Like La Plagne, but in Austria: one for the family, two for the snow

Of all the Austrian resorts we cover, our matching rates Lech nearest to La Plagne, and of these three it is the only family resort by our read. It also keeps La Plagne's knack of serving both ends of a group. Against your 128 kilometres of green and blue and 28 of black, Lech has 79 of blue and easier and 26 of black. Then there is the off piste: 56 kilometres of marked itinerary, more than any of the 55 resorts we cover bar one. Our measurement of the piste around the village comes to 175 kilometres, third among the 13 Austrian resorts we cover. Families tend to base themselves in Oberlech, above the village, car free and ski in ski out.

The lift pass also covers Zürs and St Anton. We have no classified figure for the Arlberg as a whole, so the 175 is our own count around Lech, and it overlaps what we count for its neighbours.

The trade is height, gradient and tone. Lech's village sits 350 metres lower than yours, at 1,450, and by our measure its skiing stops at 2,440, 582 short of your top. That top is 60 metres short of the 2,500 metre line in our snow sure test, with 61 percent of the piste above 1,800 metres against your 80, so we have left that call open. The blues average 17.0 percent against your 15.5, and 31 percent of the piste is gentler than 15 percent, against 39. And the evenings are refined and upmarket, where La Plagne is practical and friendly.

Ischgl beats La Plagne on the thing people worry about when they book months ahead. Ninety percent of the piste we measure is above 1,800 metres, against your 80, up to 2,868 metres, so it is snow sure on our measure with more to spare than you have at home. The season runs from late November into May, starting earlier and finishing later than yours. The black is there too, 26.8 kilometres, the fifth most of the 55 resorts we cover, and so is the off piste, with 10.6 kilometres of marked itinerary against your 3.0. Even the blues feel like home, averaging 15.8 percent against your 15.5.

There just are not many of them. Ischgl has 43 kilometres of blue and easier, a third of your 128, and 34 percent of the piste is steeper than one in four, against 27. We measure 152 kilometres around the village, which sits at 1,377 metres, 423 below yours. And the evenings run the other way from La Plagne's: Ischgl is high energy by our read, and its nights out are famous. Families do make it work from a quieter street, but it is not built around early bedtimes.

La Plagne's top is a glacier, and so is Hintertux's, with one difference: this one never closes. Its 62 kilometres are skied on every day of the year, and by our measure the skiing goes to 3,239 metres, 217 higher than yours. No Austrian resort we cover has more of its piste up high: 96 percent of what we measure sits above 1,800 metres, which makes it snow sure on our measure with room to spare. At 1,500 metres, the village is the highest of the three picks. We read it as snowy and no frills, and modern, which La Plagne is too.

It is no place to learn. Of the 55 resorts we cover, only one has steeper blues on average than Hintertux's 19.3 percent, against your 15.5. Just 28 percent of the piste is gentler than 15 percent, and the 42 kilometres of blue and easier come to a third of your green and blue. At the other end, 2.9 kilometres of black is less than any other Austrian resort we cover, so the strong skiers get reds rather than black runs. Around the village we measure 110 kilometres. Beyond it, the Zillertal is four areas rather than one: the Hintertux glacier needs a bus from the Mayrhofen side, Ski Zillertal 3000's 206 kilometres needs one too, and the Superskipass's 546 kilometres counts the overlap between areas twice.