Arosa or Sestriere: more of it easy, or more of it high?

Altitude: Sestriere is higher at the door, Arosa at the very top

Sestriere's village is at 2,035 metres, the fourth highest of the 55 resorts we cover and 235 above Arosa's 1,800. Yet Arosa's skiing goes higher, to 2,848 metres on our measure against 2,788 at Sestriere.

In the middle of the mountain, Sestriere is well ahead. Both are snow sure on our measure. At Sestriere, 91 percent of the piste we measure is at or above 1,800 metres, up to 2,788, the ninth biggest share of the 55 resorts we cover. At Arosa it is 65 percent, up to 2,848. Above 2,000 metres the gap is wider still, 75 percent against 38, and half of Sestriere's piste sits above 2,154 metres, against 1,922 at Arosa.

Nobody can promise snow, but Sestriere has far more of its skiing well above the line.

Size: Sestriere is sold bigger, Arosa measures bigger

Arosa Lenzerheide is 225 kilometres, one domain joined by a single cable car, and three sources agree on that figure exactly.

The Via Lattea is sold as 400 kilometres, and that needs care. It is a long standing marketing figure, and it counts Montgenèvre, which needs the International pass. The standard Vialattea pass covers the Italian lifts only, roughly 305 kilometres. That is our own subtraction, since no source publishes an Italy only figure, and it is linked by lift.

Around the villages, our own measurement puts Arosa ahead: 183 kilometres of piste, the most of the 15 Swiss resorts we cover, against 160 at Sestriere, the most of the 10 Italian resorts we cover. That is 23 kilometres in Arosa's favour. So Sestriere has the bigger area on paper, and Arosa has more skiing around the village.

The skiing: the same gentle share, a different middle

Switzerland and Italy grade differently, so compare measured shares, not colours. At the gentle end the two look level, with 35 percent of the piste gentler than 15 percent at each. What differs is how much easy skiing there is. Arosa has 97 kilometres of blue and easier, the most of the 15 Swiss resorts we cover, against 50 at Sestriere. Sestriere's blues are the softer, averaging 12.0 percent, the second gentlest of the 55 resorts we cover, against 15.4 at Arosa. These are averages per run segment, and a run's grade is set by its steepest pitch, so read them as the feel of the week, not a verdict on any one run.

Who each one actually suits

Arosa suits families. It is the trait we tag it with, families come first on its list of what it does best, ahead of sunshine and snow sure, and our read is gentle and sunny. With 97 kilometres of blue and easier, a family with improvers has room to spread out all week. A strong skier gets a few steep blacks and Freeride Praden, a marked itinerary that drops 745 metres in 2.2 kilometres.

Sestriere suits a group happy to ski mostly red. Our read is high and practical, it is purpose built and modern, and its list is snow sure, a big area and value. Keen intermediates get a lot of red on a joined up area, stronger skiers get more steep piste and more itinerary, and a beginner gets some of the gentlest blues we measure, though fewer kilometres of them than at Arosa. You fly to Turin.

The bit nobody tells you

Sestriere is the higher resort, but Arosa is the taller mountain. Sestriere's village sits 235 metres above Arosa's, yet its skiing stops lower, so from the village to the top of the skiing there are 753 metres at Sestriere and 1,048 at Arosa. The longest single piste we measure at Arosa is a 4.3 kilometre red with 808 metres of vertical. Sestriere's longest, Pattemouche, is a 3.0 kilometre red with 472.

Map data can split one run into several pieces, so take the longest run figures as a guide. But the pattern is plain. Sestriere keeps its skiing in a high, compact band, which is how so much of it sits above 1,800 metres. Arosa spreads its skiing over more height, so its longest runs are longer and drop further. For a group that likes to cruise long reds, that matters as much as the snow figures.