Like Châtel, but in Switzerland: the village travels, the circuit stays behind

Of all 55 resorts we cover, our matching puts Adelboden closest to Châtel, and it keeps both labels we give Châtel, traditional and family. It is a classic chalet village linked to Lenk, traditional and warm by our read, with tradition, families and the World Cup on its list. The season is the same.

The mountain is the same shape, with more of it. Twenty five percent of the piste is steeper than one in four, against your 26, and 38 percent is gentler than 15 percent, the joint fourth biggest share of the 15 Swiss resorts we cover, against your 35. The reds average 21.3 percent against your 24.3, so a red here is a gentler step up. We measure 115 kilometres of piste around the village, about 33 more than around Châtel, with 52 kilometres of blue and easier against your 45 of green and blue. The hard end is where it pulls ahead: 12.9 kilometres of black, 7.5 more than yours.

The height improves at every level. The village is 150 metres higher than Châtel's, the skiing reaches 2,356 metres by our measurement, 272 higher, and 55 percent of the piste is at or above 1,800 metres, against your 23. It still tops out short of 2,500, so Adelboden is not snow sure on our measure either.

The trade is the circuit. From the village you can ski 85 kilometres without transport, Lenk included, joined by lift. The pass covers 188, across five areas that are not all joined, and our 115 takes in piste beyond the domain, so plan the week on the 85, against the 580 you are used to. You fly to Zurich or Geneva.

If it is the skiing itself you would miss, Villars is nearer than it looks. The skiing we measure tops out at 2,074 metres, 10 below Châtel's, and 25 percent of the piste is at or above 1,800 metres, against your 23. Its reds average 23.6 percent, the second steepest of the 15 Swiss resorts we cover and within a point of yours, so a Châtel red will feel familiar. Thirty seven percent of the piste is gentler than 15 percent, against 35, and 24 percent is steeper than one in four, against 26. Geneva is the airport, as it is now.

It is a relaxed family resort with a view of Mont Blanc, family friendly and calm by our read. We tag it quiet and family, but not traditional. The easy end is generous, 48 kilometres of blue and easier, 68 percent of the piste, and the hard end barely exists: 1.5 kilometres of black, the least of the 55 resorts we cover, plus 3.9 kilometres of marked off piste itinerary, where Châtel has none in our data.

The trade is size. We measure 71 kilometres around the village, against your 82. The area is 87 kilometres of piste, 104 with its ski routes, and Glacier 3000 adds 31 more on passes of three days or more. A good week for a family on blues, a short one for anyone who likes to roam.

Wengen is a car free balcony village under the Jungfrau, peaceful by our read and tagged quiet, car free and family. It is the biggest of the three around the village: we measure 125 kilometres of piste, against your 82. Its own sector is 101 kilometres, and the Jungfrau pass covers 211, but that includes Mürren, which is not joined by lift.

It also fixes the black: 20 kilometres, the second most of the 15 Swiss resorts we cover, against your 5.4, and no Swiss resort we cover has a more even split between easy, red and black. Overall it is gentler than Châtel: 20 percent of the piste is steeper than one in four, against 26, and 39 percent is gentler than 15 percent.

The height is harder to pin down. The village is at 1,274 metres and the top lift at 2,320, against the 2,084 metres we measure as Châtel's top of the skiing. On our mapped area 66 percent of the piste is at or above 1,800 metres, but that map reaches the Jungfraujoch, so we make no snow sure call for Wengen. The trade is the village: we do not tag Wengen traditional, and car free calm is a different character from a farm village. You fly to Zurich or Geneva.