Bad Gastein or Gstaad: belle époque or quiet money, and where the snow sits
The Ski Snug teamUpdated 12 October 20266 min read
Bad Gastein and Gstaad are the kind of places people book for more than the skiing. Both are low, old and scenic, with scenery on our list of what each does best. Both spread their skiing across separate areas on one pass rather than one linked domain. And both run December to April. Our matching puts Bad Gastein closer to Gstaad than any other resort we cover.
So the choice is partly about mood: faded belle époque grandeur and thermal spas in Austria, or understated wealth in a chocolate box valley in Switzerland. But there is a measured difference underneath that decides it for a lot of people, and it is about where the snow sits. The numbers first.
The numbers, side by side
| Figure | Bad Gastein | Gstaad |
|---|---|---|
| Village altitude | 1,000 m | 1,050 m |
| Top of the skiing, measured | 2,644 m | 2,149 m |
| Ski area and lift pass | Its own area is 83 km. Ski amadé pass, 760 km across five regions, not all joined | Gstaad Mountain Rides, 200 km across around nine sectors, most reached by train, bus or car |
| Piste we measure around the village | 106.6 km | 128 km |
| Blue and easier | 41 km, 39% of the piste | 73 km, 57% of the piste |
| Black | 8.2 km, 8% of the piste | 18 km, 14% of the piste |
| Marked off piste itinerary | 1.5 km | 1.8 km |
| Piste steeper than one in four | 37% | 25% |
| Piste gentler than 15% | 29% | 20% |
| Piste at or above 1,800 m | 50% | 15% |
| Season | December to April | December to April |
| Nearest airport | Salzburg | Geneva or Zurich |
The villages are 50 metres apart. The skiing above them is not. Bad Gastein's reaches 495 metres higher, and half its piste sits at or above 1,800 metres, against 15 percent at Gstaad. That one row matters more than any other on the table.
Altitude: level in the valley, Bad Gastein far higher on the hill
Both villages are low, Bad Gastein at 1,000 metres and Gstaad at 1,050. From there the two mountains part company. The top of the skiing we measure at Bad Gastein is 2,644 metres, 495 above Gstaad's 2,149. Half of Bad Gastein's piste is above 1,799 metres; at Gstaad, half is above 1,550. Twenty seven percent of Bad Gastein's piste is above 2,000 metres. At Gstaad it is 1 percent.
Neither counts as snow sure on our measure, and nobody can promise snow at either. But they miss by very different margins. Bad Gastein's skiing reaches high enough for our test, and half of the piste we measure is at or above 1,800 metres, a whisker short of the more than half the test asks for. At Gstaad, 15 percent of the piste is above 1,800 metres, the smallest share of the 15 Swiss resorts we cover.
Gstaad's answer is Glacier 3000 at Les Diablerets, on the same pass. It is a separate area, reached by bus, train or car rather than on skis, and a proper excursion rather than a quick hop. It is worth having for a day of height. It does not change what is outside the door.
Size: two passes, neither of them one ski area
Both lift passes are bigger than what you can ski from the door, so read the small print. Bad Gastein's own area is 83 kilometres. It sits on the Ski amadé pass, quoted at 760 kilometres across five regions, but those regions are not all joined to each other, and our data counts four separate areas down the valley alone. Gstaad Mountain Rides is 200 kilometres across around nine sectors, and most of them are reached by train, bus or car rather than by lift.
Measured around each village, Gstaad has more: 128 kilometres of piste against 106.6 at Bad Gastein, about 21 kilometres more. Neither is a place to clock up mileage on skis. Both are places where you pick a mountain for the day.
The skiing: Bad Gastein is steeper, Gstaad has more blue and black
On the share of steep piste, Bad Gastein is one of the steeper mountains we cover. Thirty seven percent of it is steeper than one in four, the third biggest share of the 13 Austrian resorts we cover, against 25 percent at Gstaad and 26 at a typical resort. Its reds are steep too: they average 25.0 percent, the fourth steepest of the 13 Austrian resorts we cover, above the Austrian average of 23.4.
41 km blue and easier 39%57 km red 54%8 km black 8%
73 km blue and easier 57%37 km red 28%18 km black 14%
Marked off piste itinerary, kept out of the piste totals: Bad Gastein 1.5 km, Gstaad 1.8 km.
Gstaad has more blue and more black in kilometres: 73 of blue and easier against 41, and 18 of black against 8.2. Bad Gastein has more red, 57 kilometres against 36.5. Gstaad's blacks average 28.0 percent against 32.6 at Bad Gastein, so Bad Gastein's fewer blacks are the steeper ones. Neither resort has much marked off piste itinerary, 1.8 kilometres at Gstaad and 1.5 at Bad Gastein.
All of these gradients are averages per run segment, and a run's grade is set by its steepest pitch, so they describe how a week feels rather than any one run.
Who each one actually suits
Bad Gastein suits people who want the spa as much as the skiing, and want both in a place with some history to it. Our read on it is grand and characterful: faded belle époque grandeur and thermal spas, in scenery that is one of the reasons to go, and we class it as traditional. It suits confident intermediates who like a steep red, and anyone who wants their low village backed by skiing that reaches high. It is reached from Salzburg.
Gstaad suits couples, families and multi generational groups who want a beautiful week rather than a hard one. The village is car light, with a promenade of galleries and smart shop windows, and the Saanenland villages around it, Saanen, Schönried and Saanenmöser, give more room for the money. A non skier is a first class guest here: hotel spas open to day visitors, sleigh rides, winter walking, and the Peak Walk at Glacier 3000. The food is a reason to go on its own, from fondue in a wood panelled room to serious fine dining. The evenings are understated, a fire and a glass of wine rather than a dance floor. Mileage hunters and party groups should look elsewhere.
The bit nobody tells you
Gstaad has a name for gentle, pottering skiing, and the grades back that up: 57 percent of its piste is graded blue or easier. The gradients tell a different story. Only 20 percent of Gstaad's piste is gentler than 15 percent, the smallest share of the 15 Swiss resorts we cover. Its blues average 17.8 percent, the steepest of the 15 Swiss resorts we cover and well above the Swiss average of 15.0.
Bad Gastein's blues average 14.9 percent, below the Austrian average of 16.4, and 29 percent of its piste is gentler than 15 percent. Grades are set country by country, so a blue is not a fixed thing, but an improver feels the slope, not the colour. On these figures, Gstaad's blues will ask more of a nervous skier than its reputation suggests, and Bad Gastein's will ask less.
So, which one
you want the higher skiing, with half the piste at or above 1,800 metres; if the spa is half the point; if your confident skiers like a steep red; or if Salzburg suits your flights.
the village, the food and the non skiers come first, and the skiing is a lovely part of the day rather than the whole of it. Also if you want more piste in total, and Glacier 3000 within reach for a day of height.
The villages are level, and the difference is what sits above them: skiing that goes 495 metres higher, with more than three times Gstaad's share of piste above 1,800 metres. Gstaad is the right answer when it is Gstaad itself you want, and for that there is nowhere quite like it.