Like Argentière, but in Italy: the quiet in one place, the steep in another

Bormio keeps the parts of Argentière that are not the gradient. The village sits at 1,225 metres, 27 below yours. The mountain is the same sort of size, with 52.5 kilometres of piste measured around it against your 44; only three of the 55 resorts we cover measure less. And it is quiet: a historic spa town with a famous top to bottom run, relaxed by our read, with long runs, a thermal spa and racing on its list.

The height carries over too. The skiing reaches 3,001 metres by our measure, 221 below yours and the third highest of the 10 Italian resorts we cover, and 76 percent of the piste is at or above 1,800 metres, so Bormio is snow sure on our measure. From the lowest piste we measure to the highest is 1,805 metres, against your 2,163. Like Argentière, it is no place to learn: 12.1 kilometres of blue and easier, the least of the 55 resorts we cover.

The trade is how the steep is spread. Thirty-two percent of Bormio's piste is steeper than one in four, against your 59, and 68 percent of it is red, the reds averaging 21.7 percent, close to a typical Italian red. The steep sits in the blacks: they average 35.7 percent, the sixth steepest of the 55 resorts we cover and steeper than your 31.8, but there are 4.7 kilometres of them against your 14.7. Marked itinerary comes to 4 kilometres against your 9, and it is one long descent, with 1,051 metres of vertical by our measure. We do not class Bormio as expert, the season ends in April, and you fly to Bergamo or Milan.

Forty percent of Livigno's piste is steeper than one in four, the fifth biggest share of the 55 resorts we cover. The blues average 17.8 percent, the joint fourth steepest of the 55 resorts we cover and close to your 18.4, and the blacks 33.2, steeper than yours. The reds are kinder, 23.1 percent against 28.9. It is also the only one of the three that keeps May, with a season from late November.

It is higher than Argentière everywhere but the top. The village is at 1,816 metres, 564 above yours. All of the piste we measure is at or above 1,800 metres, the lowest of it at 1,813, as big a share as any of the 55 resorts we cover, so it is snow sure on our measure. The skiing reaches 2,767 metres by our measure, 455 below your top.

The trade is the quiet and the serious side. Livigno is high and lively by our read, with duty free and value on its list, and we do not class it as expert. There is no marked off piste itinerary in our data, and from the lowest piste to the highest is 954 metres, against your 2,163. There are 8.9 kilometres of black against your 14.7, and the skiing is two sectors facing each other across the valley, with no lift between them. You fly to Bergamo or Innsbruck.

Kronplatz has the biggest share of steep piste of the 10 Italian resorts we cover: 43 percent is steeper than one in four, joint second of the 55 resorts we cover, behind only Argentière. There is little gentle ground, as at home. Only 16 percent of the piste is gentler than 15 percent, the smallest share of the 55 resorts we cover and a point under your 17, and the blues average 20.2 percent, the steepest of the 55 resorts we cover. The black is all but level, 14.1 kilometres against your 14.7.

What changes is everything around the gradient. Kronplatz is a perfectly groomed dome above the Puster valley, modern and efficient by our read, with grooming and families on its list: steep, but groomed, and with no marked off piste itinerary in our data. It is also low. The skiing tops out at 2,266 metres by our measure, 956 below yours and the lowest of the 10 Italian resorts we cover, and with 51 percent of the piste at or above 1,800 metres it is not snow sure on our measure. The season ends in April, and you fly to Innsbruck or Venice.