Used to Switzerland? The Austrian ski resorts that keep the snow, or the polish
The Ski Snug teamUpdated 12 October 20269 min read
We always go to Zermatt, or Verbier, or St Moritz. This year we fancy Austria, because everyone tells us there is more life in the evenings. But we are not giving up snow we can count on, or the long, easy reds we cruise all week. And someone said the runs in Austria are steeper.
If that is you, the short answer is Ischgl. It is snow sure on our measure, with 90 percent of the piste we measure above 1,800 metres, up to 2,868. Of the Austrian resorts that pass that test, it has the gentlest reds, within a point of the Swiss average, and its lifts even run over the border into Switzerland. What it will not give you is the calm of Zermatt or St Moritz: the evenings are what Ischgl is famous for. If the polish matters more than the snow, go to Lech.
And yes, the runs are steeper. Here is how we got there.
How we got there
We started with the snow, because that is what a Swiss week is built on. Zermatt, Verbier and St Moritz are all snow sure on our measure: more than half the piste around the village at or above 1,800 metres, and skiing that reaches 2,500 metres or higher. Of the 13 Austrian resorts we cover, four pass that test: Hintertux (96 percent of its piste at or above 1,800 metres, up to 3,239), Ischgl, Sölden and St Anton (71 percent, up to 2,799). Lech and Zürs come within 60 metres of the line at the top, and we would rather not call them either way.
Then the gradient, which is where Austria differs most from what you know. Of the four, Ischgl has the gentlest reds and Sölden the smallest share of steep piste. Hintertux has the steepest blues of the Austrian resorts we cover, and St Anton the biggest share of steep piste. Good weeks, both, but not Swiss ones.
Last, the village. Five of the 15 Swiss resorts we cover are upmarket by our own reading, Zermatt and St Moritz among them. Of the 13 Austrian resorts we cover, two are, and they are neighbours in the Arlberg: Lech and Zürs.
The numbers, with the resorts you know alongside
The Swiss resorts are on this table as your yardstick, not as options.
| Resort | Village | Top of the skiing, measured | Piste we measure around the village | At or above 1,800 m | Steeper than one in four | Average red, measured | Our read |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Zermatt | 1,620 m | 3,869 m, the lift top shared with Cervinia | 150.5 km | 99% | 12% | 17.2% | Elegant and car free |
| Verbier | 1,500 m | 3,283 m | 97 km | 84% | 19% | 20.2% | Cosmopolitan and lively |
| St Moritz | 1,822 m | 3,266 m | 106 km | 97% | 24% | 21.0% | Glamorous and sunny |
| Ischgl | 1,377 m | 2,868 m | 152 km | 90% | 34% | 20.7% | High energy and snowy |
| Sölden | 1,368 m | 3,306 m | 135 km | 89% | 30% | 23.7% | Sporty and lively |
| Lech | 1,450 m | 2,440 m | 175 km | 61% | 33% | 22.3% | Refined and snowy |
The ski area totals for our three Austrian picks are not yet classified in our data, so the piste column is our own measurement around each village, the same ruler for every row. On it, Verbier's famous 410 kilometres, which is the Four Valleys pass, becomes 97, and St Moritz's 350, a pass across separate mountains, becomes 106.
Ischgl: the snow, and reds that ski like Swiss ones
- 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.
Our matching puts Ischgl closer to both Zermatt and Verbier than any other Austrian resort, and on the two things you will not give up, it holds. It is snow sure on our measure: 90 percent of its piste is above 1,800 metres, the second biggest share of the 13 Austrian resorts we cover. The season runs from late November to May, longer at both ends than Verbier's or St Moritz's.
The reds are the surprise. They average 20.7 percent, almost exactly a Verbier red at 20.2 or a St Moritz red at 21.0, and well under the Austrian average of 23.4. Our guide calls the grooming superb. What changes is the ground in between: 34 percent of Ischgl's piste is steeper than one in four, against 24 at St Moritz and 12 at Zermatt, and it has 26.8 kilometres of black, the fifth most of the 55 resorts we cover. The reds are kind. There is simply more steep about.
The size will feel familiar: 152 kilometres measured around the village, all but level with Zermatt's 150.5 and half as much again as Verbier's 97. And the lifts cross the border to Samnaun, a duty free Swiss village, so lunch can be in Switzerland.
The trade is the top and the evening. The skiing stops at 2,868 metres, 415 below Verbier's, and Ischgl is high energy by our read, with legendary nights out and open air concerts to open and close the season. A Verbier regular will feel at home. A Zermatt regular should pick a quieter street, or stay in Samnaun, which our guide suggests as a calmer base on the same lifts.
If height is the part you will not bend on, Sölden. Its skiing reaches 3,306 metres by our measure, the highest of the 13 Austrian resorts we cover, 23 metres above Verbier's top and 40 above St Moritz's. It has two glaciers, the Rettenbach and the Tiefenbach, and it is snow sure on our measure, with 89 percent of the piste above 1,800 metres. Our matching puts it closer to St Moritz than any other Austrian resort.
