The deadly fire which ripped through a bar in Crans-Montana still haunted minds in the Swiss ski resort on Sunday, a month on from the tragedy.
This weekend, the town in southwest Switzerland’s Wallis canton hosted the final round of the 2025-2026 Alpine Ski World Cup before the Milan-Cortina Winter Olympics, across the mountains in Italy.
The prestigious event should have been synonymous with festivities and revelling in national heroes such as the overall reigning champion, Marco Odermatt, or Wallis local rising star Malorie Blanc, who won the super giant slalom on Saturday.
But the usual party atmosphere surrounding the races has given way to a more muted event and sombre tributes, exactly a month after the January 1 inferno at the bar Le Constellation.
Bringing the ongoing pain of the disaster into sharp relief, the Wallis public prosecutor announced that an 18-year-old Swiss national had died the day before in a Zurich hospital, raising the death toll to 41.
Besides those killed, another 115 people were injured in the disaster, most of whom remain in hospitals across Switzerland and four other countries.
– ‘Our thoughts are with you’ –
“It’s really horrible. It’s a nightmare,” said Shannon Bugnon, a 28-year-old retail worker from the neighbouring Vaud canton, home to many of the fire’s victims.
“But coming back here today, I still find it beautiful,” she told AFP.
“It also shows that life goes on. And we can show and send all the strength we can to all the victims and their families,” she said, before heading to the spectator stands.
At the race finish area, the usual advertising hoardings have been replaced by black panels bearing the simple message: “Our thoughts are with you”, in French, German, Italian and English.
Race organiser Didier Defago called it a “nice gesture” on the part of the sponsors.
Thibault Schoenardt, 33, who came to cheer on Odermatt in the men’s downhill, believes sport “offers a little bit of comfort to people”.
“It’s great that the competition has gone ahead, even if they’ve scaled things back a little, but we’re still here, and people are here too, to think about those affected.”
– ‘Sad tragedy’: Odermatt –
Odermatt finished fourth in Sunday’s race, won by compatriot Franjo von Allmen, but spoke afterwards of the “sad tragedy” that struck Crans-Montana.
“It was nice to race here and give the people also some emotions back. I think this is something that sport is here for: to share some emotions,” he told reporters.
Bruno Huggler, Crans-Montana Tourism’s chief executive, said: “Our daily lives are still marked by this tragedy, but … we are moving forward. We all want to look ahead.”
An audio message broadcast on Sunday in the finish area said: “Let us make this sporting event a space of respect, connection and profound humanity.”
To those affected by the tragedy, the bereaved families and those injured, “we want you to know that you are not alone”, it said.
“Elsewhere, life goes on. It moves quickly, sometimes too quickly, while our hearts need to slow down to cope with loss and to face the emotions we are feeling.
“We have not forgotten you.”
The message was heard in silence among the 6,000 or so spectators present.
– ‘Impossible to remain unmoved’ –
The usual town centre World Cup party zone is not in place this year.
In recent days, several ski teams have paid their respects outside Le Constellation.
Candles and bouquets of flowers have been left by the boarded-up bar’s wooden entrance steps, and at a makeshift memorial nearby.
Public prosecutors believe the fire started when champagne bottles with sparklers attached were raised too close to the bar basement ceiling, igniting the sound insulation foam.
“It could very well have been us, had it been a few years ago,” said Odile Angeloz, a 40-year-old town clerk.
“It’s impossible to remain unmoved by such a tragedy as happened here.”
elm-ag/rjm/cc
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