Love Engelberg? Where to go next for the steep, the freeride or the long season

Argentière is the serious skier's corner of the Chamonix valley, low key and serious by our read, with experts and off piste first on its list. We class it as expert and quiet, and its season is the same December to May.

Then it turns everything up. Fifty nine percent of its piste is steeper than one in four, the biggest share of all 55 resorts we cover and nearly twice Engelberg's 31. Its reds average 28.9 percent, the second steepest of the 55, against 24.0 at Engelberg and 24.3 for a typical French red. Even the blues, at 18.4 percent, are the third steepest of the 55. There are 14.7 kilometres of black against 4.5, more than three times as much, and 9.0 kilometres of marked itinerary against 1.8. The split is the most even of the 55: 30 percent easy, 37 red and 33 black.

It goes higher, too. The village is at 1,252 metres, 252 above Engelberg's, and the skiing reaches 3,222 metres by our measure, 218 higher, with 2,163 metres from the top of the piste to the bottom. Eighty three percent of the piste we measure is at or above 1,800 metres, against 53, so on our measure it is snow sure. One caution: the top of the piste we measure sits above the highest lift in our map, at 2,757 metres, and the call leans on it.

The trade is the easy ground. Only 17 percent of Argentière's piste is gentler than 15 percent, the second smallest share of the 55 we cover, against Engelberg's 38, so the gentle blues a mixed group leans on have no real equivalent here. It is no bigger, either: we measure 44 kilometres of piste, and only one of the 55 has less. Its ski area is not yet classified in our data, so we quote no size. And you fly to Geneva rather than Zurich.

You fly to Zurich for Andermatt too, and it keeps the expert label we give Engelberg. Our one line is a snowy sleeper resort in the middle of Switzerland; our read is reborn and snowy, with off piste, snowfall and up and coming on its list.

What it adds is marked off piste. Andermatt has 21 kilometres of marked itinerary, against Engelberg's 1.8, and its longest, the Guspis-Route, runs 5.5 kilometres with 1,170 metres of descent. It is not the Laub, but it is a great deal more off piste with a marker on it.

It keeps more of its piste up high. The village is at 1,444 metres, 444 above Engelberg's, and 76 percent of the piste we measure is at or above 1,800 metres, against 53, up to 2,922 metres: snow sure on our measure, with room to spare. The area is one linked domain of 180 kilometres including Disentis, though the Gemsstock sits outside it, and we measure 61 kilometres around the village, against 46.

The trade is the drop and the season. From the top of the piste we measure to the bottom is 1,488 metres, against 1,997; the top is 82 metres lower, and the season ends in April. It is a shade less steep, too: 27 percent of the piste is steeper than one in four, the second most of the 15 Swiss resorts we cover, behind Engelberg's 31, and the reds average 22.0 percent against your 24.0.

If what you love is skiing high and late, Sölden has more of it. Our one line is two glaciers and a serious top height. The skiing reaches 3,306 metres by our measure, the highest of the 13 Austrian resorts we cover and fifth of the 55, 302 above Engelberg's, and the season runs from late November to May, starting earlier and finishing as late. Eighty nine percent of the piste we measure is at or above 1,800 metres, against 53, so it is snow sure on our measure.

It is a far bigger week on the piste. We measure 135 kilometres around Sölden, nearly three times Engelberg's 46; its area is not classified in our data, so that is the figure to plan on. There are 19 kilometres of black against 4.5, the steep share is nearly level, 30 percent against 31, and the reds average 23.7 percent against your 24.0, so the stiff reds come with you. The gentle blues do not: they average 17.3 percent against 13.2, and 26 percent of the piste is gentler than 15 percent, against 38.

The trade is the off piste and the mood. Sölden has no marked itinerary at all in our data, and nightlife sits on its list of what it does best. Our read is sporty and lively, where Engelberg is down to earth. The village is at 1,368 metres, 368 above yours, and you fly to Innsbruck.

Our matching puts Courmayeur closer to Engelberg than any other resort we cover. It is the Italian side of Mont Blanc, made for lunch by our one line, chic and welcoming by our read, with off piste on its list. We class it as expert, as we do Engelberg, and upmarket, which we do not.

On the mountain the match is close. Thirty two percent of its piste is steeper than one in four, against 31. Its reds average 24.3 percent, the steepest of the 10 Italian resorts we cover, where a typical Italian red is 20.4, so the stiff reds travel. Its blacks average 36.4 percent, the fourth steepest of the 55. And it is small on piste in the same way: we measure 42 kilometres, the least of the 55 resorts we cover. The resort's own 100 kilometres is, in its own wording, groomed slopes and off piste. More of it sits high, too: 72 percent of the piste we measure is at or above 1,800 metres, against 53, snow sure on our measure, up to 2,715 metres.

The trade is the top and the end of the season. The skiing stops 289 metres lower than Engelberg's, and the season ends in April. What you gain is the lunch, and for some groups that settles it.