Love Sestriere? Where to go next for the height, the steep or the easy runs
The Ski Snug teamUpdated 12 October 20268 min read
Sestriere is a purpose built high resort on the Milky Way, the Via Lattea, and people go back for the same few reasons. The village sits at 2,035 metres, the fourth highest of the 55 resorts we cover. Around it we measure 160 kilometres of piste, more than at any other Italian resort we cover. It is snow sure on our measure, value is on its list, and our read of it is high, practical and modern.
But "somewhere like Sestriere" means different things to different skiers. For some it is the height and the snow, for some the whole package in a new country, for the strong skier the steep side of the mountain, and for a family the value and the kind blues. Each route keeps one of those, and each one costs you something.
Sestriere, measured
Start with the snow, the first thing on its list. Ninety one percent of the piste we measure is at or above 1,800 metres and the skiing reaches 2,788, so on our measure Sestriere is snow sure. Three quarters of the piste is above 2,000 metres, and the lowest run we measure finishes at 1,397. Nobody can promise snow, but very little of this mountain is low.
The size needs one caution. The Via Lattea's 400 kilometres is a long standing marketing figure that counts Montgenèvre, which needs the International pass. The standard pass gives you roughly 305, our own subtraction, since nobody publishes an Italian figure.
Then the shape, which is the part people misjudge. The piste map is mostly red, 58 percent in the Italian grading, but measured, Sestriere has more at both ends than the colours suggest. Thirty percent of the piste is steeper than one in four, against 26 at the median resort we cover. Yet 35 percent is gentler than 15 percent, and the blues average just 12.0 percent, the second gentlest of the 55 resorts we cover, against an Italian blue average of 14.4. That is average gradient per run segment, and a run's grade is set by its steepest pitch, but the pattern is plain: soft blues, a real steep end, and a lot of honest red in between. The longest run we measure is Pattemouche, a 3 kilometre red with 472 metres of vertical. What the easy end lacks is length: 50 kilometres of blue and easier is enough to build confidence on, not a week of nothing else.
So "somewhere like Sestriere" means a high base, a big area, and a mountain kind at one end and steep at the other. No route keeps all of it.
Tignes: if it is the height and the snow
- VillageVillage
- 2,100 m
- Highest liftTop lift
- 3,456 m
- Linked areaLinked
- 300 km
Tignes: 130 km of piste we measure. 76 km green and blue 58%34 km red 26%21 km black 16%
Plus 14 km of marked off piste itinerary, kept out of the piste total.
Of the French resorts we cover, our matching puts Tignes closest to Sestriere, and on paper they read almost the same. Our word for Tignes is practical and high; for Sestriere, high and practical. Both are modern and built for skiing, and both list snow and value.
At the door they are level, near enough: Tignes's village is at 2,100 metres, the second highest of the 55 resorts we cover and 65 above yours. Above the door they part. Tignes's skiing reaches 3,449 metres on our measurement, the highest of the 17 French resorts we cover and 661 above your top. Ninety four percent of its piste is above 2,000 metres, against 75, and the season runs from late November to early May. Espace Killy, shared with Val d'Isère, is 300 kilometres, a figure we have checked against our own measurement.
The trade is the flight, some skiing near the door, and the blues. You fly to Geneva, not Turin. We measure 130 kilometres around the village, 30 fewer than around Sestriere. And its blues average 17.6 percent, the seventh steepest of the 55 resorts we cover, so someone raised on Sestriere's blues will notice the step. There is more easy ground, though, 76 kilometres of green and blue against your 50, and the hard end is close: 20.5 kilometres of black against 17.9, and 14.2 of marked itinerary against 10.8.
Arosa: if it is the whole package, in Switzerland
- 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 Sestriere than Arosa. It is a gentle, sunny bowl joined to Lenzerheide by a single cable car into one area of 225 kilometres, and three sources agree on that figure. The share of gentle piste carries over exactly, 35 percent at both.
