Like Cervinia, but in Austria: the snow is there, the gentle reds are not
The Ski Snug teamUpdated 12 October 20265 min read
You love Cervinia because nothing about the week feels like a gamble. The village sits at 2,050 metres, the third highest of the 55 resorts we cover. Ninety-nine percent of the piste we measure is above 1,800 metres, the skiing reaches 3,869 metres at the top station it shares with Zermatt, and the season runs from late November to May.
And for all that height, it is easy skiing. Seventy-two percent of the map is red, but the reds average 18.1 percent, the fourth gentlest of the 55 resorts we cover, and only 15 percent of the piste is steeper than one in four. Add a day over the top to Zermatt for lunch and a quiet aperitivo at the end of it, and you have the week people book again.
The honest headline: Austria can give you the snow and the season, but not the village height or the gradient. On our matching, even Cervinia's closest Austrian resort is a looser fit than its closest in France or Switzerland. The highest village of the three it picks, Hintertux, is 550 metres below yours, and at every one of them at least twice your share of the piste is steeper than one in four. Across the resorts we cover, an Austrian red averages 23.4 percent and an Italian one 20.4, and Cervinia's are softer than either.
| Resort | Village | Top of the skiing, measured | Piste we measure around the village | Steeper than one in four | Average red | Piste at or above 1,800 m |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Your benchmarkCervinia | 2,050 m | 3,869 m, the station shared with Zermatt | 116 km | 15% | 18.1% | 99% |
| Sölden | 1,368 m | 3,306 m | 135 km | 30% | 23.7% | 89% |
| Hintertux | 1,500 m | 3,239 m | 110 km | 32% | 22.1% | 96% |
| Ischgl | 1,377 m | 2,868 m | 152 km | 34% | 20.7% | 90% |
One more thing does not travel. Cervinia's longest run by our measure is a 5.3 kilometre red that drops 741 metres. None of the three Austrian picks has a run we measure at more than 2.3 kilometres.
Sölden: the closest on height and season
- VillageVillage
- 1,368 m 682 m lower
- Highest liftTop lift
- 3,340 m 543 m lower
Sölden: 135 km of piste we measure. 77 km blue and easier 57%40 km red 29%19 km black 14%
Sölden keeps more of the Cervinia week than either of the others. Its skiing reaches 3,306 metres by our measure, the highest of the 13 Austrian resorts we cover. It has two glaciers, the Rettenbach and the Tiefenbach, it is snow sure on our measure with 89 percent of the piste above 1,800 metres, and its season matches yours.
It also has the easy mileage a Cervinia cruiser needs to cope with Austrian gradients. There are 76.8 kilometres of blue and easier, more than three times your 24.3, and those blues average 17.3 percent, a shade gentler than a Cervinia red. Ski Sölden on blue and the gradient will feel much like home; we measure 135 kilometres of piste around the village in all.
What you give up is the gentle end and the calm. Only 26 percent of the piste is gentler than 15 percent, against your 39, and the reds average 23.7 percent against your 18.1. The village is at 1,368 metres, 682 below yours, and it is long and strung along the valley with a road running through it; families can stay up at Hochsölden, above the traffic and nearer the snow. Our read is sporty and lively, with nightlife on its list of what it does best, which is a louder evening than a Cervinia aperitivo.
Hintertux: the closest on snow
- VillageVillage
- 1,500 m 550 m lower
- Highest liftTop lift
- 3,250 m 633 m lower
Hintertux: 110 km of piste we measure. 42 km blue and easier 38%66 km red 59%2.9 km black 3%
If what you love most is never having to think about the snow, Hintertux is the Austrian pick that comes closest. Its glacier is open every day of the year, which by our account no other Austrian glacier is, and 96 percent of the piste we measure is above 1,800 metres, the largest share of the 13 Austrian resorts we cover. The skiing reaches 3,239 metres. Like Cervinia it is a red map, with 59 percent of the piste red, and around the village we measure 110 kilometres, close to your 116. Our read is snowy and no frills, which a Cervinia regular who comes for the skiing rather than the setting will recognise.
The catch is the gradient, and here it is sharp. Hintertux's blues average 19.3 percent, the second steepest of the 55 resorts we cover and steeper than a Cervinia red. Only 28 percent of the piste is gentler than 15 percent, 32 percent is steeper than one in four, and there are just 2.9 kilometres of black. It is a mountain of reds and fairly steep blues, with little at either end.
The shape is narrower too. Its own linked skiing is the glacier, 62 kilometres. The rest of the Zillertal, including the 206 kilometres of Ski Zillertal 3000, needs a bus. The village sits at 1,500 metres.
Ischgl: the closest on size and a day across the border
- VillageVillage
- 1,377 m 673 m lower
- Highest liftTop lift
- 2,872 m 1,011 m lower
Ischgl: 152 km of piste we measure. 43 km blue and easier 28%83 km red 54%27 km black 18%
Plus 11 km of marked off piste itinerary, kept out of the piste total.
Ischgl is the pick for the Cervinia skier who loves the scale and the day trip. We measure 152 kilometres of piste around the village, the most on this page and more than your 116. Like Cervinia it is mostly red on the map, 54 percent, and its reds average 20.7 percent, the second gentlest of the 13 Austrian resorts we cover. It is snow sure on our measure, with 90 percent of the piste above 1,800 metres, and the season runs from late November to May. And the party trick will feel familiar: the lifts cross into Switzerland, to Samnaun, for lunch on the other side and some duty free shopping before you ski back.
The trade is the steep end and the noise. Thirty-four percent of the piste is steeper than one in four, the most of the three picks, there are 26.8 kilometres of black, the fifth most of the 55 resorts we cover, and only 42.6 kilometres of blue and easier. The village is at 1,377 metres, 673 below yours, and the skiing tops out at 2,868 metres. Our read is high energy and snowy, and the nights are what Ischgl is famous for: the opposite of a quiet Cervinia evening, though staying a little way from the main strip helps.
What brings people back to Cervinia is skiing high enough to be snow sure, from late November to May, and easy on the legs. Sölden gives you the first part outright: the highest skiing of the 13 Austrian resorts we cover, two glaciers and the same season. It gets closest to the second through its blues, with more than three times your blue and easier at a gradient a shade under your reds. Go knowing the village is low and lively and the reds are Austrian reds. If the snow is the only thing that matters, Hintertux; if it is the size and the day over the border, Ischgl.