Like Courmayeur, but in Austria: the spa town or the steep blacks?

Of the 13 Austrian resorts we cover, our matching puts Bad Gastein nearest to Courmayeur, and the reason is not on the piste map. Our read on it is grand and characterful, with faded belle époque style, thermal spas and big scenery. If your Courmayeur week is half town and half spa, with the skiing fitted in between, this is the one of the three that leans the same way.

The skiing is bigger and, if anything, steeper. We measure 107 kilometres of piste around the village, about two and a half times Courmayeur's 42, and 37 percent of it is steeper than one in four, against 32: the third biggest steep share of the Austrian resorts we cover. The reds average 25.0 percent, a little steeper than Courmayeur's 24.3. There is more black, 8.2 kilometres against 4.6, though it is less fierce, averaging 32.6 percent against 36.4.

What you give up is height and a single mountain. The village sits at 1,000 metres, 224 below Courmayeur, and the skiing tops out at 2,644 metres by our measure, 71 short of yours. Half the piste we measure is at or above 1,800 metres, against 72 percent at home, so it does not pass our snow sure test. Bad Gastein's own area is 83 kilometres, one of four separate areas down the valley on a Ski amadé pass whose five regions are not all joined. Marked off piste itinerary is short in both, 1.5 kilometres here against 3.3, and our data says nothing about guided off piste, so we would not book it for that. Our tag for it is traditional rather than upmarket: grand, not chic.

Courmayeur's piste is compact, sharp where it matters and kind elsewhere, and of the three picks Obertauern is laid out most like it. We measure 74 kilometres of piste, the least of the 13 Austrian resorts we cover, and the mix is close to yours: 36 percent of the piste is gentler than 15 percent, against 35, and 29 percent is steeper than one in four, against 32.

The blacks are the striking part. There are only 4 kilometres of them, against Courmayeur's 4.6, but they average 37.8 percent, the steepest average black of all 55 resorts we cover and a touch steeper than Courmayeur's, which comes fourth. Both sit far above the national averages for a black, 30.2 percent in Italy and 30.3 in Austria. The reds average 25.3 percent, against 24.3. A strong skier who loves Courmayeur's short, fierce blacks will recognise these.

It also wakes you up higher. The village is at 1,740 metres, the highest of the Austrian resorts we cover and 516 above Courmayeur. It is ski in ski out, the runs make a circuit, and the season runs from late November into May, against December to April at Courmayeur. The catch is the top: the skiing stops at 2,304 metres by our measure, 411 below yours, so for all the height of the village it does not pass our snow sure test. Our read is high and snowy rather than chic, and there is no marked off piste itinerary that we measure.

Mayrhofen matches Courmayeur on one number exactly: 32 percent of the piste we measure is steeper than one in four, the same share. Our read on it is a lively, welcoming Zillertal town with a steep signature run, good for nightlife, families and the snow park.

The skiing is bigger and longer. We measure 90.5 kilometres around the town and 14.1 kilometres of black, about three times Courmayeur's 4.6. The longest run we measure is a red of 4.3 kilometres that drops 1,161 metres. Courmayeur's longest is a 1 kilometre red with 260 metres of vertical, so this is a different kind of leg burn.

The steep sits beside some very easy ground, and not much of it. The blues average 12.7 percent, the gentlest of the 13 Austrian resorts we cover, and there are 28.5 kilometres of blue and easier, the least of the 13. The blacks average 27.5 percent, kinder than the Austrian average of 30.3 and well short of Courmayeur's 36.4: plenty of black, less bite.

The rest is a long way from home. The town is at 630 metres, the second lowest village of the 55 resorts we cover, and the skiing tops out at 2,412 metres by our measure, so it does not pass our snow sure test. The Zillertal is four separate areas, with the Hintertux glacier a bus ride away. And our tags for it are lively and family: the sociable end of Austria rather than the stylish end.