It is snow sure on our measure, and higher at the top than you might guess. The village is at 1,800 metres, the joint ninth highest of the 55 resorts we cover and 235 below yours, but the skiing reaches 2,848 metres by our measurement, 60 above your top. Where it gives height away is the middle: 65 percent of the piste is above 1,800 metres, against 91.
Around Arosa we measure 183 kilometres, the most of the 15 Swiss resorts we cover and 23 more than around Sestriere, with 97 kilometres of blue and easier, nearly twice your 50. The blues are steeper, though, at 15.4 percent against 12.0: more distance, less softness.
The trade is the steep end and the mood. Twenty four percent of Arosa's piste is steeper than one in four, against 30. Its 14.5 kilometres of black, against 17.9, average 32.4 percent, the steepest blacks of any Swiss resort we cover: fewer, and harder. On paper the area is smaller than the Italian Via Lattea. And Arosa is a family resort rather than a modern one, a high base too, with a softer feel. You fly to Zurich.
Ischgl: if it is the snow and the steep, in Austria
- 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 what you love is skiing a high, snowy mountain hard all week, Ischgl keeps the snow and adds bite. Ninety percent of its piste is at or above 1,800 metres, the tenth biggest share of the 55 resorts we cover, one place behind yours. Higher up it pulls ahead: 67 percent of the piste we measure is above 2,200 metres, against your 42, and the skiing reaches 2,868 metres, 80 above your top. It is snow sure on our measure, and the season runs from late November to May.
The steep end is bigger. Thirty four percent of the piste is steeper than one in four, against your 30, and there are 26.8 kilometres of black, the fifth most of the 55 resorts we cover, against 17.9. Marked itinerary is level, 10.6 kilometres against 10.8, and we measure 152 kilometres of piste around the village against your 160. Its area is not classified in our data, so go by that.
The trade is the base and the mood. The village is at 1,377 metres, 658 below yours, so the height is on the hill rather than at the door. The blues average 15.8 percent against 12.0, with 42.6 kilometres of blue and easier against 50, so a beginner has less room. And our read of Ischgl is high energy, nightlife first, where Sestriere is high and practical. Book it for the skiing and the evenings come with it. You fly to Innsbruck or Zurich.
La Plagne: if it is the value, with room for beginners
- 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%
For a family that loves Sestriere's height and value but runs short of easy piste, La Plagne is the French answer. Families, value and beginners are what it does best by our list, it is modern like Sestriere, and the steep share carries over: 27 percent of its piste is steeper than one in four, against your 30.
The easy end is far bigger. We measure 128 kilometres of green and blue, the fifth most of the 55 resorts we cover and more than two and a half times your 50 of blue and easier, in 202.5 kilometres of piste around the village. Paradiski, which it sits in, is 425 kilometres, a figure we have checked against our own measurement. The geometry is neat: the village we put at 1,800 metres is 235 below yours, and the skiing tops out at 3,022 metres, measured, 234 above. With 80 percent of the piste above 1,800 metres, it is snow sure on our measure too.
The trade is the kindest blues and the off piste. La Plagne's blues average 15.5 percent against 12.0: far more of them, not as soft. There are 3 kilometres of marked itinerary against your 10.8. And its 28 kilometres of black, the fourth most of the 55 resorts we cover, are gentler than they sound, averaging 25.5 percent against your 30.1. You fly to Geneva or Chambéry.
So, which one
the snow is the reason you go, you want a higher top and a longer season, and a Geneva flight and steeper blues do not bother you.
you want Sestriere's gentle share and a high base in a new country, with nearly twice the easy kilometres, and can give up some of the steep.
the strong skiers decide where you go, the snow has to be high, and a livelier village suits the group.
you have beginners or young children, you want far more easy piste, and the itinerary was never the point.
It asks you to change the least: the same practical, modern feel in a resort built for skiing, a village 65 metres higher, and far more of the mountain high up. What you give up is the Turin flight, a little of the skiing near the door, and the softness of those Italian blues.