Love Adelboden? Where to go next for the chalet village, more skiing or more snow
The Ski Snug teamUpdated 12 October 20268 min read
Adelboden is the village people describe before they describe the skiing. Our read of it is traditional and warm, a classic chalet village linked to Lenk, and the things on our list of what it does best are exactly that: tradition, families and the World Cup. We tag it traditional and good for families.
So the right next resort depends on which part you would miss. For many it is the village and the family feel. For some it is the easy skiing, and a wish that more of it joined up. And for anyone who has been there in a thin winter, it is the snow. Each route here keeps one of those and gives something up for it.
Adelboden, measured
Start with the size, because it is the figure most often got wrong. The Adelboden pass covers 188 kilometres, but across five sectors that are not all joined. The main domain, Adelboden and Lenk linked by lift, is 85 of them, and Betelberg, Elsigen-Metsch, Engstligenalp and Tschentenalp sit outside it. Around the village we measure 115 kilometres of piste, but plan the week on the 85.
Underfoot, it is an even, moderate mountain. Thirty eight percent of the piste is gentler than 15 percent, the joint fourth largest share of the 15 Swiss resorts we cover, and 25 percent is steeper than one in four, the joint third largest. So it has more of both ends than most of the Swiss resorts we cover. The blues average 14.5 percent, the reds 21.3 and the blacks 26.1, against Swiss averages of 15.0, 19.9 and 26.7. Those are averages per run segment, and a run's grade is set by its steepest pitch, but they describe a mountain where an improver and a confident parent can both have a good week.
The snow is the honest weak point. The skiing reaches 2,356 metres by our measurement, and only two of the 15 Swiss resorts we cover top out lower. Fifty five percent of the piste is at or above 1,800 metres, but only 16 percent is above 2,000. On our measure Adelboden is not snow sure: more than half the piste clears 1,800 metres, but the skiing does not reach 2,500.
So "somewhere like Adelboden" means a warm, traditional village for a family, an even mountain, and ideally more skiing and more snow.
Les Gets: if it is the chalet village and the family week
- VillageVillage
- 1,172 m
- Highest liftTop lift
- 2,466 m
- Linked areaLinked
- 580 km
Les Gets: 99 km of piste we measure. 55 km green and blue 56%35 km red 35%10 km black 10%
Our matching puts Les Gets closer to Adelboden than any other resort we cover, and our own descriptions nearly swap places: Adelboden is traditional and warm, Les Gets warm and traditional, a pretty village at the gateway to the Portes du Soleil. We tag both traditional and good for families, and families are on both lists.
The skiing has a similar shape. Twenty three percent of the piste is steeper than one in four, against your 25, and 34 percent is gentler than 15 percent, against 38. Green is mapped reliably here, and there are 55 kilometres of green and blue against your 52 of blue and easier, with 9.6 of black against 12.9.
What changes is the size. The Portes du Soleil is twelve villages across two countries on one genuinely linked circuit, and it measures 580 kilometres. The official figure is 600, and one independent measurement puts it nearer 426, against the 85 you can ski from Adelboden. The Les Gets and Morzine sector alone is 117.
The trade is height, and it is a big one. The village is at 1,172 metres, 178 below yours, and the skiing tops out at 1,965 metres by our measurement, 391 lower and the lowest of the 17 French resorts we cover. Only 1 percent of the piste is at or above 1,800 metres, against your 55.
Madonna di Campiglio: if it is the same easy skiing, on a bigger linked area
- VillageVillage
- 1,550 m
- Highest liftTop lift
- 2,580 m
- Linked areaLinked
- 155 km
Madonna di Campiglio: 115 km of piste we measure. 54 km blue and easier 47%44 km red 38%17 km black 15%
On size and easy skiing, Madonna di Campiglio is close to a copy of Adelboden. We measure 115 kilometres around each, with 54 of blue and easier against your 52, and 36 percent of the piste is gentler than 15 percent, against 38. It is a family resort on our tags. Our read of it is smart and sociable, elegant skiing beneath the Brenta Dolomites, and grooming is on its list.
