Love Verbier? Where to go next, depending on what you love about it

If what brings you back is the skiing away from the marked runs, Chamonix gives you more of it. It has 44 kilometres of marked itinerary against Verbier's 26, more than any resort we cover outside the Arlberg. And its pistes are a different animal: 39 percent is steeper than one in four, about double Verbier's share. That is measured average gradient, which compares fairly across a border where grade labels do not, and a run's grade is set by its steepest pitch rather than its average. But a gap that size is not a rounding error.

The trade is the village. Chamonix sits at 1,035 metres, 465 below Verbier, and it is a real working town under Mont Blanc rather than a scene. Ignore the 3,842 metres you will see quoted as its top. That is the Aiguille du Midi, a mountaineering cable car, not the top of the piste skiing.

Val d'Isère is the closest thing we cover to Verbier's mix of a big night and big skiing. We class both as lively, and both as places for strong skiers. It is upmarket, it stays up late, and it gives you more of nearly everything.

The village sits at 1,850 metres, 350 higher than Verbier's, and the lifts reach 3,456. Espace Killy, which it shares with Tignes, is 300 kilometres. It has 29 kilometres of marked itinerary, slightly more than Verbier, and the season runs from late November to early May, longer at both ends than Verbier's December to April.

What you trade is the gentle cruising. Twenty nine percent of Val d'Isère's piste is steeper than one in four, against Verbier's 19, and its blues average 16.9 percent against Verbier's 11.5. The same caveat applies: this is average gradient, measured the same way on both sides of the border. It also has twice the black, 22 kilometres against 11. For the strong skiers in a Verbier group that is a gain. For anyone who loves Verbier for its long, easy blues, it is the thing they will notice first.

This is the route most Verbier regulars would not pick, and the one the numbers point to most clearly. If what you actually ski at Verbier, day to day, is long and forgiving piste, Les Arcs is the closest match we measure. It is the only other resort we cover with as much gentle piste: 48 percent gentler than 15 percent, exactly Verbier's share. Its blues average 12.6 percent, the third gentlest of the 55 after Verbier and Sestriere.

And it is bigger, with a higher village. Les Arcs is part of Paradiski, 425 kilometres shared with La Plagne. The village sits at 1,600 metres, against Verbier's 1,500, though its lifts top out a little lower, at 3,226.

The trade is everything else Verbier is famous for. Les Arcs is modern and easy, built for doorstep skiing and families rather than late nights, and it has 1.7 kilometres of marked itinerary. Go for the skiing you actually do, not the skiing you talk about afterwards.

Of all 55 resorts we cover, Crans-Montana is the closest overall match to Verbier on our numbers. Its village sits at the same 1,500 metres, its lifts reach 3,000, and 22 percent of its piste is steeper than one in four, close to Verbier's 19. It is sunny and smart, on a plateau with wide views over the Rhône.

The resort's 140 kilometres is one of the cleanest figures we hold, with three independent sources agreeing to the kilometre. Our own measurement of its graded runs comes to 85, so on the same ruler it is a little smaller than Verbier's 97.

What you trade is the scene and the off piste. Crans-Montana is a family resort rather than a party, with 3 kilometres of marked itinerary. Choose it if you love Verbier's height and its Swiss setting and could do without the rest.