Where to ski in late April: go high, and start with Cervinia

1. Cervinia: the most skiing up high

Cervinia also has 99 percent of its piste at or above 1,800 metres, joint third of the 55 resorts we cover, level with Zermatt. Half of it sits above 2,702 metres, and the lifts it shares with Zermatt climb to 3,869 metres by our measure, joint highest of the 55 resorts we cover.

What you get is cruising. Only 15 percent of the piste is steeper than one in four, against 26 at a typical resort we cover, with 8.2 kilometres of black. We measure 116 kilometres around the village, exactly the median of the 55, and with the International pass it joins Zermatt for 322 kilometres measured, though the high crossing can close in wind. The village is practical rather than pretty and the evenings are aperitivo, not a party: the long runs home to Breuil-Cervinia are the point. Fly to Turin or Geneva.

2. Zermatt: the glacier that never closes

Zermatt's usual season is all year, on the glacier at the Matterhorn Glacier Paradise, and its skiing tops out at the same 3,869 metre station. It comes second because less of it is that high: 85 percent at or above 2,200 metres, with the village 430 metres lower than Cervinia's, at 1,620.

The village is the reason to choose it anyway: car free and elegant, the one place here where the setting is as much the point as the snow. Only 12 percent of the piste is steeper than one in four: long, flattering mileage. Fly to Zurich or Geneva.

3. Hintertux: a glacier, and little to distract you

The only Austrian glacier open every day of the year, and the skiing that sits highest here: half the piste we measure is above 2,853 metres, the highest median on this list. Ninety six percent is at or above 1,800 metres, the biggest share of the 13 Austrian resorts we cover, and 83 percent at or above 2,200, up to 3,239.

It is snowy and no frills, a place to ski or to train rather than to holiday. Most of the piste is red, with 2.9 kilometres of black, and the rest of the Zillertal is a bus ride away. Fly to Innsbruck.

4. Tignes and Val d'Isère: a big area that stays high

Both share Espace Killy's 300 kilometres. Tignes is the higher base: a village at 2,100 metres, second only to Val Thorens of the 55 we cover, and skiing that reaches 3,449 metres by our measure, the highest of the 17 French resorts we cover. Seventy seven percent of its piste is at or above 2,200 metres. The Grande Motte glacier is the late season draw, reached by funicular from Val Claret, with easy runs from the top.

Val d'Isère's village is lower, at 1,850 metres, yet 100 percent of the piste we measure is at or above 1,800, joint highest of the 55 resorts we cover with Livigno, and 75 percent at or above 2,200. It has the Pissaillas glacier at the Le Fornet end, more steep skiing (29 percent of its piste steeper than one in four, against 25 at Tignes) and the livelier evenings. Both store late November to early May, so late April is near the end of their season. Geneva for both.

5. Val Thorens: the highest village, and the most piste

The highest village of the 55 we cover, at 2,300 metres, and the most piste on this list: 211 kilometres measured around the village, fourth of the 55 resorts we cover, inside a Three Valleys quoted at 600. Seventy five percent is at or above 2,200 metres, up to 3,154, level with Val d'Isère, which takes the tie on the lower line. For a mixed group it has the most easy skiing here, 134 kilometres of green and blue, and it is buzzy after dark. Fly to Geneva or Chambéry.

6. Sölden and Ischgl: lower villages, high skiing

Both run late November to May, and in both the nightlife is as much the draw as the snow. The villages sit at 1,368 and 1,377 metres. Sölden's skiing reaches 3,306 metres by our measure, the highest of the 13 Austrian resorts we cover, with the Rettenbach and Tiefenbach glaciers at the top, and 68 percent of its piste is at or above 2,200 metres. Ischgl tops out at 2,868 but has 90 percent of its piste at or above 1,800, second of the 13 Austrian resorts we cover, and 67 percent at or above 2,200. Fly to Innsbruck.

7. Livigno: all of it high, none of it very high

All of the piste we measure is at or above 1,800 metres, joint highest of the 55 resorts we cover with Val d'Isère, from a village at 1,816. But the skiing stops at 2,767 metres by our measure, so only 66 percent is at or above 2,200. Lively and duty free, with 81 kilometres measured in two sectors and no lift between them. Fly to Bergamo or Innsbruck.

8. Argentière, Engelberg and Chamonix: May seasons from low villages

Argentière's measured top is 3,222 metres at the Grands Montets; it is quiet and serious, with 44 kilometres measured, 54th of the 55 resorts we cover, and 59 percent of it steeper than one in four. Engelberg reaches 3,004, and its real draw is the Laub and Steintaeli freeride descents, which appear in none of our piste figures. Chamonix's highest lift is a mountaineering lift, so we judge it on its piste, which tops out at the same Grands Montets: 70 percent is at or above 1,800 metres. These are for strong skiers happy to follow the snow uphill.