Like Kronplatz, but in France: the pitch travels, the height does not

Our matching puts Le Grand-Bornand closer to Kronplatz than any other French resort we cover. Our read is rural and friendly, a farming village with families, authenticity and quiet at the top of its list. Its own line says it keeps things gentle. The measurements only half agree, and the half that disagrees is the half a Kronplatz skier will like.

The mountain is a similar size and keeps much of the bite. We measure 85 kilometres around the village, against your 77. Thirty-seven percent of it is steeper than one in four, the fourth biggest share of the 17 French resorts we cover. The blues average 17.4 percent, the fourth steepest of the 17 French resorts we cover, and there are 11.3 kilometres of black against your 14.1. The reds go further than yours: they average 28.1 percent, the third steepest of the 55 resorts we cover, against 24.0.

It is also kinder at the easy end, which Kronplatz is not. The green runs are properly mapped, 17.4 kilometres of them inside 52 of green and blue, and 32 percent of the piste is gentler than 15 percent, against your 16. A child just off the nursery slope has real room here.

What you give up is height and polish. The village is at 1,000 metres, 200 below yours, and only 15 percent of the piste is at or above 1,800 metres, against 51. The highest piste we measure starts at 2,362 metres, 96 above your top. The highest lift we map, at 2,458, is the same height as La Clusaz's top and is probably the same lift, since the two villages share the Aravis. It is not snow sure on our measure, and it is traditional and quiet rather than modern. You fly to Geneva.

If the pitch is what you would miss most, La Clusaz has more of it than either other pick. Thirty-nine percent of its piste is steeper than one in four, the joint second biggest share of the 17 French resorts we cover and joint sixth of the 55 resorts we cover. But the steep sits in the harder grades. Its reds average 29.0 percent, the steepest of the 55 resorts we cover, and its blacks 37.3, the second steepest of the 55 resorts we cover. Its blues average 14.6 percent, the second gentlest of the 17 French resorts we cover. Kronplatz's bite runs through every grade, blues included; here the blues are soft and the reds and blacks sharp.

It has the most piste around the village of the three: we measure 97 kilometres, with 56 of green and blue, and 38 percent of the piste is gentler than 15 percent. Our read is lively and local, with a weekend feel and families on its list. The village is at 1,100 metres and the skiing reaches 2,458 metres by our measure, 192 above your top, but only 18 percent of the piste is at or above 1,800. There is less black, 8.9 kilometres against 14.1. Geneva again.

Châtel's village is at 1,200 metres, the same as yours, and we measure 82 kilometres around it, the nearest of the three to your 77. Our read is rustic and friendly, farm village character on the Swiss border, with value, tradition and families on its list.

What it adds is range. Châtel is on the Portes du Soleil, twelve villages across two countries on one genuinely linked circuit. It is sold as 600 kilometres and measures 580, and an independent measurement puts it nearer 426. Châtel's own sector, the Espace Liberté, is 120 kilometres, shared with Torgon and Morgins. Kronplatz is one mountain you get to know; this is a circuit you could spend the whole week touring.

The trade is the pitch. Twenty-six percent of the piste is steeper than one in four, the same as the median resort we cover, against your 43. The blues average 15.6 percent, and there are just 5.4 kilometres of black, the least of the 17 French resorts we cover. The reds, at 24.3 percent, will feel much like yours at 24.0. The skiing tops out at 2,084 metres by our measure, 182 below your top, and 23 percent of the piste is at or above 1,800 metres.