Like Grindelwald, but in Austria: how close can you get?
The Ski Snug teamUpdated 12 October 20265 min read
If you love Grindelwald, a lot of what you love is not on the piste map. It is the Eiger's north face over breakfast, the trains and gondolas that carry everyone up, the toboggan runs, and a railway to the Jungfraujoch for the people who do not ski. Our read of it is postcard pretty, best for scenery, families and rail access, and we tag it traditional and family.
What is on the map is kind. Around the village we measure 132 kilometres of piste, 42 percent of it gentler than 15 percent, the third biggest share of the 55 resorts we cover, and only 15 percent steeper than one in four. Its own lifts reach 150 kilometres of the Jungfrau Ski Region. The village is at 1,034 metres, the skiing tops out at 2,496 metres by our measure, and 59 percent of the piste we measure is at or above 1,800 metres, right on our snow sure line, so we leave that call open.
The honest headline: of the three countries we match Grindelwald against, Austria is the hardest. Our matching's closest Austrian resort, Schladming, is a looser fit than its closest in France or Italy, and every one of the three Austrian picks has less of its skiing above 1,800 metres than Grindelwald. Each keeps one part of the week. Schladming keeps the most.
| Resort | Village | Top of the skiing, measured | Ski area | Piste we measure around the village | Blue and easier | Steeper than one in four | Gentler than 15% | Piste at or above 1,800 m |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Your benchmarkGrindelwald | 1,034 m | 2,496 m | Jungfrau Ski Region: 150 km from its own lifts, 211 km on the pass | 132 km | 55 km | 15% | 42% | 59% |
| Schladming | 745 m | 2,001 m | Ski amadé pass; its own four mountains, 123 km, linked | 134 km | 59 km | 27% | 39% | 7% |
| SkiWelt | 620 m | 1,958 m | Size not classified in our data | 258 km | 133 km | 24% | 34% | 0% |
| Bad Gastein | 1,000 m | 2,644 m | Ski amadé pass; its own area is 83 km | 107 km | 41 km | 37% | 29% | 50% |
Schladming: the closest on the family week
- VillageVillage
- 745 m 289 m lower
- Highest liftTop lift
- 2,015 m 955 m lower
Schladming: 134 km of piste we measure. 59 km blue and easier 44%62 km red 46%13 km black 10%
Our matching puts Schladming closest to Grindelwald of the Austrian resorts we cover, and for a family it is a good fit. We tag it family, and our read is down to earth and friendly: a valley town, best for night skiing, families and value, with floodlit runs for an evening session.
The mountain is almost the same size and better joined. We measure 134 kilometres of piste around the town, against 132, with 59 kilometres of blue and easier against 55. Its own four mountains are 123 kilometres, linked end to end with no bus, where Grindelwald's sectors lean on trains and gondolas. And 39 percent of the piste is gentler than 15 percent, the biggest share of the 13 Austrian resorts we cover and close to Grindelwald's 42. The blues average 13.0 percent against 13.5, and the blacks 25.0 against 25.3: the same feel at both ends.
The reds are where Austria shows. They average 24.4 percent against Grindelwald's 18.3, and 27 percent of the piste is steeper than one in four, against 15. And it is low. The town is at 745 metres, 289 below Grindelwald, the skiing tops out at 2,001 metres by our measure, 495 below, and only 7 percent of the piste we measure is at or above 1,800 metres. We tag it family but not traditional, and nothing in our data stands in for the Eiger.
SkiWelt: the closest on the traditional family character
- VillageVillage
- 620 m 414 m lower
- Highest liftTop lift
- 1,957 m 1,013 m lower
SkiWelt: 258 km of piste we measure. 133 km blue and easier 51%106 km red 41%20 km black 8%
Plus 11 km of marked off piste itinerary, kept out of the piste total.
The SkiWelt is the only one of the three we tag both traditional and family, as we tag Grindelwald. Our read is traditional and friendly, one of the largest linked areas, gentle and good value, best for a big area, value and families.
It is enormous by comparison. We measure 258 kilometres of piste, nearly twice Grindelwald's and the most of the 13 Austrian resorts we cover, with 133 kilometres of blue and easier, the fourth most of the 55 we cover. Its 20 kilometres of black is about level with Grindelwald's 19, and it has the smallest steep share of the 13 Austrian resorts we cover, 24 percent. The longest piste we measure is a 4.3 kilometre blue with 639 metres of vertical, a proper cruise.
What you give up is height, completely. The village height we hold is 620 metres, 414 below Grindelwald and the lowest of the 55 resorts we cover. Its top of the skiing, 1,958 metres by our measure, is also the lowest of the 55 we cover, 538 below Grindelwald's, and almost none of its piste reaches 1,800 metres. That is a lot of gentle skiing with no height behind it. Its ski area size is not classified in our data, so the measured 258 kilometres is the one to plan on.
Bad Gastein: the closest on scenery and height
- VillageVillage
- 1,000 m 34 m lower
- Highest liftTop lift
- 2,686 m 284 m lower
Bad Gastein: 107 km of piste we measure. 41 km blue and easier 39%57 km red 54%8 km black 8%
Bad Gastein is the Grindelwald pick for the view and the old resort feel. Our read is grand and characterful, faded belle époque grandeur and thermal spas, and it is best for belle époque character, the spa and the scenery, so a non skier has a real place to spend the day. We tag it traditional. The village is at 1,000 metres, only 34 below Grindelwald's, the nearest of the three.
It also goes higher. The skiing reaches 2,644 metres by our measure, 148 above Grindelwald's top, and 50 percent of the piste we measure is at or above 1,800 metres, against 59, the most of the three picks. Half is not more than half, so it does not count as snow sure on our measure.
The catch is that it skis like the opposite of Grindelwald. Thirty-seven percent of the piste is steeper than one in four, the third biggest share of the 13 Austrian resorts we cover and well over double Grindelwald's 15, and the reds average 25.0 percent against 18.3. Its own area is 83 kilometres, one of four separate areas down the valley, and we measure 107 around the village. We do not tag it family. It is a week for a confident couple who want the scenery and a spa, not for a nervous beginner.
What Grindelwald gives a family, before the view, is a mountain everyone can ski together, and Schladming keeps that best: the same size, nearly the same gentle share, blues and blacks that feel the same, and four mountains joined without a train. Go knowing it is much lower, so the snow is the risk, and that the reds are steeper. If the scenery and a spa matter more than gentle runs, Bad Gastein, for a confident group.