Like Obertauern, but in France: lower villages, and one with higher skiing

Saint-Martin-de-Belleville is the French pick that does what Obertauern's own description promises. Seventy-five percent of the piste we measure around the village is at or above 1,800 metres, and the skiing reaches 2,691 metres, measured, 387 above Obertauern's top. That makes it snow sure on our measure, which Obertauern is not.

The skiing around the village is the same size and much the same shape. We measure 75.1 kilometres of piste, 1.4 more than around Obertauern and the second least of the 17 French resorts we cover. Thirty-six percent of it is gentler than 15 percent, the same share as Obertauern's, and there are 50.2 kilometres of green and blue against your 40.9 of blue and easier. Then it keeps going. Saint-Martin sits inside the Three Valleys, which is genuinely linked and quoted at 600 kilometres, so the week does not have to stop at the edge of your map.

What you give up is height at the door, and some of the bite. The village is at 1,450 metres, 290 below Obertauern's. Twenty percent of the piste is steeper than one in four, against 29, and the reds average 21.9 percent, the second gentlest of the 17 French resorts we cover, against your 25.3. There are 6 kilometres of black, against your 4, but they average 30.9 percent rather than 37.8. The blues go the other way, at 16.6 percent against your gentle 14.5.

The place is different too. Saint-Martin is traditional and quiet by our read, an old Savoyard village, with food and authenticity on its list of what it does best. Obertauern is built around skiing from the door. And the season is December to April, shorter at both ends than yours. Geneva and Chambéry are the airports.

Our matching puts Châtel closer to Obertauern than any other French resort we cover, and on the skiing you can see why. We measure 81.8 kilometres of piste around the village, 8.1 more than around Obertauern. Thirty-five percent of it is gentler than 15 percent, against 36, and 26 percent is steeper than one in four, against 29. There are 45.3 kilometres of green and blue against your 40.9 of blue and easier, and the reds average 24.3 percent, against your 25.3.

It is a circuit as well, on a much bigger scale. Châtel's own sector is 120 kilometres, shared with Torgon and Morgins, and it sits on the Portes du Soleil, twelve villages across two countries on one genuinely linked circuit. That is sold as 600 kilometres and measured at 580, and an independent measurement puts it nearer 426. Either way, the loop you know becomes a tour.

The catch is height, at both ends. The village is at 1,200 metres, 540 below Obertauern's, and the skiing stops at 2,084, measured, 220 lower than yours. Only 23 percent of the piste is at or above 1,800 metres, against your 61, so it is not snow sure on our measure either. The hard end is thinner: 5.4 kilometres of black, the least of the 17 French resorts we cover, averaging 29.2 percent.

What you get in its place is character. Châtel is rustic and friendly by our read, a farm village on the Swiss border, and value, tradition and families are the three things we list it for. The season is December to April, and you fly to Geneva.

Les Gets is our matching's third French pick, and it shares Châtel's Portes du Soleil. It is a pretty village, but it goes the wrong way for an Obertauern skier. Its skiing stops at 1,965 metres, measured, the lowest of the 17 French resorts we cover, and 1 percent of its piste is at or above 1,800 metres, the smallest share of the 17 French resorts we cover. If height is part of why you love Obertauern, start somewhere else.