Like Courchevel, but in Switzerland: the skiing or the glamour?

Our matching puts Arosa nearer to Courchevel than any other Swiss resort we cover, and on the skiing it earns it. It is the only one of the three picks where the skiing is one linked area: Arosa Lenzerheide, 225 kilometres, two valleys joined by a single cable car, with the sources in agreement on the figure. We measure 183 kilometres of piste around the village, the most of the 15 Swiss resorts we cover, and 97 kilometres of blue and easier, also the most.

The mix is close to yours. Thirty-five percent of the piste is gentler than 15 percent, exactly Courchevel's share, and 24 percent is steeper than one in four, against 26. The blacks average 32.4 percent, the steepest of the Swiss resorts we cover and a touch steeper than Courchevel's 31.3. The village sits at 1,800 metres, a little above Courchevel's resort centre at 1,747. It is snow sure on our measure too: 65 percent of the piste we measure is above 1,800 metres, up to 2,848.

What you give up is the gloss and the scale. Our read on Arosa is gentle, sunny and good for families, not glossy. We measure less than two thirds of Courchevel's piste, there are 14.5 kilometres of black against 32, and 225 kilometres is a long way short of the 600 quoted for the Three Valleys. It is a Courchevel week for a group that goes for the skiing, all together, and does not need the scene.

If the part of Courchevel you love is the gloss, St Moritz is the Swiss answer, and the only one of the three that is upmarket by our read. It is glamorous and sunny, with a lake full of events in winter and more for non skiers than almost anywhere: spas, shopping, the Cresta Run, and a railway up from Zurich that is part of the trip. It has been doing this a long time, as host of the Winter Olympics in 1928 and 1948.

Its skiing sits higher, too. The town is at 1,822 metres, the highest village of the 15 Swiss resorts we cover, and the skiing reaches 3,266 metres by our measure, 569 above Courchevel's top. It is snow sure on our measure with room to spare: 97 percent of the piste we measure is above 1,800 metres, the joint fifth biggest share of the 55 resorts we cover.

The trade is the skiing itself. St Moritz skis as separate mountains, Corviglia above the town and Corvatsch and Diavolezza further out, and you travel between them. The 350 kilometres you will see quoted is a pass figure across them. We measure 106 kilometres around the town, about a third of Courchevel's 296. There is far less easy ground: 30 kilometres is blue and easier, against Courchevel's 178.5 of green and blue, and 28 percent of the piste is gentler than 15 percent, against 35. What blues there are average 16.4 percent, kinder than Courchevel's 17.5, and the steep share is close, 24 percent against 26. For a confident group that is fine. A group with beginners in it has far less room.

Davos is the pick for a Courchevel skier who goes for the serious end. It has 20.7 kilometres of black, the most of the 15 Swiss resorts we cover, and 13.3 kilometres of marked off piste itinerary, nearly three times Courchevel's 4.5. It is snow sure on our measure, more so than Courchevel: 78 percent of the piste we measure is above 1,800 metres, against 71, up to 2,808 metres. And it is a real town, busy and practical, where the evening does not depend on one square.

Two things to know. The first is the shape. Davos and Klosters share a pass across separate mountains, and only one, the Parsenn, at 95.5 kilometres, is genuinely shared by the two villages. The rest need a train, a bus or a car. The official 300 kilometres sits 34 percent above the 224 we measure across the same ten lift areas, and around the town itself we measure 145.

The second is the gradient. The blacks are plentiful but kind, averaging 25.8 percent, under the Swiss average for a black of 26.7 and well under Courchevel's 31.3. Add a village at 1,560 metres and a busy, practical feel rather than a glossy one, and Davos gives you the kilometres of serious skiing, not the polish.