TL;DR
Vail Resorts has shut down Crans-Montana's 2024-25 ski season on Easter Monday despite strong snow conditions, sparking a backlash from local businesses, ski schools, and residents. A Change.org petition gathered over 1,200 signatures calling for an extension, but the American operator stuck to its scheduled closing date. Other resorts in the same Swiss canton are staying open - some for weeks longer - adding fuel to growing frustration with Vail's management since acquiring the resort in 2024.
Vail Resorts has ended the season at Crans-Montana while the snow is still good and the Easter crowds were still coming - and the locals are furious.
The American resort operator closed Crans-Montana's lifts on Easter Monday, April 6, sticking to a pre-planned shutdown date despite excellent late-season conditions and vocal opposition from the local community. A Change.org petition calling for an extension gathered more than 1,200 signatures, but it didn't move the needle.
The backlash isn't just about one closing date. It's become a flashpoint for broader tensions between Vail Resorts and the Swiss community it now operates within.
The conditions didn't justify closing
Crans-Montana's terrain reaches up to the Plaine Morte glacier at nearly 3,000 metres, and the resort is well known for reliable spring skiing. This year, significant late-season snowfall left coverage in excellent shape - arguably some of the best conditions of the entire season, given the slow start most of the European Alps experienced through December.
Closing on Easter Monday, rather than extending even six days to April 12, meant missing out on the tail end of school holidays across multiple Swiss cantons and neighbouring countries. Easter is one of three critical holiday windows for European ski resorts, alongside Christmas and the February school breaks, and many local businesses were counting on it to salvage what had been a patchy season.
