Like Cortina d'Ampezzo, but in Switzerland: where its closest matches live

Crans-Montana is the resort our matching puts nearest to Cortina, in any country. Measure the piste around each and you get 85 kilometres against 86, which is about as close as two resorts get. The difference is that Crans-Montana's skiing is one linked area of 140 kilometres, a figure three independent sources agree on to the kilometre. The bus between areas, the one chore of a Cortina week, simply goes.

The snow moves up a level. The village is at 1,500 metres, 276 above Cortina's, and 79 percent of the piste we measure is at or above 1,800 metres, the fourth biggest share of the 15 Swiss resorts we cover. The skiing tops out at 2,868 metres, measured, 160 below Cortina's top lift but 144 above the highest piste we measure there. Our read on Crans-Montana is sunny and smart: a plateau with wide views over the Rhône, golf and spa on its list of strengths, and good for families. It is the nearest thing here to Cortina's mix of skiing and something else to do.

The trade is the blue. Most of the mountain is red, 59 percent of it, and there are 22 kilometres of blue and easier against Cortina's 38, which is thin for a group with a nervous beginner. The reds are kind, though, averaging 19.2 percent against Cortina's 21.9, and 36 percent of the piste is gentler than 15 percent, the same share as Cortina. Strong skiers gain a little: 12.9 kilometres of black against 9.1. And we class it as a family resort rather than an upmarket one, so the gloss is lighter.

If the part of Cortina you would miss is the upmarket calm, Klosters keeps it. Our read is discreet and pretty, upmarket, quiet and good for families, the quieter neighbour of Davos. The village is at 1,191 metres, 33 below Cortina's, the skiing reaches 2,808 metres, measured, and 69 percent of the piste we measure is at or above 1,800 metres. It even keeps some of Cortina's off piste: 6.5 kilometres of marked itinerary, against 9.2.

It also keeps the shape you know, for better and worse. Klosters reaches the Parsenn, the one big mountain it genuinely shares with Davos, by cable car. Its other mountain, Madrisa, is separate, and the rest of the Davos side needs a train, a bus or a car. The pass is sold as 300 kilometres; an independent measurement makes it 224 across the same ten lift areas, and we measure 97 around the village. A Cortina regular will find the routine familiar.

The mountain is gentler than Cortina's, and by a distance. Only 15 percent of the piste is steeper than one in four, and its reds and blacks average 17.1 and 21.1 percent, the gentlest reds and the gentlest blacks of the 55 resorts we cover. There are 24 kilometres of blue and easier, against 38, with most of the rest red. For a couple who ski steadily and want a quiet, smart base, that is a very easy week. For anyone who skis Cortina's blacks for the challenge, it will feel short of bite.

Laax is the odd one out in mood, and the nearest of the three at the top. The skiing reaches 2,968 metres, measured, only 60 below Cortina's top lift and 244 above the highest piste we measure there. The village is at 1,100 metres, 124 below Cortina's, and 72 percent of the piste we measure is at or above 1,800 metres. Thirty-seven percent of the piste is gentler than 15 percent, against 36. Like Cortina, we class it as upmarket.

It gives you more of the skiing, all joined. Flims Laax Falera is 176 kilometres of piste in one linked area; the 216 you will see marketed adds 40 kilometres of ski route, and both figures are honest about what they count. We measure 124 kilometres around the village, 39 more than around Cortina, with 57 of blue and easier, against 38. And it has 27.7 kilometres of marked off piste itinerary, the most of the 15 Swiss resorts we cover and three times Cortina's 9.2.

What changes is everything off the snow. Laax is modern and youthful, design led and a freestyle and snowboarding magnet. That is a world away from a passeggiata on the Corso. The pistes are also gentle: 14 percent steeper than one in four, against 25, and its blacks average 25.5 percent against Cortina's 32.5.