Love Davos? Where to go next for the size, the snow or the black runs
The Ski Snug teamUpdated 12 October 20268 min read
Davos is a proper town that happens to sit on a huge amount of skiing, and a high one at that. The skiing spreads over separate mountains, each with its own character. When the lifts close you walk back into a place with trams, supermarkets, ice rinks and restaurants at every price. People love it for the scale, for the snow and for the fact that nobody in a mixed group runs out of things to do.
So the right next resort depends on which of those you would miss. For some it is the sheer amount of skiing. For some it is snow you never have to think about. For the strong skier in the group it is the black runs, and Davos has more of those than any other Swiss resort we cover. Each route here keeps one of them, and each one costs you something.
Davos, measured
Start with the size, because it is the number most often misread. The Davos Klosters pass is sold as 300 kilometres. Measured independently across the same ten lift areas it is 224, and they are separate mountains: only the Parsenn, at 95.5 kilometres, is genuinely shared with Klosters, and the rest need a train, a bus or a car. So the size of Davos is really its variety. It is several different mountains, each a good day out, rather than one area you can roam on skis.
The snow is the easy part. Seventy eight percent of the piste we measure is at or above 1,800 metres and the skiing reaches 2,808, so on our measure Davos is snow sure.
The surprise is the black. Davos has 20.7 kilometres of black piste, more than any other Swiss resort we cover, and it is not a hard mountain. Its blacks average 25.8 percent, under the 26.7 of a typical Swiss black, and 23 percent of its piste is steeper than one in four, a little under the 26 at a typical resort we cover. That is average gradient per run segment, and a run's grade is set by its steepest pitch. But the shape is clear: plenty of black, not much of it brutal, and 13.3 kilometres of marked itinerary for the days the piste is not enough.
So "somewhere like Davos" means a lot of skiing, a high base, a town, and a generous hard end. No route keeps all four. Town amenities are on Davos's list of what it does best and on none of the three picks' lists, so assume the town is what you give up, and choose by which of the other three you would miss most.
Arosa: if it is the size, without the bus
- VillageVillage
- 1,800 m
- Highest liftTop lift
- 2,653 m
- Linked areaLinked
- 225 km
Arosa: 183 km of piste we measure. 97 km blue and easier 53%72 km red 39%15 km black 8%
Plus 9 km of marked off piste itinerary, kept out of the piste total.
On our measurements, no resort anywhere sits closer to Davos than Arosa. It is in Switzerland, you fly to the same airport, Zurich, and it fixes the one thing about Davos that costs you time: the bus. Arosa is joined to Lenzerheide by a single cable car into one ski area of 225 kilometres, and three sources agree on that figure exactly. The biggest stretch you can ski from Davos without a train or bus is the Parsenn's 95.5 kilometres. Arosa gives you more than twice that, all of it on skis.
Around Arosa itself we measure 183 kilometres of piste, the most of the 15 Swiss resorts we cover, against 145 around Davos. And it starts higher. The village is at 1,800 metres, 240 above Davos and the second highest of the 15 Swiss resorts we cover, and the skiing reaches 2,848 metres by our measurement. It is snow sure on our measure too, with 65 percent of its piste at or above 1,800 metres against Davos's 78.
For a mixed group it is, if anything, better. There are 97 kilometres of blue and easier, also the most of the 15 Swiss resorts we cover, against 62.5. And the mountain will feel the same underfoot: 24 percent of its piste is steeper than one in four, against 23.
The trade is the town and some of the hard end. Our read of Arosa is gentle and sunny, a family bowl rather than a busy town. It has 14.5 kilometres of black against 20.7, though those blacks are the steepest of any Swiss resort we cover, averaging 32.4 percent against Davos's 25.8. Fewer blacks, harder ones. And there are 8.5 kilometres of marked itinerary against 13.3.
