Love Megève? Where to go next for the manners, the easy miles or more height

Klosters is discreet and pretty, the quieter neighbour to Davos, and we class it the way we class Megève on two counts out of three: upmarket and quiet. It is the kind of place that does not announce its money.

It fixes the height in an unusual way. The village is barely higher than Megève's, 1,191 metres against 1,113, only 78 metres in it. But the skiing climbs to 2,808 metres by our measurement, and 69 percent of the piste we measure is at or above 1,800, against Megève's 15. On our measure that makes Klosters snow sure, and Megève not.

The skiing is gentle in a way the colours hide. Most of Klosters is graded red, and only 24 kilometres is blue and easier. But its reds average 17.1 percent, the gentlest reds of any resort we cover and barely steeper than Megève's blues at 16.3. Its blacks, at 21.1 percent, are the one set of blacks gentler than Megève's. Only 15 percent of the piste is steeper than one in four, against Megève's 20. Swiss grading runs kinder than French, so trust the gradients over the colours, with the usual caveat that they are averages and a run's grade is set by its steepest pitch.

The trade is size. We measure 97 kilometres of piste around Klosters, about half Megève's 189, and the black halves with it, 12 kilometres against 23. The Davos Klosters pass covers six separate mountains. Only Parsenn, reached from the village by the Gotschna cable car, is shared with Davos; Klosters's other hill is Madrisa, and the rest need a train, bus or car. You fly to Zurich rather than Geneva.

But Gstaad does not fix the snow. The village is at 1,050 metres, and exactly as at Megève, 15 percent of its piste is at or above 1,800. Ignore the 3,000 metres you will see as its top. That is Glacier 3000, a separate area, and the skiing around the village tops out at 2,149 by our measurement. The pass spreads across around nine sectors, most reached by train, bus or car. Choose Gstaad for the valley and the company, not as the answer to a thin winter.

On our numbers, the resort closest to Megève overall is not in Switzerland. It is Serre Chevalier, in the southern French Alps, the closest match we measure anywhere. There is plenty a Megève family would recognise: a big spread of easy skiing, a relaxed and sunny mood, a name for tree skiing, and a string of old villages rather than a purpose built station.

The skiing carries over well. We measure 153 kilometres around Serre Chevalier, against Megève's 189, and 91 kilometres of it is green or blue, the tenth most of the 55. There is more green than at Megève, 41 kilometres against 35, and 38 percent of the piste is gentler than 15 percent, against your 32.

Then the height. The village is at 1,350 metres, 237 above Megève's, and the skiing reaches 2,751 by our measurement. Seventy two percent of the piste we measure is at or above 1,800 metres, against Megève's 15, which on our measure makes it snow sure.

The trade is the polish, and a little of the gentleness. We class Serre Chevalier as quiet, as Megève is, but not as upmarket or traditional, and it is known for value rather than fine dining. The pistes are steeper: 27 percent of them steeper than one in four, against 20, with reds averaging 24.9 percent against your 23.1. The black thins too, 17 kilometres against 23. And you fly to Turin or Grenoble rather than Geneva.

If the best of a Megève week is the cruising, long and unhurried with somewhere good to stop, Val Gardena does it higher up and with far more skiing linked by lift around it. It is a classic Dolomite valley, scenic and traditional, known for its woodcarving, and it sits on the Sellaronda.

By measured gradient it is one of the gentlest places we cover. Only 13 percent of its piste is steeper than one in four, the second smallest share of the 55, against Megève's 20, and 40 percent is gentler than 15 percent, the joint fourth largest share of the 55. The colours will mislead you. Most of Val Gardena is graded red, and only 42 kilometres is blue and easier, but its reds average 17.3 percent, close to a Megève blue at 16.3. Italian grading runs kinder than French, so read the gradients rather than the colours, remembering they are averages.

The height comes with it. The village is at 1,563 metres, 450 above Megève's, the top of the lifts is 2,731 metres, and 66 percent of the piste we measure is at or above 1,800. The highest piste we measure is 2,480, still above Megève's 2,402. We measure 145 kilometres around the village, and the valley's own sector is quoted at 175. From a base on the Sellaronda, around 500 kilometres is reachable by lift, though that is our own approximate sum rather than a published figure. The 1,200 kilometres on the Dolomiti Superski pass is a different thing: twelve areas, and only four of them are joined.

What you trade is France and the manners. We class Val Gardena as traditional, as Megève is, but not as upmarket or quiet. There is less black, 16 kilometres against 23, and the airports are Innsbruck or Verona.