Love Schladming? Where to go next for the snow, the same gentle skiing or more of it
The Ski Snug teamUpdated 12 October 20268 min read
Schladming is the easy, friendly week. A down to earth valley town, four mountains joined end to end without a bus, and a list of what it does best that reads like a family's wish list: night skiing under floodlights, families, and value. People go back because everyone in the group can ski the same mountain, and a larger share of its piste is gentle than at any other Austrian resort we cover.
The one thing it cannot give you is height. So the right next trip depends on what you would keep. Some want the same gentle skiing with snow under it. Some want the same mountain in a new country. Some just want more of it. And one answer is our matching's closest to Schladming, anywhere.
Schladming, measured
It is gentle at both ends. Thirty nine percent of the piste we measure is gentler than 15 percent, the largest share of any Austrian resort we cover and joint seventh of the 55 we cover. The blues average 13.0 percent against an Austrian average of 16.4, and the blacks 25.0 percent, the gentlest of the 13 Austrian resorts we cover, against an Austrian black at 30.3. That is average gradient per run segment, and a run's grade is set by its steepest pitch, but it is why a nervous skier and a confident one can share the same lifts all week.
The reds are the exception. They average 24.4 percent, a shade steeper than a typical Austrian red at 23.4, and there are 62 kilometres of them, 46 percent of the piste. That is where the improvers in your group will find their week gets harder, and where the confident ones will find it gets interesting.
The linked area is the 123, not the pass. The Ski amadé pass covers 760 kilometres in five regions, but they are not all joined, and Schladming's four mountains are a separate domain. From the town you ski 123 kilometres without a bus. We measure 134 kilometres of piste around it.
And it is low. The town sits at 745 metres and the skiing stops at 2,001, measured, both the fourth lowest of the 55 resorts we cover. Only 7 percent of the piste is at or above 1,800 metres, the third smallest share of the 55 we cover. It is not snow sure on our measure.
Our matching's closest Austrian resort is Mayrhofen, which skis far higher, with 55 percent of its piste at or above 1,800 metres. But it is a red mountain, with 28.5 kilometres of blue and easier against Schladming's 59, so a family swaps one worry for another.
La Plagne: if it is the same gentle mountain, much higher up
- VillageVillage
- 1,800 m
- Highest liftTop lift
- 3,250 m
- Linked areaLinked
- 425 km
La Plagne: 203 km of piste we measure. 128 km green and blue 63%47 km red 23%28 km black 14%
La Plagne is Schladming's shape at altitude, and the match is closer than it has any right to be. Thirty nine percent of its piste is gentler than 15 percent, exactly Schladming's share and the same joint seventh of the 55 we cover. Twenty seven percent is steeper than one in four, again exactly Schladming's. Its blacks average 25.5 percent against your 25.0. Families, value and beginners make up its list of what it does best, and we class it as a family resort.
Then it moves the whole thing up the mountain. Our figure for the village is 1,800 metres, 1,055 above Schladming's, and the skiing reaches 3,022 metres, measured, 1,021 higher. Eighty percent of the piste we measure is at or above 1,800 metres, against your 7, so it is snow sure on our measure.
And there is more of it. Paradiski, which La Plagne shares with Les Arcs, is 425 kilometres, and around La Plagne alone we measure 202.5, the fifth most of the 55 resorts we cover and 69 more than around Schladming. There are 128 kilometres of green and blue, against your 59 of blue and easier, and 28 kilometres of black, the fourth most of the 55 we cover, against your 12.9. The blues are a little steeper, averaging 15.5 percent against 13.0, and French and Austrian colours are best compared by those measured shares.
The trade is the town. We class La Plagne as modern, practical and friendly rather than a valley town, the nearest airports are Geneva or Chambéry, and night skiing is on Schladming's list, not La Plagne's.
Adelboden: if it is the same mix of runs, in Switzerland
- VillageVillage
- 1,350 m
- Highest liftTop lift
- 2,362 m
- Linked areaLinked
- 85 km
Adelboden: 115 km of piste we measure. 52 km blue and easier 46%49 km red 43%13 km black 11%
If you love Schladming for the skiing itself, Adelboden is our matching's closest in Switzerland, and on the piste map it is almost a copy. It has 12.9 kilometres of black, the same figure exactly. Thirty eight percent of its piste is gentler than 15 percent, against your 39, and 25 percent is steeper than one in four, against 27. Its blues average 14.5 percent and its blacks 26.1, close to your 13.0 and 25.0. Swiss grades run kinder than Austrian ones on average, so the shares are the fair test, and they say the week will feel much the same.