Sestriere: if it is the height and the snow, in a new country
- VillageVillage
- 2,035 m
- Highest liftTop lift
- 2,840 m
- Linked areaLinked
- 305 km
Sestriere: 160 km of piste we measure. 50 km blue and easier 31%92 km red 58%18 km black 11%
Plus 11 km of marked off piste itinerary, kept out of the piste total.
If what Davos gives you is snow you do not have to think about, Sestriere gives you more of it, in Italy. Of the Italian resorts we cover, our matching puts it closest to Davos, and it keeps the one trait we tag Davos with: modern. Our read of it is high and practical, a purpose built resort on the Via Lattea, the Milky Way.
The height is all in the base. The village is at 2,035 metres, the fourth highest of the 55 resorts we cover and 475 above Davos. Ninety one percent of the piste we measure is at or above 1,800 metres, against 78. Yet the top is no higher: the skiing reaches 2,788 metres by our measurement, 20 below Davos's.
The ski area joins up, with a catch. The Via Lattea is sold as 400 kilometres, but Montgenèvre, over the border in France, needs the International pass, so on the standard pass you ski roughly 305. That is our own subtraction, because no source publishes an Italy only figure. Around Sestriere itself we measure 160 kilometres, the most of the 10 Italian resorts we cover, against Davos's 145. It also has the most black, 17.9 kilometres, and the most marked itinerary, 10.8, of the Italian resorts we cover.
The trade is the town, and the shape of the skiing. Sestriere is a resort built for skiing, not a town that happens to have it, and the airport is Turin. It is also steeper overall: 30 percent of its piste is steeper than one in four, against 23, and its blacks average 30.1 percent against 25.8. Yet its blues average just 12.0 percent, the second gentlest blues of the 55, against Davos's 16.2. The easy runs are easier and the steep share is higher, with less in the middle. That suits a group split between nervous beginners and strong skiers better than it suits one that cruises together.
Ischgl: if it is the black, with more bite
- VillageVillage
- 1,377 m
- Highest liftTop lift
- 2,872 m
Ischgl: 152 km of piste we measure. 43 km blue and easier 28%83 km red 54%27 km black 18%
Plus 11 km of marked off piste itinerary, kept out of the piste total.
If the strong skiers in your group spend the week on the blacks, and the Jakobshorn's livelier evenings are part of the appeal, Ischgl is the Austrian step up. It has 26.8 kilometres of black, the fifth most of the 55 resorts we cover, against Davos's 20.7, and 34 percent of its piste is steeper than one in four, against 23. Our read of it is high energy and snowy, with nightlife at the top of its list.
It is snowier, too. Ninety percent of the piste we measure is at or above 1,800 metres, against 78, and the skiing reaches 2,868 metres, 60 above Davos's top. The season runs from late November to May, longer at both ends than Davos's December to April. The village is lower, at 1,377 metres, 183 below Davos.
On size it is a close match. We measure 152 kilometres of piste around Ischgl against 145 around Davos; its area is not classified in our data, so that measured figure is the one to go by. There are 10.6 kilometres of marked itinerary against 13.3. And one detail worth knowing: its reds average 20.7 percent, exactly the same as Davos's. Austrian grades usually run harder than Swiss ones, but the middle of this mountain will feel like home.
The trade is the easy skiing and the quiet nights. Ischgl has 42.6 kilometres of blue and easier against Davos's 62.5, so a beginner in the group has less room. And it is lively where Davos is busy. If your evenings are a quiet dinner, it is the wrong village.
So, which one
you love Davos for the amount of skiing and want it joined up, and you can give up the town and some of the black.
snow is the worry and you fancy a new country, and a resort built for skiing does not put you off.
the week is spent on the blacks and the evenings out, and nobody in the group needs much easy piste.
It is the closest match to Davos we measure anywhere, you fly to the same airport, its village is 240 metres higher, and it gives you more than twice the skiing you can reach from Davos without a bus. What you give up is the town.