Courchevel or Sestriere: the same mountain shape, a very different week
The Ski Snug teamUpdated 12 October 20266 min read
Our matching engine puts Sestriere closer to Courchevel than any other Italian resort we cover, and second closest anywhere. On the mountain you can see why. Both were built for skiing, both run from December to April, their measured tops are less than a hundred metres apart, and the share of gentle piste is exactly the same at each.
But the engine also names the biggest difference, and it is the one most people feel first: size. Courchevel is the polished heart of the Three Valleys. Sestriere is a purpose built high resort on the Milky Way, the Via Lattea, high and practical rather than glossy. So the real question is whether you want more skiing and more polish, or more height. The numbers first.
The numbers, side by side
| Figure | Courchevel | Sestriere |
|---|---|---|
| Village altitude | 1,747 m at Courchevel 1850, with lower villages below | 2,035 m |
| Top of the skiing, measured | 2,697 m | 2,788 m |
| Linked ski area | The Three Valleys, quoted at 600 km, not yet measured by us | Via Lattea, roughly 305 km on the standard Italian pass, 400 km quoted with Montgenèvre |
| Piste we measure around the village | 295.5 km | 160 km |
| Green and blue | 178.5 km, 60% of the piste | 50 km of blue and easier, 31% of the piste |
| Black | 32 km, 11% of the piste | 18 km, 11% of the piste |
| Marked off piste itinerary | 4.5 km | 10.8 km |
| Piste steeper than one in four | 26% | 30% |
| Piste gentler than 15% | 35% | 35% |
| Piste at or above 1,800 m | 71% | 91% |
| Season | December to April | December to April |
| Nearest airport | Geneva or Chambéry | Turin |
Read across and the pattern is clear. Courchevel wins the rows that count piste. Sestriere wins every row that measures height, and the itinerary. The rows that describe the shape of the mountain, gentle share and black share, are level.
Size: Courchevel has nearly twice the piste at the door
We measure 295.5 kilometres of piste around Courchevel, the most of the 55 resorts we cover. Around Sestriere we measure 160, the most of the 10 Italian resorts we cover and a big resort by anyone's standards. Courchevel still has nearly twice as much.
The lift passes widen the gap. Courchevel's opens the Three Valleys, quoted at 600 kilometres and genuinely linked, though we have not measured the whole of it ourselves. Sestriere's figure needs more care. The Via Lattea is quoted at 400 kilometres, but that counts Montgenèvre over the French border, which needs the International pass rather than the standard one. On the standard Italian pass, you get roughly 305 kilometres. Nobody publishes that figure; it is our own subtraction, so treat it as approximate.
For a strong group that judges a week in kilometres, either will keep you busy. Courchevel will keep you busy for longer.
Altitude: Sestriere is higher where it counts
Sestriere's village sits at 2,035 metres, the fourth highest of the 55 resorts we cover and 288 metres above the centre of Courchevel 1850. Its skiing reaches 2,788 metres by our measure, 91 higher than Courchevel's 2,697. The tops are close. The rest of the mountain is not.
Ninety one percent of the piste we measure around Sestriere is above 1,800 metres, the ninth biggest share of the 55 resorts we cover. At Courchevel it is 71 percent. Three quarters of Sestriere's piste is above 2,000 metres, against 45 percent at Courchevel, and the lowest run we measure there finishes at 1,397 metres, against 1,118.
Both count as snow sure on our measure: Courchevel with 71 percent of its piste above 1,800 metres, up to 2,697 metres, and Sestriere with 91 percent, up to 2,788 metres. Nobody can promise snow. But if your worry is a thin winter, or your dates fall at the start or the end of the season, Sestriere has more of its skiing well above the line.
Courchevel's answer is the forest. Its lower runs come down through the trees, and on a day when the top is in cloud, the tree skiing towards Le Praz is where you want to be.
The skiing: the same shape, different amounts
This is where the engine's match holds up. Thirty five percent of the piste is gentler than 15 percent at both resorts. Black is 11 percent of the piste at both. The difference is what those shares come to: Courchevel's 11 percent is 32 kilometres of black, the second most of the 55 resorts we cover; Sestriere's is 18 kilometres, the most of the 10 Italian resorts we cover.
179 km blue and easier 60%85 km red 29%32 km black 11%
50 km blue and easier 31%92 km red 58%18 km black 11%
Marked off piste itinerary, kept out of the piste totals: Courchevel 4.5 km, Sestriere 11 km.
Sestriere leans a little steeper overall. Thirty percent of its piste is steeper than one in four, against 26 percent at Courchevel and at a typical resort we cover. It also has 10.8 kilometres of marked off piste itinerary, the most of the 10 Italian resorts we cover and more than twice Courchevel's 4.5. Courchevel's strong skiers have the couloirs off the Saulire instead, with a guide.
The big gap is at the easy end. Courchevel has 178.5 kilometres of green and blue, the most of any resort we cover, more than three times Sestriere's 50 kilometres of blue and easier. More than half of Sestriere's piste is red in the Italian grading. Grades are not comparable across countries, which is why the steep and gentle shares above are the fairer comparison, but it tells you where Sestriere's kilometres sit: in the middle.
Who each one actually suits
Courchevel suits almost every kind of group, which is its great strength. First timers learn on wide, gentle runs above 1850. Mixed groups get easy kilometres for the nervous and black for the confident. Food lovers are well looked after, from the Michelin kitchens to a simple lunch on the hill. The four villages let you choose the mood: Courchevel 1850 glossy, Moriond sunny and family minded, Courchevel 1550 just below with a lift up, and Le Praz old and quiet among the trees. It was one of the first resorts in France planned purely for skiing, and the polish shows.
Sestriere suits people for whom the snow comes first. It is on our list for snow sure skiing, a big area and value, and it is modern and built for skiing, high and practical rather than polished. Confident intermediates who spend their week on red, and strong skiers who want steep piste and marked itinerary at height, will find plenty. It suits a group less well if there are several beginners who need to progress through a long week of blue.
The bit nobody tells you
Courchevel has more green and blue than any resort we cover, so it sounds like the gentle choice. Measured, its blues are not gentle. They average 17.5 percent, the joint eighth steepest of the 55 resorts we cover, against 16.2 for a typical French blue. Sestriere's blues average 12.0 percent, the second gentlest of the 55 we cover, against 14.4 for a typical Italian blue.
Those are average gradients per run segment, and a run's grade is set by its steepest pitch, so treat them as a guide to how the week feels. But the gap is large. A nervous skier will find Sestriere's blues kind, and there are 50 kilometres of them, which is a fair amount to build confidence on. Courchevel's are steeper, and there are far more of them. For a first week off the nursery slopes, kinder blues matter. For a second or third week, the kilometres do.
So, which one
your group mixes levels, has beginners or improvers who need a big week of easy skiing, or wants the polish: the restaurants, the villages, the trees for bad weather and the Three Valleys on the pass.
snow is your first worry, your dates are early or late, and your group is confident on red. You get a village above 2,000 metres, a steeper mountain, more marked itinerary, and the second gentlest blues of the 55 resorts we cover for anyone still finding their feet.
It gives nearly twice the skiing around the village, more than three times the easy piste and the bigger pass, and it is snow sure on our measure too. Sestriere is the right answer for a confident group that puts height first, and it is a good one.