Bad Gastein or Bormio: more mountain, or a higher one?

Size: Bad Gastein has the bigger mountain, by some way

Bad Gastein's own area is 83 kilometres, one of four separate areas down the valley, and it sits on the Ski amadé pass, which covers 760 kilometres across five regions that are not all joined to each other. Bormio's own mountain is 50 kilometres across 12 lifts, and its Alta Valtellina pass covers 200 to 230 kilometres across four separate valleys. At both, most of the rest of the pass needs transport.

Our own measurement of the piste makes the gap plainer. Around Bad Gastein we measure 106.6 kilometres, more than its own area's 83, so the measurement probably takes in some of the neighbouring skiing in the valley. Around Bormio we measure 52.5, which ranks 52nd of the 55 resorts we cover. That is 54 more kilometres at Bad Gastein, and even on the own area figures it is 83 against 50.

For a pair of strong skiers, Bormio's mountain may be enough. For a mixed group, Bad Gastein has far more to get through before the runs repeat.

Altitude: Bormio is higher everywhere, and that settles the snow call

Bormio's town is at 1,225 metres, 225 above Bad Gastein's 1,000, and its skiing reaches 3,001 metres on our measure, the third highest of the 10 Italian resorts we cover and 357 above Bad Gastein's 2,644.

The gap shows most in the middle of the mountain: 63 percent of Bormio's piste is above 2,000 metres, against 27 at Bad Gastein, and half of Bormio's sits above 2,098.

That puts them on opposite sides of our snow sure test, which asks for more than half the piste at or above 1,800 metres and skiing that reaches 2,500. Bormio passes: 76 percent of the piste we measure is above 1,800 metres, up to 3,001. Bad Gastein's skiing clears 2,500 metres comfortably, at 2,644, but half its piste is at or above 1,800 metres, and the test asks for more than half, so it falls just short. Nobody can promise snow either way, but Bormio has much more of its skiing above the line.

The skiing: both steep, in different places

Austria and Italy grade differently, so compare measured steepness, each anchored to its own country. Both are steep. At Bad Gastein 37 percent of the piste is steeper than one in four, the third biggest share of the 13 Austrian resorts we cover. At Bormio it is 32 percent. A typical resort we cover has 26.

Who each one actually suits

Bad Gastein suits people who choose a place as much as a mountain. Our read is grand and characterful, and its list of what it does best is the belle époque, the spa and the scenery. On the snow it suits confident intermediates who like a red with some bite, and mixed groups, because there is enough blue and easier piste for the less confident to have a week of their own. You fly to Salzburg.

Bormio suits confident skiers who want height and history. Our read is historic and relaxed, we class it as traditional and quiet, and long runs, a thermal spa and racing are on its list of what it does best. It suits a group happy on red all week who want a few very steep blacks, and anyone for whom the snow line matters more than the kilometre count. It is the wrong choice for a beginner or a nervous improver, because there is so little blue. You fly to Bergamo or Milan.

The bit nobody tells you

On our measure, the two mountains have near enough the same drop. From the top of the skiing to the lowest piste we measure, Bad Gastein drops 1,801 metres, from 2,644 down to 843, below the village itself. Bormio drops 1,805, from 3,001 down to 1,196. So Bormio does not have more mountain. It has near enough the same height of mountain, set higher: by 357 metres at the top and 353 at the bottom.

That one shift explains the snow figures. It is why 76 percent of Bormio's piste is above 1,800 metres and half of Bad Gastein's, and why one passes our snow sure test and the other misses. What it does not explain is the size. Bormio fits far fewer kilometres onto much the same drop, and that is the trade you make for the height.