Like Klosters, but in France: the quiet village beside a big name

Klosters is the quiet village beside Davos. Saint-Martin-de-Belleville plays that part in the Three Valleys, on the same lift pass as Courchevel, Méribel and Val Thorens. Our read of it is traditional and quiet, an old Savoyard village, and we list it for authenticity, food and its way into the Three Valleys.

The height comes with it almost unchanged. Seventy five percent of the piste we measure is at or above 1,800 metres, against your 69, and half of it sits above 2,040 metres, against 2,046 at Klosters. It is snow sure on our measure, though the skiing tops out at 2,691 metres, 117 below yours. The village is at 1,450 metres, 259 higher than Klosters.

The map gets kinder. There are 50.2 kilometres of green and blue, against your 24 of blue and easier. The reds average 21.9 percent, the second gentlest of the 17 French resorts we cover but steeper than home, and 20 percent of the piste is steeper than one in four, against your 15. And the area joins up. The Three Valleys is genuinely linked and quoted at 600 kilometres, a figure we have not measured ourselves, where most of the Davos Klosters pass needs a train, bus or car.

The trade is the polish and the hard end. Upmarket and family are not on its tags. Around the village we measure 75 kilometres against your 97, there are 6 kilometres of black against 11.7, the second least of the 17 French resorts we cover, and there is no marked itinerary in our data, against your 6.5. You fly to Geneva or Chambéry rather than Zurich.

Our matching puts Samoëns closest to Klosters of all the French resorts we cover, and it keeps the most of the character. We tag it traditional, quiet and family, our read is authentic and calm, and it is a listed old village with a big area above it, best for its history, families and value.

On two measures it is the gentlest of the 17 French resorts we cover. Only 19 percent of the piste is steeper than one in four, the smallest share of the 17 we cover, and its reds average 19.9 percent, the gentlest of the 17 we cover. Forty percent is gentler than 15 percent, the joint fourth biggest share of the 55 resorts we cover, against your 38. There are 48.3 kilometres of green and blue, 10.3 of them green, and 3.6 kilometres of marked itinerary. We measure 89.5 kilometres in all, not far short of your 97.

The trade is height, and it is a big one. The village is at 720 metres, the lowest of the 17 French resorts we cover and 471 below Klosters. The skiing reaches 2,372 metres by our measure, 436 below yours, and only 18 percent of the piste we measure is at or above 1,800 metres, so Samoëns is not snow sure on our measure. Upmarket is not on its tags, and its area, the Grand Massif, is not classified in our data. Geneva is the airport.

If the Klosters you want is a big, high mountain under a quiet base, Serre Chevalier has the most of it. We measure 153 kilometres of piste around its villages, against your 97, with 91.4 kilometres of green and blue. The skiing reaches 2,751 metres by our measure, 57 below yours, and 72 percent of the piste we measure is at or above 1,800 metres, so it is snow sure on our measure. The village is at 1,350 metres, 159 above Klosters, and 38 percent of the piste is gentler than 15 percent at both.

We tag it quiet. Our read is relaxed and sunny: sun, trees and a string of old villages, best for tree skiing, sunshine and value.

The trade is the gradient and the polish. Our matching names the share of steep piste as the biggest difference: 27 percent of the piste here is steeper than one in four, against your 15, and the reds average 24.9 percent against 17.1. Upmarket and family are not on its tags, and its area total is not classified in our data. You fly to Turin or Grenoble.