Like Bad Gastein, but in Switzerland: the place, without the steep

Gstaad keeps the shape of a Bad Gastein week better than either of the other Swiss picks. The village is at 1,050 metres, 50 above yours. Scenery is on both resorts' lists of what they do best. And the skiing is spread out in the same way: around nine sectors on a 200 kilometre pass, most of them reached by train, bus or car rather than by lift. You choose a mountain each morning, as you do down the Gastein valley.

The place has its own kind of grand. Gstaad is quietly wealthy by our read, and our guide describes a car light village with a promenade, a century as a discreet resort for old money, and hotel spas that open their wellness areas to day guests. It is understated luxury rather than faded grandeur, and we class it as upmarket and quiet rather than traditional.

The skiing is where you pay. Around the village it stops at 2,149 metres, measured, 495 below your top, and only 15 percent of the piste is at or above 1,800 metres, the smallest share of the 15 Swiss resorts we cover, against your half. For height there is Glacier 3000, a separate area that reaches 3,000 metres and, by our guide, a proper excursion. It is not snow sure on our measure.

The mix changes too. Twenty-five percent of the piste is steeper than one in four, against your 37, and the reds average 22.5 percent against 25.0. Oddly, the blues go the other way: they average 17.8 percent, the steepest of the 15 Swiss resorts we cover, against your gentle 14.9. There is more of everything else. We measure 127.9 kilometres around the village, 21.3 more than around Bad Gastein, with 73.1 of blue and easier and 18.3 of black against your 8.2.

If the spa and the high skiing are what you would keep, Crans-Montana is the Swiss pick that has both. Golf and spa is on its list of what it does best, with sunshine and families, and it is sunny and smart by our read, a plateau with wide views over the Rhône.

The skiing reaches 2,868 metres, measured, 224 above Bad Gastein's top, and 79 percent of the piste is at or above 1,800 metres, the fourth largest share of the 15 Swiss resorts we cover. That passes the snow sure test Bad Gastein misses by the narrowest margin. It is one linked area of 140 kilometres, a figure three independent sources agree on, so the skiing joins up.

The trade is the steep and the easy, both at once. Twenty-two percent of the piste is steeper than one in four, against your 37, and the reds average 19.2 percent: only five of the 55 resorts we cover have gentler reds. There are 22 kilometres of blue and easier, against your 41.3, and only four of the 55 we cover have less. We measure 85.2 kilometres around the village, 21.4 fewer than around Bad Gastein. The village is at 1,500 metres, 500 above yours, and it is smart rather than traditional.

Our matching puts Adelboden closer to Bad Gastein than any other Swiss resort we cover, and it keeps the traditional feel: a classic chalet village, traditional and warm by our read. Its area is built like yours. From the village you can ski 85 kilometres without transport, Lenk included, against Bad Gastein's own 83, and the pass covers 188 kilometres across five sectors that are not all joined, as Ski amadé's five regions are not. We measure 114.6 kilometres around the village, 8 more than around Bad Gastein.

The snow profile is a mirror image. Fifty-five percent of Adelboden's piste is at or above 1,800 metres, which passes the share our test asks for, but the skiing stops at 2,356 metres, measured, 288 below yours, which fails the other half. Bad Gastein does the opposite. Neither is snow sure on our measure.

The steep goes. Adelboden's 25 percent steeper than one in four is joint third of the 15 Swiss resorts we cover, against your 37, and its reds average 21.3 percent. In return there are 52.3 kilometres of blue and easier, with 12.9 of black. There is no spa on its list.