The difference is what joins up. Madonna's three sectors are all lift linked, into 155 kilometres, against the 85 you can ski from Adelboden without transport.
It also sits a little higher. The village is at 1,550 metres, 200 above yours, and the skiing reaches 2,496 metres by our measurement, 140 higher. Sixty one percent of its piste is at or above 1,800 metres, against 55. Its top is so close to our snow sure line that we have not called it either way, so take the figures as they stand.
The trade is the chalet village and a little of the edge. We tag Madonna upmarket rather than traditional. Only 18 percent of its piste is steeper than one in four, against your 25, though there is more black, 17.3 kilometres against 12.9. The airport is Verona or Milan.
Wengen: if it is the family week, car free and with more black
- VillageVillage
- 1,274 m
- Highest liftTop lift
- 2,320 m
- Linked areaLinked
- 101 km
Wengen: 125 km of piste we measure. 51 km blue and easier 40%54 km red 43%20 km black 16%
Wengen is the closest match to Adelboden our matching finds in Switzerland. It is a family resort on our tags, and the easy skiing is near identical: 51 kilometres of blue and easier against your 52, and 39 percent of the piste gentler than 15 percent, against 38. Our read of it is peaceful and car free, a balcony village under the Jungfrau, with scenery on its list.
It has more at the hard end. Wengen has 20 kilometres of black, the second most of the 15 Swiss resorts we cover, against your 12.9, though they are kind blacks, averaging 24.3 percent against your 26.1. Its own sector is 101 kilometres, against your 85, on a Jungfrau pass whose 211 includes Mürren, which is not lift linked.
The village is 76 metres lower, at 1,274. The snow figures do not compare cleanly. Our map of Wengen runs on to the Jungfraujoch, which is not its own skiing, so its 66 percent of piste at or above 1,800 metres flatters it by an amount we cannot yet say, and its top lift is 2,320 metres. We have not made a snow call for Wengen.
The trade is the tradition. We tag Wengen quiet and car free rather than traditional, so the village is a different kind of calm.
Crans-Montana: if it is snow sure on our measure, staying in Switzerland
- VillageVillage
- 1,500 m
- Highest liftTop lift
- 3,000 m
- Linked areaLinked
- 140 km
Crans-Montana: 85 km of piste we measure. 22 km blue and easier 26%50 km red 59%13 km black 15%
If the snow is what worries you, Crans-Montana is the place to look without leaving Switzerland. Seventy nine percent of its piste is at or above 1,800 metres, against your 55, and the skiing reaches 2,868 metres by our measurement, 512 above yours, so on our measure it is snow sure. The village is at 1,500 metres, 150 higher. Our read of it is sunny and smart, a plateau with wide views over the Rhône, and it is a family resort on our tags.
It joins up, too. Its 140 kilometres is one linked area, a figure three independent sources agree on to the kilometre, against your 85.
The trade is the easy piste and the chalet village. Crans-Montana has 22 kilometres of blue and easier, less than half your 52, and only four of the 55 resorts we cover have less. Its reds pick up much of the work: they average 19.2 percent against your 21.3, and only five of the 55 resorts we cover have gentler reds. Around the village we measure 85 kilometres, against your 115, and we do not tag it traditional.
So, which one
the chalet village and the family feel are why you go, and you will trade height for the Portes du Soleil.
Châtel if you want a little more of the height back.
you want the same easy skiing on a bigger, fully linked area, a little higher, and the village can be smart rather than traditional.
you want to stay in Switzerland with the same family skiing, more black and a car free village.
the snow is the worry, and your family is happy to spend much of the week on gentle reds.
It is the closest match to Adelboden we measure anywhere, it keeps the traditional village and the family feel, and even on the most cautious count it puts 426 kilometres of linked skiing in front of you, against your 85. The price is height.