Lech or Val d'Isère: two smart resorts that ski much the same, one far higher
The Ski Snug teamUpdated 12 October 20266 min read
Lech and Val d'Isère get mentioned together more often than you might expect for an Austrian village and a French one, and our similarity engine sees why. Of every resort we cover, it puts Lech closest to Val d'Isère: both are upmarket, both take their skiing seriously, and both have far more marked off piste than most resorts we cover. The mix of steep and gentle piste around each is close, too.
What splits them is height and noise. Val d'Isère's village sits 400 metres higher, its skiing goes much higher again, and its evenings are some of the liveliest in the Alps. Lech is quiet by design. So the question is how much weight you put on altitude, and how you want the day to end. The numbers first.
The numbers, side by side
| Figure | Lech | Val d'Isère |
|---|---|---|
| Village altitude | 1,450 m | 1,850 m |
| Top of the skiing, measured | 2,440 m | 3,205 m |
| Linked ski area | The Arlberg, with Zürs and St. Anton, size not yet classified by us | Espace Killy, 300 km, shared with Tignes |
| Piste we measure around the village | 175 km | 158 km |
| Easy piste | 79 km of blue and easier, 45% of the piste | 90 km of green and blue, 57% of the piste |
| Black | 26 km | 22 km |
| Marked off piste itinerary | 56 km | 29 km |
| Piste steeper than one in four | 33% | 29% |
| Piste gentler than 15% | 31% | 28% |
| Piste at or above 1,800 m | 61% | 100% |
| Season | December to April | Late November to early May |
| Nearest airport | Innsbruck or Zurich | Geneva |
Most of that table is close. Three rows are not: altitude, the season that comes with it, and the marked itinerary.
Altitude: this is where Val d'Isère wins outright
Val d'Isère's village sits at 1,850 metres, the joint fifth highest of the 55 resorts we cover, against Lech's 1,450. On the mountain the gap opens further. Val d'Isère's skiing reaches 3,205 metres on our measurement, Lech's 2,440. Half of Val d'Isère's piste is above 2,451 metres; half of Lech's is above 1,880.
The cleanest way to see it is the share of piste at or above 1,800 metres. At Val d'Isère it rounds to 100 percent, as big a share as any of the 55 resorts we cover; the lowest piste we measure there is at 1,798 metres. Ninety percent of it is above 2,000 metres. At Lech, 61 percent is above 1,800 metres and 30 percent above 2,000. Val d'Isère is snow sure on our measure, up to 3,205 metres. Lech clears the first half of our test and tops out 60 metres short of the 2,500 metre line we set, so we leave the call open.
That shows in the season. Val d'Isère runs from late November to early May, Lech from December to April. Nobody can promise snow anywhere, and Lech has its own name for holding snow well. But if you are booking months ahead for a week at either end of the winter, height is the odds you can see in advance, and Val d'Isère has far more of it.
Size: closer than the brochures suggest
Val d'Isère shares the Espace Killy with Tignes, quoted at 300 kilometres, a figure we have checked against our own measurement and are happy to stand behind. Lech shares the Arlberg with Zürs and St. Anton, and we have not yet classified the Arlberg's total, so the two areas cannot honestly be set side by side.
What we can compare is the piste we measure around each village, from the run geometry. Lech has 175 kilometres, Val d'Isère 158, both well above the 116 at a typical resort we cover. Each figure overlaps with the neighbours on the same pass, so think of them as what is near your door. On that ruler Lech is not the smaller resort. Either way, a week will not run short of runs.
The skiing: Lech has the edge on black and off piste
On the measure we trust most across a border, the share of piste steeper than one in four, Lech is a little steeper: 33 percent against 29, and both above the 26 at a typical resort we cover. France and Austria grade differently, so that beats comparing colours. The average gradients, which are averages per run segment with a run's grade set by its steepest pitch, are close. The blues measure 17.0 percent at Lech and 16.9 at Val d'Isère. The reds measure 22.3 against 23.9, each a little under its own country's average.
79 km blue and easier 45%70 km red 40%26 km black 15%
90 km blue and easier 57%46 km red 29%22 km black 14%
Marked off piste itinerary, kept out of the piste totals: Lech 56 km, Val d'Isère 29 km.
Where Lech pulls ahead is the serious end. It has 26 kilometres of black, the sixth most of the 55 we cover, to Val d'Isère's 22, and 56 kilometres of marked off piste itinerary, the second most, to 29. Val d'Isère's 29 is still the fifth most of the 55 we cover, so both are proper off piste resorts. Lech's longest itinerary, the Wöster Bockbachtal, runs 8.5 kilometres with 827 metres of vertical. Val d'Isère's Col Pers is shorter, 4.9 kilometres, but drops 917.
At the easy end, Val d'Isère has more labelled for it: 90 kilometres of green and blue, 57 percent of its piste, with the gentle Solaise side made for first days. Lech has 79 of blue and easier. Measured, though, the gap reverses: 31 percent of Lech's piste is gentler than 15 percent, against 28 at Val d'Isère.
Who each one actually suits
Val d'Isère suits nearly every kind of group, which is rare. It is a real village of stone and timber rather than a purpose built station, and it has range. Beginners start on the wide greens up on Solaise. Strong skiers have La Face de Bellevarde, built for the 1992 Olympic downhill, the Pissaillas glacier and the off piste around Le Fornet. Evenings run from a quiet dinner to La Folie Douce above La Daille and the late bars in town. Choose your end of the valley: La Daille for a fast lift up and quiet evenings, the Centre for walking to everything, Le Fornet for calm.
Lech suits people who want the skiing to be serious and the rest of the day to be calm. It is a small, pretty village kept low by tight building rules, and it is very good with families: Oberlech, above it, is car free and reached by cable car. The evenings are a terrace drink as the lifts slow and a long dinner after. Zürs, higher and more exclusive, and Zug, a hamlet up the valley, are other quiet bases. St. Anton, on the same pass, has the noise when you want it.
The bit nobody tells you
Val d'Isère carries the expert label. Lech carries the refined one. On the numbers we measure around each village, the quiet Austrian village has more black, nearly twice the marked itinerary and a slightly bigger share of steep piste than the French one. It is not that Val d'Isère is soft. It is that Lech's reputation for calm hides a lot of serious skiing.
So if your group is strong and the deciding factor is the terrain itself, do not rule Lech out for sounding gentle. If the deciding factor is snow at the edges of the season, or a big night out, the answer is Val d'Isère.
So, which one
you want serious skiing, black and off piste in quantity, in a calm, smart village where the evening means dinner. Families who like the idea of Oberlech, and anyone happy to ski December to April.
you want height on your side, a season that runs late November to early May, a big, checked ski area shared with Tignes, and evenings that can be as lively or as quiet as you like.
The skiing is close enough that either will satisfy a good group, and altitude is the one thing you cannot add later. Lech is the right answer when calm evenings matter more to you than height.