Cervinia or Val Thorens: the quiet cruise or the big, loud week
The Ski Snug teamUpdated 12 October 20266 min read
Cervinia and Val Thorens turn up on each other's shortlists for a good reason. They are two of the three highest villages of the 55 resorts we cover, both open in late November, both were built for skiing rather than for looks, and both sit in a lift system much bigger than themselves: Zermatt over the top from Cervinia, the rest of the Three Valleys from Val Thorens.
Where they part is everything else. One is big, busy and built for a party. The other is a sunny Italian village where the skiing is long and kind and the evenings end early. Your group probably already leans one way. The numbers will tell you whether it should.
The numbers, side by side
| Figure | Cervinia | Val Thorens |
|---|---|---|
| Village altitude | 2,050 m | 2,300 m |
| Top of the skiing, measured | 3,869 m, on the lifts shared with Zermatt | 3,154 m |
| Linked ski area | 322 km with Zermatt, measured; the Italian side about 120 km | The Three Valleys, quoted at 600 km, not measured by us |
| Piste we measure around the village | 116 km | 211 km |
| Easy piste | 24 km blue and easier, 21% of the piste | 134 km green and blue, 64% of the piste |
| Red | 83 km, 72% of the piste | 61 km, 29% of the piste |
| Black | 8.2 km | 16 km |
| Marked off piste itinerary | 8.1 km | 7.6 km |
| Piste steeper than one in four | 15% | 25% |
| Piste gentler than 15% | 39% | 37% |
| Piste at or above 1,800 m | 99% | 96% |
| Season | Late November to May | Late November to early May |
| Nearest airport | Turin or Geneva | Geneva or Chambéry |
Val Thorens wins most of the size rows by a distance. The steep row is where Cervinia answers back.
Size: Val Thorens has far more at the door
Measured from the run geometry ourselves, Val Thorens has 211 kilometres of piste around the village, the fourth most of the 55 resorts we cover. Cervinia has 116, bang on the typical figure for the resorts we cover. Further out, the Three Valleys is quoted at 600 kilometres. It is genuinely linked, though we have not measured it ourselves, and from Val Thorens you can ski over towards Méribel and Courchevel on the same pass.
Cervinia's wider area is 322 kilometres, measured, once you cross over the top to Zermatt. That crossing needs the separate International pass and can close in wind. On the Italian side alone, it is about 120 kilometres, with sources ranging from 104 to 150.
For a group that wants a new run every hour, all week, this is not close. Val Thorens has much more skiing within reach every day.
Altitude: both about as high as skiing gets
Val Thorens has the highest village of the 55 we cover, at 2,300 metres. Cervinia's, at 2,050, is the third highest. On top, Cervinia goes higher. Its measured top of the skiing is 3,869 metres, joint highest of the 55 we cover with Zermatt, because that summit is on the glacier lifts the two share, so check which pass you need before you plan a day around it. Val Thorens reaches 3,154 metres by our measure.
24 km blue and easier 21%83 km red 72%8 km black 7%
134 km blue and easier 64%61 km red 29%16 km black 8%
Marked off piste itinerary, kept out of the piste totals: Cervinia 8 km, Val Thorens 8 km.
Both pass our snow sure test easily. At Cervinia, 99 percent of the piste we measure is above 1,800 metres, up to 3,869 metres. At Val Thorens it is 96 percent, up to 3,154. Cervinia's share is the joint third biggest of the 55 resorts we cover, Val Thorens's the joint seventh. Nobody can promise snow, but either is a sound choice for a December week or one at the end of the season.
The skiing: Val Thorens has more easy and black, Cervinia is gentler on each colour
Val Thorens has more of nearly everything. Its 134 kilometres of green and blue are the third most of the 55 resorts we cover, and that includes 22 kilometres of green for first timers. Cervinia has 24 kilometres of blue and easier piste. Val Thorens has 16 kilometres of black to Cervinia's 8.2. The marked off piste itinerary is close, 7.6 kilometres against 8.1.
24 km blue and easier 21%83 km red 72%8 km black 7%
134 km blue and easier 64%61 km red 29%16 km black 8%
Marked off piste itinerary, kept out of the piste totals: Cervinia 8 km, Val Thorens 8 km.
Cervinia is a red mountain. Seventy two percent of its piste is graded red, and only one resort we cover has a more lopsided split between easy, red and black. That sounds like hard work. It is not, because those reds are gentle: only 15 percent of Cervinia's piste is steeper than one in four, against 25 percent at Val Thorens and 26 at a typical resort we cover.
The measured gradients make the same point at every grade. They are averages per run segment, and a run's grade is set by its steepest pitch, so read them as how the week feels rather than a verdict on one run. Cervinia's blues average 13.2 percent against 16.5 at Val Thorens. Its reds average 18.1 against 23.5, and only three of the 55 resorts we cover have gentler reds. Its blacks average 28.0 against 32.2. The two grade in different countries, so set the colours aside and trust the gradients.
The runs feel different too. Cervinia's longest piste we measure is a 5.3 kilometre red that drops 741 metres, a long, steady cruise. Val Thorens's is a 3.1 kilometre red that drops 947.
Who each one actually suits
Val Thorens suits groups who want to ski all day and go out afterwards, and mixed groups where the beginners need easy piste near the village and the strong skiers want Cime Caron and the rest of the Three Valleys. The après is a headline in its own right, from the mountainside dancing at La Folie Douce to bars that keep going late. Families and couples do well too, in ski in ski out apartments a little away from the noise. It is purpose built and modern, and nobody books it for the architecture.
Cervinia suits improvers, cruisers, families and anyone who would rather enjoy a run than survive it. Evenings are sociable but early: a drink in the last of the sun, a big plate of pasta, bed. The village is practical rather than pretty. The great day out is the ski over the top into Zermatt for lunch and back again, on the right pass and in the right weather. A strong skier will run out of challenge on the piste, though less so off it.
The bit nobody tells you
Val Thorens has the higher village, but Cervinia has the higher skiing, and not only at the very top. Half of Cervinia's piste lies above 2,702 metres by our measure; half of Val Thorens's lies above 2,409. Above 2,000 metres, it is 98 percent of Cervinia's piste against 87 percent of Val Thorens's. Only a tenth of Cervinia's piste lies below 2,218 metres; at Val Thorens, a tenth lies below 1,930.
The height on the village sign is not the height you ski. In a warm spell, or in the last week of the season, it is Cervinia that keeps more of its skiing well up the mountain. If you are booking late and the snow worries you more than the size, weigh that before the village altitude.
So, which one
your group is improvers and intermediates who want long, gentle runs at altitude, quiet evenings and Italian lunches, and the day trip into Switzerland appeals. Also if Turin suits your flights.
you want the most skiing from the door, easy piste for the beginners and black for the strong, the Three Valleys beyond, and an evening with some noise in it.
It has far more piste, 134 kilometres of easy running against 24, and more black, so it gives more to the beginners and the strong skiers in the group. Cervinia is the right answer when your group wants to cruise in the sun and go to bed early, and for that week it is hard to beat.