It even shares Schladming's quirk with lift passes. The Adelboden pass covers 188 kilometres in five sectors that are not all joined; from the village you ski 85 of them without transport, Lenk included. We measure 114.6 kilometres around it, 19 fewer than around Schladming.
What it adds is height. The village is at 1,350 metres, 605 above Schladming's, and 55 percent of its piste is at or above 1,800 metres, against your 7. The skiing tops out at 2,356, measured, 355 higher, which is still short of the 2,500 metres our snow sure test asks for, so we do not call it snow sure.
The trade is a little size and the country. We class Adelboden as traditional and family, warm by our read, and its list of what it does best is traditional, families and the World Cup. The nearest airports are Zurich or Geneva.
Samoëns is our matching's closest to Schladming, anywhere, and it keeps the low village and the family feel together. The village is at 720 metres, just 25 below Schladming's. We class it as family, traditional and quiet, authentic and calm by our read, and families and value are both on its list, next to the historic village.
The skiing is gentler still. Forty percent of the piste is gentler than 15 percent, joint fourth of the 55 resorts we cover, and only 19 percent is steeper than one in four, the smallest share of the 17 French resorts we cover, against your 27. The reds average 19.9 percent, the gentlest of the 17 French resorts we cover, against your 24.4. If Schladming's reds are the one part of the week your group finds hard, they will not find it here. Green is reliably mapped at Samoëns, so its easy figure is green and blue: 48 kilometres.
It also goes a little higher. The skiing reaches 2,372 metres, measured, 371 above Schladming's, and 18 percent of the piste is at or above 1,800 metres, against your 7. Better, not snow sure. The longest piste we measure there is a 6.3 kilometre red with 867 metres of vertical.
The trade is the size around the village. We measure 89.5 kilometres, 44 fewer than Schladming's 134, and the Grand Massif's total is not one we have classified. The nearest airport is Geneva.
SkiWelt: if it is the size and the easy miles, still in Austria
- VillageVillage
- 620 m
- Highest liftTop lift
- 1,957 m
SkiWelt: 258 km of piste we measure. 133 km blue and easier 51%106 km red 41%20 km black 8%
Plus 11 km of marked off piste itinerary, kept out of the piste total.
If the only complaint about Schladming is that you ski all of it by Thursday, the SkiWelt is the bigger Austrian version. We measure 258 kilometres of piste there, the third most of the 55 resorts we cover, the most of the 13 Austrian ones, against Schladming's 134. There are 133 kilometres of blue and easier, against your 59, and only 24 percent of the piste is steeper than one in four, the smallest share of any Austrian resort we cover. The longest piste we measure is a 4.3 kilometre blue with 639 metres of vertical.
It keeps the feel too. We class it as family and traditional, friendly by our read, and its list of what it does best is a big area, value and families. For the strong skiers there are 20 kilometres of black against 12.9, and 10.8 kilometres of marked itinerary against your 2.0.
The trade is the one thing Schladming was already short of. The SkiWelt has the lowest village and the lowest top of the 55 resorts we cover: 620 metres, 125 below Schladming's, and 1,958, measured, 43 lower. Almost none of its piste reaches 1,800 metres.
So, which one
you want Schladming's gentle mountain, almost to the percentage point, with the snow far higher, a much bigger area, and you can do without the valley town and the floodlights.
you want the same mix of runs in a new country with more height under the village, and a little less mileage does not matter.
it is the low, family valley you love and you want it gentler still, with a little more height and less to ski.
your group outgrows Schladming by midweek and the height does not worry you.
It is the only route that keeps the gentle shape of the skiing and is snow sure on our measure at the same time: 80 percent of the piste at or above 1,800 metres against 7, up to 3,022 metres, on an area of 425 kilometres against your 123. You give up the town and the night skiing, and for a family worried about the snow that is the right trade.