Montana is the eastern half of the resort, older and slightly more sedate than its twin village of Crans a kilometre to the west. The two names have been formally merged into a single commune, but locals still use them separately to refer to distinct parts of the plateau. Montana sits around the upper terminus of the SMC funicular railway that climbs from Sierre and was the first part of the resort to develop in the early twentieth century.
The neighbourhood retains several grand hotels from the resort's early period, including the Grand Hôtel du Golf which dates to the 1920s. The streets behind the main road have a quieter, more permanent-resident character than Crans, with boulangeries, a post office, and a covered market. Montana's main lift access — the Blue gondola to Cry d'Er — departs from the centre of the village and is the fastest route to the upper mountain. The Musée Valaisan du Vin et de la Vigne, documenting the wine culture of the Rhône Valley below, is based here.