, for Funimag as for Wikipedia.
A brand-new funicular
When patients grow scarce, shortly before 1960, Montana turns to skiing; the resort hosts the world championships in 1987. The funicular stops once more between March and December 2022. Rails, cars and stations are renewed, and the gauge widens from one metre to 1.4 m, according to Wikipedia. To run a car every 20 minutes, the company wants to drop stops along the way; an association, F’unis, gathers 8745 signatures to save them. Today, between its two ends, the line only stops at Venthône and at Bluche-Randogne. The first run leaves on 11 December 2022 at 6.22 am, the company reports; it has covered its Crans-Montana station with solar panels and keeps their energy in batteries.
Above the vines
Down below, the track climbs through the vineyards. In the first years of the twenty-first century, according to the Historical Dictionary, vines covered 43 % of Venthône’s land, and the hamlets of Loc and Darnona still lived from them.
On the map
The map draws a straight stroke from Sierre to above Crans-Montana, without following the real line’s course. Two red and ivory cars pass each other half-way, as they have since 1997, but with no stop on the way, neither at Venthône nor at Bluche. The ride there is much shorter than the twelve or so minutes of the real one. The vehicles on the map are there for play: they keep to no timetable and don’t show where the real ones are. To travel, check the official timetables; and if you’d like the map to do more, write to us, our links are at the top of the page.
Sources: Historical Dictionary of Switzerland, articles “Montana”, “Randogne” and “Venthône”; SMC company, page “Informations sur la reconstruction du funiculaire”; Funimag, “Funiculaire Sierre Montana Crans”; Wikipedia, articles “Funiculaire Sierre–Montana–Crans”, and “Funiculaire SMC” and “Liste de funiculaires en Suisse” (French), “Standseilbahn Sierre-Montana-Crans” (German).