Davos or Sestriere: a high town, or a higher resort that joins up
The Ski Snug teamUpdated 12 October 20265 min read
Our similarity engine names Sestriere as the closest match to Davos in Italy, and the reasons are easy to see. Both have a vibe we describe as practical, both are tagged modern, and the measured tops of their skiing are 20 metres apart, 2,808 at Davos and 2,788 at Sestriere. Both run December to April, and both have a real amount of marked off piste.
The difference is what sits at the bottom. Davos is a town at 1,560 metres, with its skiing spread over separate mountains. Sestriere is a purpose built resort at 2,035 metres on the Milky Way, the Via Lattea, an area that joins up by lift. That is the choice: a town with mountains round it, or a resort built for the skiing. The numbers first.
The numbers, side by side
| Figure | Davos | Sestriere |
|---|---|---|
| Village altitude | 1,560 m | 2,035 m |
| Top of the skiing, measured | 2,808 m | 2,788 m |
| Ski area | Davos Klosters pass: 300 km official, 224 km measured, across separate mountains | Via Lattea, linked: about 305 km on the standard Italian pass, 400 km quoted with Montgenèvre |
| Piste we measure around the village | 145 km | 160 km |
| Blue and easier | 62.5 km, 43% of the piste | 49.8 km, 31% of the piste |
| Black | 20.7 km | 17.9 km |
| Marked off piste itinerary | 13.3 km | 10.8 km |
| Piste steeper than one in four | 23% | 30% |
| Piste gentler than 15% | 31% | 35% |
| Piste at or above 1,800 m | 78% | 91% |
| Season | December to April | December to April |
| Nearest airport | Zurich | Turin |
The snow row and the ski area row carry this one. Sestriere keeps far more of its piste high, and its skiing is one linked area. Davos answers back with more easy piste, a little more black and more itinerary.
Size: Sestriere's skiing joins up, Davos's comes in pieces
The Via Lattea is sold on 400 kilometres, a long standing marketing figure. Be careful with it. The standard Vialattea pass covers the Italian lifts only, and Montgenèvre needs the International pass instead. Take Montgenèvre out and you get roughly 305 kilometres. That is our own subtraction, because nobody publishes an Italy only figure, but it is the number for anyone on the standard pass, and it is linked by lift.
63 km blue and easier 43%61 km red 42%21 km black 14%
50 km blue and easier 31%92 km red 58%18 km black 11%
Marked off piste itinerary, kept out of the piste totals: Davos 13 km, Sestriere 11 km.
Davos is sold on 300 kilometres. Measured across the same lift areas, we make it 224, spread over six separate mountains. Only the Parsenn is shared with Klosters, and the rest need a train, a bus or a car to reach from each other.
Around each village, our own measurement gives Sestriere 160 kilometres of piste, the most of the 10 Italian resorts we cover, and Davos 145. Fifteen kilometres is not a big gap. The bigger difference is that Sestriere's area is linked by lift, and at Davos you change mountain by bus or train.
Altitude: level at the top, Sestriere higher everywhere else
Sestriere's village is at 2,035 metres, the fourth highest of the 55 resorts we cover and 475 metres above Davos. The tops are level, and so is the highest part of each mountain. The gap opens lower down.
Both count as snow sure on our measure. At Sestriere, 91 percent of the piste we measure is at or above 1,800 metres, up to 2,788 metres, the ninth biggest share of the 55 resorts we cover. At Davos it is 78 percent, up to 2,808. The plainest way to see it: nine tenths of Sestriere's piste is above 1,824 metres, and at Davos the same line falls at 1,600. Nobody can promise snow, but if a thin winter is your worry, Sestriere is the safer bet of the two.
The skiing: Sestriere is steeper, Davos has both ends
Italy and Switzerland grade differently, so compare the steep share, not the colours. At Sestriere 30 percent of the piste is steeper than one in four, against 23 percent at Davos and 26 at a typical resort we cover. Sestriere's skiing is mostly red: 92 kilometres of it, 58 percent of the piste. For a group of confident intermediates, that is a week of proper reds on a joined up area.
63 km blue and easier 43%61 km red 42%21 km black 14%
50 km blue and easier 31%92 km red 58%18 km black 11%
Marked off piste itinerary, kept out of the piste totals: Davos 13 km, Sestriere 11 km.
Davos has more at either end. It has 62.5 kilometres of blue and easier piste against 49.8, and 20.7 kilometres of black, the most of the 15 Swiss resorts we cover, against Sestriere's 17.9, which is itself the most of the 10 Italian resorts we cover. Both have serious itinerary: 13.3 kilometres at Davos and 10.8 at Sestriere, which also leads the Italian resorts we cover on that count.
The measured gradients add a twist on the blacks. 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. Sestriere has fewer kilometres of black, but they average 30.1 percent against 25.8 at Davos. Each sits close to its own country's average for a black, 30.2 in Italy and 26.7 in Switzerland.
Who each one actually suits
Davos suits groups that want more than skiing. It is a working town with trams, supermarkets, shops, cross country loops and one of the biggest natural ice rinks in Europe, so a non skier is never stuck. Mixed groups do well: strong skiers take the long Parsenn runs or the itinerary, the freestyle crowd heads for the Jakobshorn and its bars, and the less confident have more easy piste than at Sestriere. Stay in Davos Dorf for the Parsenn railway and a calmer evening, or Davos Platz for the busier end.
Sestriere suits people who are there to ski. We call it high and practical, purpose built and modern, and we list it for snow sure skiing, a big area and value. It suits groups of keen intermediates, and stronger skiers who want height, a lot of red and a linked area to roam. If your group judges a week by the skiing and the snow, it is hard to argue with.
The bit nobody tells you
Sestriere's blues are among the gentlest we measure anywhere. They average 12.0 percent, the second gentlest of the 55 resorts we cover, and well under the Italian average of 14.4. Its reds average 21.1. That is a jump of about nine points from blue to red.
At Davos the blues average 16.2 percent and the reds 20.7, a step of four and a half. So Davos's blues are harder, but moving up to red is a small change. Sestriere's blues are kind, there are fewer of them, and the first red is a real step up. If your group includes someone in their first week off the nursery slope, that matters more than the snow figures. If everyone is already happy on red, it does not matter at all.
So, which one
someone in the party will not ski every day, you want a town with an evening in it, your group spans beginners to experts, or your strongest skier wants the most black and itinerary on offer. Also if you would rather fly to Zurich.
snow is the worry, your group skis red with confidence, and you want a big area that joins up by lift. Also if you would rather sleep at 2,035 metres than in a town.
It has more skiing around the village, keeps nine tenths of it above 1,800 metres, and lets you ski the area without a bus. Davos is the right answer when the town, or the people in it who are not skiing, are part of the reason you are going.