Like Livigno, but in France: the height crosses the border, the duty free stays

Val d'Isère is the pick that keeps Livigno's profile at altitude and its mood with it. The village is at 1,850 metres, 34 above yours, and 100 percent of the piste we measure is at or above 1,800 metres, level with Livigno for the joint highest share of the 55 resorts we cover. It is lively by our read, a high altitude classic that skis big and stays up late, and the season starts in late November, as yours does, running to early May.

Then everything grows. Espace Killy, which Val d'Isère shares with Tignes, is 300 kilometres, a figure checked against our own measurement, against your 115 in two sectors with no lift between them. Around Val d'Isère itself we measure 158 kilometres of piste, against your 81. The skiing reaches 3,205 metres by our measure, 438 above your top, and there are 21.8 kilometres of black against 8.9. Then the off piste: 28.7 kilometres of marked itinerary, the fifth most of the 55 resorts we cover, where Livigno has none in our data.

It is a little less steep, and a lot roomier for a mixed group. Twenty-nine percent of the piste is steeper than one in four, against your 40, still above the 26 of a typical resort we cover. The blues average 16.9 against your 17.8, and there are 90 kilometres of green and blue, 57 percent of the piste, against your 24.6 of blue and easier.

The trade is value and the duty free. We class Val d'Isère as upmarket as well as lively, where Livigno has value and duty free on its list.

Our matching puts Tignes closest to Livigno of the 17 French resorts we cover, and if height is the whole point, it outdoes you. The village is at 2,100 metres, the second highest of the 55 resorts we cover and 284 above yours. The skiing reaches 3,449 metres by our measure, the highest of the 17 French resorts we cover and 682 above Livigno's top, and 97 percent of the piste is at or above 1,800 metres. Snow sure on our measure, with a long season on its list, from late November to early May.

Some of it will feel familiar. Its reds average 23.1 percent, the same as yours, and its blues 17.6, the seventh steepest of the 55 resorts we cover. It also shares Val d'Isère's 300 kilometres, and value against its neighbour is on its list, the nearest any French pick gets to Livigno's value label.

What it does not have is the lively tag: we class Tignes as modern, practical and high, a resort built for skiing. It is also the least steep of the three picks, with 25 percent of the piste steeper than one in four, and its blacks average 23.5 percent; only two of the 55 resorts we cover have gentler ones.

If what you love about Livigno is a lively village and a mountain with real bite, La Clusaz is the French match, as long as you can do without the height. Our read is lively and local, a village close to Geneva with a weekend feel, and it is the only one of the three picks to carry the lively tag and the traditional one together.

The skiing is a steep match. Thirty-nine percent of the piste is steeper than one in four, the joint sixth biggest share of the 55 resorts we cover, against your 40, the fifth. Its reds average 29.0 percent, the steepest of the 55 resorts we cover and 5.9 points steeper than yours, and its blacks 37.3, the second steepest of the 55 resorts we cover. The black runs to 8.9 kilometres, the same as yours. The blues, though, are gentler, averaging 14.6 against 17.8, and there are 56 kilometres of green and blue.

The height is where it parts company. The village is at 1,100 metres, 716 below yours, the skiing tops out at 2,458 metres by our measure, 309 below your top, and only 18 percent of the piste is at or above 1,800 metres. La Clusaz is not snow sure on our measure. Its season runs from December to April.