Like Adelboden, but in Austria: the family skiing travels, the chalet village less so

Our matching puts Schladming closer to Adelboden than any other Austrian resort we cover, and on the skiing it is close to a copy. Thirty nine percent of the piste is gentler than 15 percent, against your 38, the largest share of the 13 Austrian resorts we cover. Twenty seven percent is steeper than one in four, against 25. There are 12.9 kilometres of black, the same figure as Adelboden's, and 59 of blue and easier against your 52. The blues average 13.0 percent against 14.5, and its blacks are the gentlest of the 13 Austrian resorts we cover.

It has Adelboden's habit of a pass bigger than the doorstep, but more at the door. The Ski amadé pass says 760 kilometres, across five regions that are not all joined. Schladming's own four mountains are linked end to end with no bus, 123 kilometres, against your 85, and we measure 134 around the town, about 19 more than around Adelboden.

It is a family resort on our tags, families are on its list as on yours, and our read is down to earth and friendly, a valley town with floodlit night skiing and value on its list. What it is not is a traditional chalet village; we do not tag it traditional.

The other trade is height. The town is at 745 metres, 605 below Adelboden's. The skiing tops out at 2,001 metres by our measurement, 355 lower, and only 7 percent of the piste is at or above 1,800 metres, the second smallest share of the 13 Austrian resorts we cover. The reds are steeper too, averaging 24.4 percent against 21.3.

Bad Gastein is the pick that keeps the tradition: we tag it traditional, and our read is grand and characterful, faded belle époque grandeur and thermal spas, with the spa and the scenery on its list. It is a different kind of old, though, and not a chalet village.

Its own area is 83 kilometres, 2 short of Adelboden's 85, one of four separate areas down the valley on the Ski amadé pass. It also goes higher. The village is at 1,000 metres, 350 below yours, but the skiing reaches 2,644 metres by our measurement, 288 above Adelboden's. Half the piste is at or above 1,800 metres, 27 percent above 2,000 against your 16, and 13 percent above 2,200 against 3. Our snow sure test asks for more than half, so on our measure it is not snow sure, but more of it is high.

The trade is the family week. We do not tag it family, and the mountain is much steeper: 37 percent of the piste is steeper than one in four, the joint eighth largest share of the 55 resorts we cover, and only 29 percent is gentler than 15 percent, against your 38. Its reds average 25.0 percent, the ninth steepest of the 55 we cover, and there are 8.2 kilometres of black.

If what you would change about Adelboden is how high it sits, Obertauern is the Austrian answer. Its village is at 1,740 metres, the highest of the 13 Austrian resorts we cover and 390 above yours, and 100 percent of its piste is above 1,500 metres. Sixty one percent is at or above 1,800, against 55. Its share of gentle piste, 36 percent, is the second largest of the 13 Austrian resorts we cover, and the season runs from late November into May.

But the top is no higher. The skiing stops at 2,304 metres by our measurement, 52 below Adelboden's, so on our measure it is not snow sure, though our own one line description calls it that. Our read is high and snowy, a neat skiable loop, with ski in ski out on its list.

The trade is everything else. We tag it neither traditional nor family. We measure 74 kilometres of piste, the least of the 13 Austrian resorts we cover, with 4 kilometres of black, and those blacks average 37.8 percent, the steepest of the 55 resorts we cover. Its reds, at 25.3, are the eighth steepest of the 55 we cover.