Like La Clusaz, but in Austria: keep the life, or keep the bite?

Mayrhofen is one of only two Austrian resorts we cover that we tag both lively and family, the other being Saalbach-Hinterglemm. Our read is lively and welcoming, a Zillertal town with a steep signature run, and nightlife, families and a snow park are on its list. The doorstep is much the same size as yours: we measure 90.5 kilometres around the town against 97, and the skiing tops out at 2,412 metres, 46 below La Clusaz's. Its own domain is 142 kilometres.

Where the skiing sits is the big change. The town is at 630 metres, the second lowest of the 55 resorts we cover and 470 below yours, yet 55 percent of the piste we measure is at or above 1,800 metres, against 18. The middle of the skiing, our median piste height, is 1,829 metres, 301 above La Clusaz's. The top is too low for us to call it snow sure.

The trade is the easy end. There are 28.5 kilometres of blue and easier, the least of the 13 Austrian resorts we cover and 31 percent of the piste, against your 56 of green and blue. What blue there is runs kind, averaging 12.7 percent, the gentlest of the 13 Austrian resorts we cover. The middle is red, 47.9 kilometres of it, and those reds average 23.3 percent, close to a typical Austrian red, against your 29.0. There is more black, 14.1 kilometres against 8.9, and the longest piste we measure is a 4.3 kilometre red with 1,161 metres of vertical. Traditional is not on its list.

Of the 13 Austrian resorts we cover, our matching puts Bad Gastein closest to La Clusaz, and the steep piste shows why. Thirty seven percent of Bad Gastein's piste is steeper than one in four, the third biggest share of the 13 Austrian resorts we cover, against your 39. The reds average 25.0 percent, the fourth steepest of the 13 we cover in Austria, and there are 57.1 kilometres of them, 54 percent of the piste. Our read is grand and characterful, faded belle époque grandeur and thermal spas, and we tag it traditional.

It is higher where it counts. The village is at 1,000 metres, 100 below yours, but the skiing reaches 2,644 metres by our measure, 186 above La Clusaz's and the fifth highest of the 13 Austrian resorts we cover. Half the piste we measure, 50 percent, is at or above 1,800 metres, against 18, and the median piste height is 1,799 metres, 271 above yours. That half is what keeps it short of snow sure on our measure, which asks for more than half.

The size needs care. We measure 107 kilometres around the village, more than Bad Gastein's own area of 83, so our figure probably takes in neighbouring skiing down the valley. On the 83, La Clusaz's 97 is the larger. Ski amadé covers 760 kilometres across five regions that are not all joined.

The trade is the family side and the buzz. Lively and family are not on its list. There are 41 kilometres of blue and easier, 39 percent of the piste, against your 56, though its blues are gentle, averaging 14.9 percent. You fly to Salzburg.

Our guide describes Kitzbühel as a real medieval walled town where the skiing came to the town, home of the Hahnenkamm races and the Streif, with nightlife among its headline strengths. We tag it lively and traditional, two of La Clusaz's three, and the guide says mixed ability families do well there.

The mountain is bigger, with its bite in a different place. We measure 135 kilometres around the town, and the 230 you will see quoted is not measured by us. There are 63 kilometres of blue and easier, more than your 56 of green and blue, though the blues average 16.7 percent against your 14.6. The reds average 20.3 percent, the gentlest of the 13 Austrian resorts we cover. The black is where the bite lives: 34 kilometres, the most of the 55 resorts we cover, against your 8.9.

The trade is height, which La Clusaz is already short of. The town is at 800 metres, 300 below yours, and the skiing tops out at 1,968 metres by our measure, 490 lower, the third lowest of the 55 resorts we cover. Only 11 percent of the piste we measure is at or above 1,800 metres, against your 18, and our guide credits snowmaking with keeping the main runs open.