Like Les Arcs, but in Austria: the size, the snow or the steep, pick one
The Ski Snug teamUpdated 12 October 20265 min read
Les Arcs works for so many groups because it covers both ends of the mountain. Nearly half its piste, 48 percent, is gentler than 15 percent, a share no resort we cover beats, and its blues average 12.6 percent, the gentlest of the 17 French resorts we cover. Yet there are 24 kilometres of black, the joint seventh most of the 55 resorts we cover, and the skiing reaches 3,208 metres by our measure. We measure 200 kilometres of piste around the villages, Paradiski adds La Plagne for 425 kilometres, linked, and the whole family steps out onto the snow from the door.
Austria is the hardest of the three countries to match that in. Our matching puts its nearest Austrian resorts further from Les Arcs than the nearest Swiss or Italian ones, and the reason is the gentle ground. Lech, Hintertux and Ischgl, the three it puts closest, each have less than a third of their piste gentler than 15 percent, against your 48. Across the resorts we cover, an Austrian blue averages 16.4 percent; yours average 12.6. What Austria can give you is the size, the snow or the steep, one at a time.
| Resort | Village | Top of the skiing, measured | Piste we measure around the village | Gentler than 15% | Piste at or above 1,800 m | Season |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Your benchmarkLes Arcs | 1,600 m | 3,208 m | 200 km (Paradiski, 425 km, linked) | 48% | 73% | December to April |
| Lech | 1,450 m | 2,440 m | 175 km (the Arlberg, not classified) | 31% | 61% | December to April |
| Hintertux | 1,500 m | 3,239 m | 110 km (the glacier alone is 62 km) | 28% | 96% | Year round on the glacier |
| Ischgl | 1,377 m | 2,868 m | 152 km | 30% | 90% | Late November to May |
Lech: the closest on size and the family week
- VillageVillage
- 1,450 m 150 m lower
- Highest liftTop lift
- 2,811 m 415 m lower
Lech: 175 km of piste we measure. 79 km blue and easier 45%70 km red 40%26 km black 15%
Plus 56 km of marked off piste itinerary, kept out of the piste total.
Lech is the Austrian resort our matching puts nearest, and for a Les Arcs family it is the natural first look. Around the village we measure 175 kilometres of piste, the third most of the 13 Austrian resorts we cover and not far off your 200. It is family friendly and upmarket by our read, and Oberlech, a car free, ski in ski out corner above the village, is the nearest thing it has to your doorstep skiing. It shares a lift pass with Zürs and St Anton across the Arlberg, though the Arlberg's size is not classified in our data, which is why we compare on our own measurement.
The strong skiers in your group will find more than at home. There are 26 kilometres of black against your 24, and 56 kilometres of marked off piste itinerary, the second most of the 55 resorts we cover, against your 1.7.
What you give up is the gentle ground and the height. Thirty-one percent of Lech's piste is gentler than 15 percent, against 48, 33 percent is steeper than one in four, against 26, and the blues average 17.0 percent against your 12.6. There are 79 kilometres of blue and easier against your 117 of green and blue. The village is at 1,450 metres, 150 below yours, and the skiing tops out at 2,440 metres by our measure, 768 below. Sixty-one percent of the piste we measure is above 1,800 metres, but the top sits 60 metres under the 2,500 metre line we use for snow sure, so we have not made that call either way. The evenings are refined and calm by our read.
Hintertux: the closest on height and snow
- VillageVillage
- 1,500 m 100 m lower
- Highest liftTop lift
- 3,250 m 24 m higher
Hintertux: 110 km of piste we measure. 42 km blue and easier 38%66 km red 59%2.9 km black 3%
If the long run down from the Aiguille Rouge is what you would miss, Hintertux is the Austrian answer. Its skiing reaches 3,239 metres by our measure, 31 above yours and the second highest top of the 13 Austrian resorts we cover. The village, at 1,500 metres, is 100 below yours. And it is snow sure on our measure with plenty to spare: 96 percent of the piste we measure is above 1,800 metres, the biggest share of the Austrian resorts we cover, against your 73. The glacier, 62 kilometres of it, is open every day of the year. Our read on Hintertux is snowy and no frills, and like Les Arcs it is modern rather than old.
The catch is the gradient, and for a Les Arcs family it is a big one. Hintertux's blues average 19.3 percent, the second steepest of the 55 resorts we cover, where yours are among the gentlest. Only 28 percent of the piste is gentler than 15 percent, and 32 percent is steeper than one in four. With 42 kilometres of blue and easier and 2.9 kilometres of black, the fewest of the Austrian resorts we cover, it is a red mountain: 59 percent of the piste.
It is also smaller and in pieces. We measure 110 kilometres around the village. The wider Zillertal is four separate areas, the 546 kilometres on the Superskipass counts some of them twice, and Ski Zillertal 3000's 206 kilometres needs a bus. Hintertux is a week for a confident group that wants snow it can count on. It is not a week for a first timer.
Ischgl: the closest on black runs
- VillageVillage
- 1,377 m 223 m lower
- Highest liftTop lift
- 2,872 m 354 m lower
Ischgl: 152 km of piste we measure. 43 km blue and easier 28%83 km red 54%27 km black 18%
Plus 11 km of marked off piste itinerary, kept out of the piste total.
Ischgl is the pick for the Les Arcs group that heads for the top lift first and never sees the nursery slope. It has 26.8 kilometres of black, the fifth most of the 55 resorts we cover, against your 24, and 10.6 kilometres of marked off piste itinerary. It is snow sure on our measure: 90 percent of the piste we measure is above 1,800 metres, up to 2,868 metres, and the season runs from late November into May, longer than yours at both ends. Around the village we measure 152 kilometres of piste, and a lift link crosses into Switzerland at Samnaun.
The trade is most of what Les Arcs does for families. Thirty percent of Ischgl's piste is gentler than 15 percent, against 48, and 34 percent is steeper than one in four. There are 43 kilometres of blue and easier, a little over a third of your 117. The blues and reds are kind by Austrian standards, averaging 15.8 and 20.7 percent, but there is far less blue to go round. The village is at 1,377 metres, 223 below yours, and the top is 340 metres lower.
Then there are the evenings. Our read on Ischgl is high energy, and its nights out are famous well beyond Austria. Les Arcs's evenings are friendly and early. For a group of friends, Ischgl's nights are a feature. For a family, choose a quiet street.
Les Arcs is a family resort with serious skiing in it, and Lech keeps the most of that of the three: the most piste, the most blue and easier, a family feel, a car free ski in ski out corner in Oberlech, and more black and far more off piste than you have at home. Go knowing the blues are steeper, the gentle ground is about a third of the piste rather than half, and the top is a lot lower. If the snow worries you more than the gradient, and nobody in the group is new to it, Hintertux.