Like Laax, but in Austria: keep the off piste, lose the gentle gradient

Our matching puts Lech nearest to Laax of the Austrian resorts we cover, and one thing it carries over is the upmarket label. Our read on Lech is refined and snowy, best for understated luxury and families: a pretty village with a river through the middle, where building is tightly controlled, and the calmer counterpart to St Anton, which shares its Arlberg pass along with Zürs.

Then it gives you more of what Laax's mountain does best. There are 56.1 kilometres of marked itinerary, the second most of the 55 resorts we cover, against your 27.7, and the longest we measure runs 8.5 kilometres with 827 metres of vertical. We measure 175 kilometres of piste around the village, the third most of the 13 Austrian resorts we cover, and 79.1 kilometres of blue and easier, also third of the 13 Austrian resorts we cover, against your 57.4.

The trade is the gradient and the top. Thirty three percent of the piste is steeper than one in four, against 14, and the blues average 17.0 percent against your 14.4, the reds 22.3 against 19.5. By our measure the skiing stops at 2,440 metres, 528 below Laax's, and 61 percent of the piste is at or above 1,800 metres, against your 72. That top sits 60 metres short of the 2,500 our snow sure test asks for, and we have not made the call either way. The village is higher, at 1,450 metres, 350 above Laax, and the mood is refined rather than youthful. Fly to Innsbruck or Zurich.

If it is Laax's height you would miss, Ischgl has more of its skiing high. It is snow sure on our measure: 90 percent of the piste is at or above 1,800 metres, the second biggest share of the 13 Austrian resorts we cover, against your 72, and half of it sits above 2,363 metres, against 2,127. The top is close to yours, 2,868 metres by our measure, 100 lower, and the season runs from late November to May.

The reds are kind. They average 20.7 percent, not far off your 19.5, and only one Austrian resort we cover has gentler reds. But more than half the piste is red, 34 percent is steeper than one in four, and there are 42.6 kilometres of blue and easier against your 57.4. We measure 152 kilometres around the village, with 26.8 kilometres of black against your 11.9.

What you give up is the upmarket feel and the off piste. There are 10.6 kilometres of marked itinerary against 27.7. Our read is high energy and snowy, the nights out are the village's reputation, and we class it lively, not upmarket. Its lifts run over the border into Switzerland, to duty free Samnaun. Fly to Innsbruck or Zurich.

Our matching puts Schladming second in Austria, carrying over the size and the share of gentle piste. Thirty nine percent of the piste is gentler than 15 percent, the biggest share of the 13 Austrian resorts we cover, against Laax's 37, and the blues average 13.0 percent, kinder than your 14.4. There are 59.3 kilometres of blue and easier against your 57.4, and 12.9 of black against 11.9. Its 27 percent steeper than one in four is the second smallest share of the 13 Austrian resorts we cover, against your 14, though the reds average 24.4.

The four mountains are linked end to end, a 123 kilometre domain of their own on the much bigger Ski amadé pass; our 134 kilometres, measured around the town, comes out a little above that. The trade is height. The town sits at 745 metres and the skiing stops at 2,001, 967 below Laax's top, with 7 percent of the piste at or above 1,800 metres, so it is not snow sure on our measure. Our read is down to earth and friendly, best for floodlit night skiing, families and value. Fly to Salzburg.