The atmosphere in the Swiss ski resort is subdued. The finish area at Mont Lachaux is no longer framed in festive colors and advertising, but instead features white and black signs.
A sign of sadness.
And all the posters read "Our thoughts are with you" in several different languages, AP reports.
Four weeks after the deadly fire at the popular bar Le Constellation, it is time for Crans-Montana to move on, for residents and visitors to experience a little more positive emotions.
But the alpine competitions are arranged out of respect for the community's trauma.
Sort your thoughts
I don't know if the FIS (International Ski and Snowboard Federation) has planned anything, but it would have been very nice to do something," says Felix Monsén, the speed skier who will be racing downhill on Sunday.
How can you think about the competition when you are in a place where something terrible has happened?
Hard to answer. I've never been through this before. I've been through tough times before, when other skiers have passed away in training just before the World Cup. It's hard. Your thoughts quickly go to what happened... You have to try to sort them out in the right way.
That alone would be difficult, right?
Yes, exactly.
“Fought hard”
If Felix Monsén manages to get his thoughts in order, he hopes to be able to continue with the same skiing that provided a long-awaited breakthrough in Kitzbühel.
We have fought hard to find the right "setup" for the skiing, so we are motivated after Kitzbühel," says the 31-year-old, who after ten World Cup races abandoned his new ski boots - best suited for spring - and brought back last season's material.
Then he finished tenth in the downhill race.
A placing that he thought would be enough to qualify for the Olympics in Italy next month.
But the Swedish Olympic Committee (SOK) chose not to select Monsén, instead selecting slalom duo Kristoffer Jakobsen and rising talent Fabian Ax Swartz.
He sees the decision as extra motivation but is not interested in proving to SOK that they made the wrong decision.
It is people who have no insight into alpine sports who have made this decision. It is difficult to prove anything to someone who has no idea.
Anders Wallin/TT
Facts: The fire in Crans-Montana
TT
The fire at the Le Constellation bar is believed to have been started by burning ice torches that were stuck into champagne bottles and held too close to the ceiling. Pictures and testimonies show that the ceiling in the basement of the venue caught fire.
40 people died and 116 were injured.
The Swiss prosecutor's office has announced that the bar's two owners are suspected of, among other things, manslaughter and endangering the public.
Pyrotechnics are now banned in bars and restaurants in Switzerland.
