Like Engelberg, but in France: the snow or the steep, not both
The Ski Snug teamUpdated 12 October 20265 min read
Engelberg's appeal has little to do with its piste map. Our one line on it is big vertical and serious freeride near Lucerne, its list of what it does best reads off piste, glacier, freeride, and we class it as expert. Our read on it is down to earth and snowy, and the season runs from December into May.
The figures show what that means. From a village at 1,000 metres, the lowest of the 15 Swiss resorts we cover, the skiing climbs to 3,004 metres by our measure, 1,997 metres from the highest piste we measure to the lowest. The piste itself is small: we measure 46 kilometres around the village, and only two of the 55 resorts we cover have less. Engelberg-Titlis is 70 kilometres on the Titlis and 82 on the pass with Brunni, across the valley by free ski bus, and none of those figures counts the Laub or the Steintäli, the freeride descents that are the real reason to come.
What piste there is has an odd shape. The reds average 24.0 percent, the steepest of the 15 Swiss resorts we cover, yet the blues average 13.2 and 38 percent of the piste is gentler than 15 percent. And it is snow sure on our measure, just: 53 percent of the piste we measure is at or above 1,800 metres.
The honest headline: our matching finds nothing in France close to Engelberg. None of the three French resorts it puts nearest is classed expert, none has any marked off piste itinerary in our data, and none reaches as high. If the freeride is the whole reason you go, the French resort to look at is Argentière, which we class as expert and which shares Engelberg's December to May season. It is not among the three our matching found, so it is not measured here. What two of those three can carry is the rest of an Engelberg week: the snow and the drop, or the stiff reds over gentle blues.
| Resort | Village | Top of the skiing, measured | Height of the piste, top to bottom | Piste we measure around the village | Steeper than one in four | Average red | Piste at or above 1,800 m | Season |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Your benchmarkEngelberg | 1,000 m | 3,004 m | 1,997 m | 46 km | 31% | 24.0% | 53% | December to May |
| Saint-Martin-de-Belleville | 1,450 m | 2,691 m | 1,551 m | 75.1 km | 20% | 21.9% | 75% | December to April |
| La Clusaz | 1,100 m | 2,458 m | 1,422 m | 96.6 km | 39% | 29.0% | 18% | December to April |
Saint-Martin-de-Belleville: the closest on the snow and the drop
- VillageVillage
- 1,450 m 450 m higher
Saint-Martin-de-Belleville: 75 km of piste we measure. 50 km green and blue 67%19 km red 25%6 km black 8%
Of the 17 French resorts we cover, our matching puts Saint-Martin-de-Belleville closest to Engelberg. It is an old Savoyard village inside the Three Valleys, traditional and quiet by our read, best for an authentic village, food and access to the Three Valleys.
On the snow its figures beat Engelberg's. Seventy five percent of the piste we measure is at or above 1,800 metres, against 53, and 55 percent is above 2,000, against 44, up to 2,691 metres. It is snow sure on our measure, with more room to spare. From the highest piste we measure to the lowest is 1,551 metres, the bigger drop of the two picks, and 36 percent of the piste is gentler than 15 percent, against 38, so the easy end carries over too.
And it is bigger. Around the village we measure 75.1 kilometres, against 46, and beyond it the Three Valleys, quoted at 600 kilometres, is one linked area.
What you give up is the steep. Only 20 percent of the piste we measure is steeper than one in four, against 31, and the reds average 21.9 percent against 24.0. There are 6.0 kilometres of black, against 4.5, and no marked itinerary in our data. The village is at 1,450 metres, 450 above Engelberg's, the top is 313 lower, and the season ends in April. We tag it traditional and quiet, not expert.
La Clusaz: the closest on the steep
- VillageVillage
- 1,100 m 100 m higher
- Highest liftTop lift
- 2,600 m 428 m lower
La Clusaz: 97 km of piste we measure. 56 km green and blue 58%32 km red 33%9 km black 9%
If what you love about Engelberg is how the piste skis, La Clusaz is the French pick that skis most like it, turned up. Its reds average 29.0 percent, the steepest of all 55 resorts we cover, against Engelberg's 24.0. Its blacks average 37.3 percent, the second steepest of the 55 resorts we cover. Thirty nine percent of the piste is steeper than one in four, against 31, the joint second biggest share of the 17 French resorts we cover.
The gentle end carries over as well. Thirty eight percent of the piste is gentler than 15 percent at both, and the blues average 14.6 percent against 13.2: stiff reds over gentle blues, the Engelberg shape. The village is close in height, 1,100 metres, 100 above Engelberg's. We measure 96.6 kilometres of piste around it, against 46, with 56.0 kilometres of green and blue, against 19.6, and 8.9 of black, against 4.5.
What you give up is the height and the snow. The skiing stops at 2,458 metres by our measure, 546 below Engelberg's top, and the piste falls 1,422 metres from top to bottom, against 1,997. Only 18 percent of the piste is at or above 1,800 metres, against 53, so La Clusaz is not snow sure on our measure. There is no marked itinerary in our data, and the season ends in April. The mood changes too: we tag it lively, traditional and family, not expert, and our read is lively and local, a village close to Geneva with a weekend feel.
What Engelberg gives you, after the freeride, is a long drop from a low village to snow up high, and Saint-Martin keeps the most of that: snow sure on our measure with more to spare, the bigger drop of the two picks, the gentle ground and the whole of the Three Valleys beyond. Go knowing the piste around the village is far less steep, and that nothing in our data replaces the Laub. If the stiff reds matter more to you than the snow, La Clusaz. If the freeride is the point, Argentière.