Love the SkiWelt? Where to go next for the easy miles, the village or the snow
The Ski Snug teamUpdated 12 October 20267 min read
The SkiWelt is the week families book for the miles. Our own line on it is one of the largest linked areas, gentle and great value, and big area, value and families are the three things on our list of what it does best. It is traditional and friendly by our read, and you fly to Innsbruck or Salzburg.
What you would replace depends on who is asking. Parents want the easy cruising and the space. Some people mostly love the traditional feel. And sooner or later nearly everyone wants more snow under them, because on our measure the SkiWelt is the lowest resort we cover, at the village and at the top. Every route on this page climbs.
The SkiWelt, measured
It is enormous, on our own measure. We have not classified the quoted size of the area yet, so we go by the run geometry: 258 kilometres of piste, the third most of the 55 resorts we cover. Just over half of it, 133 kilometres, is blue or easier. The longest run we measure is a 4.3 kilometre blue with 639 metres of vertical, which tells you what kind of skiing this is.
And it is gentle, not just blue. Only 24 percent of the piste is steeper than one in four, the smallest share of the 13 Austrian resorts we cover, against 26 at a typical resort. Its blues average 15.6 percent, its reds 22.0 and its blacks 28.5, each one gentler than the Austrian average for its colour (16.4, 23.4 and 30.3). Those are average gradients per run segment, and a run's grade is set by its steepest pitch, but every one of them points the same way. There is still 20 kilometres of black, and 10.8 of marked itinerary, for the strong skier in the family.
What it cannot give you is height. The village is at 620 metres and the skiing tops out at 1,958, measured, both the lowest of the 55 resorts we cover. Half the piste sits below 1,283 metres, and almost none of it reaches 1,800. It is not snow sure on our measure, and nobody can promise snow anywhere, but this is the one thing to think about before you book a late or early week.
Our matching puts Schladming closest to the SkiWelt of all the resorts we cover: another friendly Austrian family area, with families and value on its list too. It sits barely higher: a village at 745 metres, skiing to 2,001 and 7 percent of its piste at or above 1,800. That swaps one valley for another without adding much snow, so the routes here all cross a border.
La Plagne: if it is the big easy area, with snow under it
- 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%
If what you love is a huge, gentle area where the whole family can roam, La Plagne is the same idea built far higher. Families, value and beginners are the three things on our list for it, and our one line is a big, gentle area that families love. That is the SkiWelt's crowd, almost word for word.
The skiing carries over. We measure 202.5 kilometres of piste around La Plagne, 56 fewer than around the SkiWelt and still the fifth most of the 55. There are 127.9 kilometres of green and blue, within 5 of your 133 of blue and easier, and 39 percent of the piste is gentler than 15 percent, against your 34. Paradiski, the area it sits in, is 425 kilometres.
The snow is the change. Our figure for the village is 1,800 metres, 1,180 above yours. The skiing reaches 3,022 metres, measured, 1,064 higher, and 80 percent of the piste is at or above 1,800 metres. Snow sure on our measure, where the SkiWelt has almost nothing at that height.
The trade is the feel and a little gradient. La Plagne is practical and friendly by our read, and we class it as modern rather than traditional. It is a touch steeper, 27 percent of the piste steeper than one in four against your 24, and there is more of the hard end, 28 kilometres of black, the fourth most of the 55, against your 20.
Châtel: if it is the traditional village, on a bigger circuit
- VillageVillage
- 1,200 m
- Highest liftTop lift
- 2,200 m
- Linked areaLinked
- 580 km
Châtel: 82 km of piste we measure. 45 km green and blue 55%31 km red 38%5 km black 7%
If what keeps you going back is the feel of the place, Châtel carries it over more closely than anywhere else on this page. We class it as traditional and family, exactly as we class the SkiWelt, and value, traditional and families are the three things on its list. Our one line is farm village character on the Swiss border, rustic and friendly by our read.
It also gives you a bigger circuit than the one you know. Châtel is one of twelve villages across two countries on the Portes du Soleil, a genuinely linked area that measures 580 kilometres. The official figure is 600; we go by the measured one. Around Châtel itself we measure 81.8 kilometres, with 45.3 of green and blue, and 35 percent of its piste is gentler than 15 percent, against your 34. The gentle character survives the move.
It is higher, but only a little. The village is at 1,200 metres, 580 above yours, and 23 percent of the piste is at or above 1,800 metres, against almost none. The skiing stops at 2,084 metres, measured, just 126 above your top. It is not snow sure on our measure. Think of it as a step up the hill, not a leap.
The trade is the hard end. Châtel has 5.4 kilometres of black, the least of the 17 French resorts we cover, against your 20, and no marked itinerary in our data, against your 10.8. A family of cruisers will not notice. A teenager who has been hunting the SkiWelt's blacks will.
Arosa: if it is the same gentle skiing, 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.
If what you love is how the SkiWelt skis, gentle all the way through, Arosa matches it on the reds and the steep share more closely than any other pick here, with a village 1,180 metres higher. Its blues average 15.4 percent against your 15.6, its reds 21.8 against 22.0, and 24 percent of its piste is steeper than one in four, exactly your share. Swiss and Austrian grades are set differently, so the measured figures are the fair comparison, and on those the two mountains are close to twins.
It is gentle and sunny by our read, a family resort with families, sunshine and snow sure skiing on its list. The village is at 1,800 metres and the skiing reaches 2,848, measured, 890 above yours. Sixty five percent of the piste is at or above 1,800 metres, so it is snow sure on our measure.
It is big for Switzerland, if not by SkiWelt standards. One cable car joins Arosa to Lenzerheide in a single domain of 225 kilometres, a figure three sources agree on exactly. Around Arosa we measure 183 kilometres, the most of the 15 Swiss resorts we cover, but 75 fewer than around the SkiWelt, with 96.6 of blue and easier against your 133.
The trade is size and the traditional tag. Arosa is a family resort but not one we class as traditional. The blacks are fewer and steeper, 14.5 kilometres averaging 32.4 percent, the steepest of the 15 Swiss resorts we cover, against your 20 at 28.5.
So, which one
you want the SkiWelt's big, gentle family week with the snow put underneath it, and can live without the traditional village.
Méribel if you want the same size of area on our measure and do not mind a steeper mountain.
the traditional, family feel is what you love and you want a bigger linked circuit, with only a modest step up in height.
you want the same gentle gradients in a new country, snow sure, and can give up nearly a third of the piste.
It is built for the same families, it has very nearly as much easy skiing, and 80 percent of its piste is at or above the 1,800 metres the SkiWelt barely reaches. What you give up is the traditional feel and some of the size, and for a family that wants snow, that is the right way round.