Like Bormio, but in France: the quiet old village, without the spa
The Ski Snug teamUpdated 12 October 20265 min read
You love Bormio, and this winter you want to try France. On our data, Bormio sells a town as well as a mountain: a historic spa town with a famous top to bottom run. Our read on it is historic and relaxed, we class it as traditional and quiet, and long runs, a thermal spa and racing are on its list of what it does best. The town sits at 1,225 metres and the season runs from December to April.
The mountain above it is high, steep and small. The skiing reaches 3,001 metres, measured, the third highest of the 10 Italian resorts we cover, and from there to the lowest piste we measure is 1,805 metres of drop. It is snow sure on our measure: 76 percent of the piste is at or above 1,800 metres. Thirty two percent is steeper than one in four, against 26 at the median resort we cover, and the blacks average 35.7 percent, the sixth steepest of the 55 resorts we cover. But there is not much of it. We measure 52.5 kilometres of piste around the town, and only three of the 55 resorts we cover have less.
The honest headline: none of the 17 French resorts we cover has a spa on its list of what it does best, so on our data the thermal baths stay in Italy. What France can give you is the quiet old place under a high mountain, and one village keeps nearly all of that.
| Resort | Village | Top of the skiing, measured | Piste we measure around the village | Steeper than one in four | At or above 1,800 m |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Your benchmarkBormio | 1,225 m | 3,001 m | 52.5 km | 32% | 76% |
| Saint-Martin-de-Belleville | 1,450 m | 2,691 m | 75 km, in the Three Valleys, quoted at 600 km | 20% | 75% |
| Le Grand-Bornand | 1,000 m | 2,458 m at the top of a lift; highest piste 2,362 m | 85 km | 37% | 15% |
Saint-Martin-de-Belleville: the closest on the quiet and the snow
- VillageVillage
- 1,450 m 225 m higher
Saint-Martin-de-Belleville: 75 km of piste we measure. 50 km green and blue 67%19 km red 25%6 km black 8%
Of the French resorts we cover, our matching puts Saint-Martin-de-Belleville closest to Bormio, and it loses neither of Bormio's traits. It is an old Savoyard village inside the Three Valleys, traditional and quiet by our read, with authentic and foodie on its list. It is also the only French resort we cover that we class as both traditional and quiet and that is snow sure on our measure.
The height of the piste is where it holds up best. Seventy five percent of the piste we measure is at or above 1,800 metres, against Bormio's 76, up to 2,691 metres. The village, at 1,450 metres, sits 225 above Bormio's town. The top is 310 metres lower than Bormio's, and from it to the lowest piste we measure is 1,551 metres of drop, against your 1,805.
The map is the big change. Bormio's own mountain is 50 kilometres across 12 lifts, and the rest of its pass sits in separate valleys that you reach by transport. Saint-Martin opens onto the Three Valleys, quoted at 600 kilometres and joined by lift, though we have not measured the whole of it ourselves. Around the village itself we measure 75 kilometres, about 23 more than around Bormio.
What you give up is the steep, and the spa. Twenty percent of Saint-Martin's piste is steeper than one in four, against your 32. Its blacks average 30.9 percent against 35.7, with 6 kilometres of them against your 4.7, and there is no marked off piste itinerary, where Bormio has 4 kilometres. The reds will feel familiar: they average 21.9 percent, the second gentlest of the 17 French resorts we cover, against your 21.7. And there is far more room at the easy end, 50 kilometres of green and blue against Bormio's 12 of blue and easier. It is a village rather than a spa town, so the baths stay behind.
Le Grand-Bornand: the closest on the steep
- VillageVillage
- 1,000 m 225 m lower
- Highest liftTop lift
- 2,100 m 912 m lower
Le Grand-Bornand: 85 km of piste we measure. 52 km green and blue 61%22 km red 26%11 km black 13%
If what you love about Bormio is a quiet, traditional place with a mountain that bites, Le Grand-Bornand keeps both traits and more of the bite. It is a farming village, rural and friendly by our read, with families, authentic and quiet on its list. Our own one line says it keeps things gentle. The measurements say otherwise, and we follow the measurements.
Thirty seven percent of its piste is steeper than one in four, the joint eighth biggest share of the 55 resorts we cover, against your 32. Its reds average 28.1 percent, the third steepest of the 55 resorts we cover, well above the French average of 24.3, and its blacks average 34.3 percent, the seventh steepest of the 55 resorts we cover, a little behind your 35.7. There are 11.3 kilometres of black against 4.7, and 52 kilometres of green and blue against your 12 of blue and easier. We measure 85 kilometres of piste around the village, which shares the Aravis with La Clusaz; that area's size is not one we can confirm, so we compare on what we measure.
The trade is height, and it is a big one. The village is at 1,000 metres, 225 below Bormio's town. The lifts reach 2,458 metres on our measure, but the highest piste we measure starts at 2,362, and that piste top is 639 metres below your 3,001. Only 15 percent of the piste is at or above 1,800 metres, against your 76, so it does not pass our snow sure test. There is no spa on its list either.
Take away the thermal baths, which no French resort we cover lists among what it does best, and what Bormio gives you is a quiet, traditional place with its piste high on the hill. Saint-Martin keeps the quiet and the tradition, keeps the snow sure call, with 75 percent of the piste at or above 1,800 metres against 76, and opens a linked map far beyond Bormio's own mountain. Go knowing the top is 310 metres lower and the piste much gentler. If the steep matters more to you than the snow, Le Grand-Bornand.