Like Obertauern, but in Italy: the high village, with the skiing above it

Livigno keeps what Obertauern is built on and takes it further. The village is at 1,816 metres, 76 above Obertauern's, and the season is the same, late November to May. Then the skiing keeps going: it reaches 2,767 metres, measured, 463 higher than your top, and all of the piste we measure is at or above 1,800 metres, the joint highest share of the 55 resorts we cover. Snow sure on our measure, where Obertauern is not.

The size is close too. We measure 80.9 kilometres of piste around Livigno, 7.2 more than around Obertauern, in an area of 115 kilometres we trust. But it comes in two sectors facing each other across the valley, with no lift between them, so the loop does not come with you.

The bigger change is underfoot. Fifty-nine percent of Livigno's piste is red, and there are 24.6 kilometres of blue and easier against your 40.9. Forty percent of the piste is steeper than one in four, the fifth largest share of the 55 resorts we cover, against your 29, and the blues average 17.8 percent, the joint fourth steepest of the 55 we cover, against your gentle 14.5. Strong skiers gain: 8.9 kilometres of black against 4, though at 33.2 percent they are kinder than your 37.8.

The mood shifts as well. Livigno is high and lively by our read, with duty free and value on its list of what it does best. The airports are Bergamo or Innsbruck.

If the gentle loop is what you love, Alta Badia is the Italian answer. Its blues average 14.4 percent, level with Obertauern's 14.5, and 40 percent of the piste is gentler than 15 percent, the joint fourth largest share of the 55 resorts we cover. There are 76.4 kilometres of blue and easier, the most of the 10 Italian resorts we cover. Only 15 percent of the piste is steeper than one in four.

It brings a circuit too, on a grander scale. Our guide describes five Ladin speaking villages on the Sella Ronda, a loop around the Sella massif that you can ski in a day, mostly on blue and red. The circuit is 44 kilometres, 23 of them skiing and 21 on lifts. Alta Badia's own sector is 130 kilometres, and we measure 124.5 around the village, 50.8 more than around Obertauern. It sits on the Dolomiti Superski pass, twelve areas of which four are joined by lift.

The skiing goes higher than yours, to 2,509 metres, measured, 205 above Obertauern's top, and 65 percent of the piste is at or above 1,800 metres. That is snow sure on our measure, just. The village is at 1,568 metres, 172 below Obertauern's, the season runs December to April, and the steep is mostly gone: 7.5 kilometres of black, averaging 28.5 percent. It is warm and welcoming by our read, and cuisine is first on our list of what it does best.

Madonna di Campiglio is the pick for an Obertauern family that wants more room and more gloss. We measure 115.1 kilometres of piste around the village, in a linked area of 155. Thirty-six percent is gentler than 15 percent, the same as Obertauern, and the blues average 12.9 percent: only five of the 55 resorts we cover have gentler ones. Our guide puts the grooming at the heart of it, with a pedestrian centre under the Brenta Dolomites. There is far more black, 17.3 kilometres against your 4.

On snow it is close. Sixty-one percent of the piste is at or above 1,800 metres, the same as Obertauern, and the skiing reaches 2,496 metres, measured, within a few metres of our 2,500 line. We have not made the call either way. The village is at 1,550 metres, 190 below yours, and the season runs December to April.

One more name. Sestriere, a purpose built resort with a higher village than any of these, is not among the three our matching puts closest. If you want Obertauern's height and gentle blues on a much bigger map, look at it as well.