It also has the smallest share of steep piste of the four snow sure Austrian resorts. Thirty percent of its piste is steeper than one in four, and 57 percent is blue and easier: 76.8 kilometres, more than twice Zermatt's 32.7 or St Moritz's 30.
The catch is that Austrian blues are not Swiss ones. Sölden's average 17.3 percent, about the same as a Zermatt red at 17.2, and its reds, at 23.7, are steeper than the reds at any of your three. So if you cruise reds in Zermatt, cruise blues here, and treat the reds as a step up.
The trade is the village. It sits at 1,368 metres, 454 below St Moritz, a long village with a busy road through it, and it is sporty and lively by our read. Hochsölden, a small cluster of hotels above the village, is the quieter base. And there is no marked off piste itinerary that we measure.
The Arlberg, from Lech: the polish
If what you would miss most is the feel of Zermatt or St Moritz, a village that is looked after and does not shout, go to Lech. It is refined and upmarket in an understated way by our read, and good for families. Building is tightly controlled, so it has kept its low roofs and the river through the middle. None of the Austrian resorts we cover is car free, but Oberlech is: a ski in ski out enclave above the village, reached by cable car. You can even come by train, to Langen am Arlberg or St Anton, and finish by road.
There is more skiing around the village than at any of your three: 175 kilometres measured, the third most of the 13 Austrian resorts we cover. That includes 79.1 kilometres of blue and easier, twice Verbier's 38.9, and there are 56.1 kilometres of marked off piste itinerary, the second most of the 55 resorts we cover.
The trade is the snow call and the steep. The skiing tops out at 2,440 metres by our measure, 843 below Verbier's, with 61 percent of the piste above 1,800 metres. That is within 60 metres of our snow sure line, and we would rather not call it either way. Thirty three percent of the piste is steeper than one in four, and the reds average 22.3 percent, steeper than any of your three.
Same lift pass, two other villages. Zürs sleeps higher, at 1,720 metres, and is exclusive and quiet by our read, but it has the smallest share of gentle piste of the 13 Austrian resorts we cover: one for strong skiers. St Anton is the noise, with 70.1 kilometres of marked off piste itinerary, more than any resort we cover. If you go to Verbier for the off piste, that is your Arlberg village. These measured figures overlap, so never add them.
What really changes: steeper, livelier and lower
Grade colours are set resort by resort, to conventions that differ between countries, so an Austrian red and a Swiss red are not the same promise. We compare on what we measure: the average gradient of every piste we hold, and the share of piste steeper than one in four.
| Average gradient | Blue | Red | Black |
|---|---|---|---|
| Switzerland | 15.0% | 19.9% | 26.7% |
| Austria | 16.4% | 23.4% | 30.3% |
An Austrian red is three and a half points steeper than a Swiss one, and an Austrian black steeper by about as much. The steep share says it more bluntly. The typical resort of the 55 we cover has 26 percent of its piste steeper than one in four. Thirteen of the 15 Swiss resorts we cover sit under that line, and twelve of the 13 Austrian sit over it. The one exception, SkiWelt at 24, has next to none of its measured piste above 1,800 metres. The gentlest Austrian reds we measure are Kitzbühel's, at 20.3 percent, but its skiing stops at 1,968 metres. That is why the answer here is Ischgl.
This is average gradient, and a run's grade is set by its steepest pitch, not its average. But the direction is clear: if your group skis Swiss reds happily and no more, spend the first morning on Austrian blues.
Two more things change. The villages are lower: the highest of the 13 Austrian resorts we cover is Obertauern, at 1,740 metres, below St Moritz's 1,822. And the evenings are louder. Of the 15 Swiss resorts we cover, Verbier is the only one we would call lively; of the 13 Austrian, six are. If more life in the evening is why you are coming, good. If not, look to Lech or Zürs.
Who should ignore all of this
Zermatt regulars who go for the height and the glacier.
Sölden's top, the highest of the Austrian resorts we cover, is still 563 metres below Zermatt's. Hintertux has a glacier you can ski all year, the only Austrian one open every day by our own description, but its blues are the steepest of the 13 Austrian resorts we cover, at 19.3 percent, and our read of it is snowy and no frills. A training week, not a Zermatt one.
Families who love the gentle runs of Grindelwald and Wengen.
Our matching puts Schladming closest of the Austrian resorts to both, and 39 percent of its piste is gentler than 15 percent, the biggest share of the Austrian resorts we cover. But its village sits at 745 metres, and 7 percent of its piste is above 1,800. A good family week, and a different one.
So, which one
you want snow you can count on, reds that ski like the ones at home, and evenings with more life than most of Switzerland gives you.
the height comes first: the highest skiing of the Austrian resorts we cover, two glaciers, and blues as gentle as a Zermatt red.
the village matters most: understated, looked after, with car free Oberlech above it and more easy skiing around it than at any of your three, and you can live with a lower top and an open snow call.
It keeps the snow and the cruising, which is what a Swiss week is built on, and the lifts will take you to Switzerland for lunch.