Like Samoëns, but in Austria: the same low village, a livelier valley

Our matching puts Schladming closest to Samoëns of the 13 Austrian resorts we cover, and second of all 55. It is a friendly valley town known for floodlit night skiing, down to earth by our read, and families and value are on its list as they are on yours. The town is at 745 metres, 25 above your village.

The gentle ground carries over. Thirty nine percent of the piste is gentler than 15 percent, the largest share of the 13 Austrian resorts we cover, against your 40, and the blues average 13.0 percent against your 16.6. The reds are the catch: 24.4 percent against your 19.9, and 27 percent of the piste is steeper than one in four, against 19. A family on blues will feel at home; an improver stepping up to red will find the step bigger.

There is more of it. We measure 134 kilometres around the town, 44 more than around Samoëns, with 59 of blue and easier against your 48 of green and blue, and 12.9 of black against 9.2. The four mountains join end to end with no bus, 123 kilometres in their own right, and our 134 takes in piste beyond them.

The trade is the old village, the quiet and the top. We tag Schladming family, not traditional or quiet. The skiing tops out at 2,001 metres, 371 below yours, and 7 percent of the piste is at or above 1,800 metres. You fly to Salzburg.

On size and on the top of the skiing, Mayrhofen is almost a copy. We measure 90.5 kilometres around the town, 1 more than around Samoëns, and the skiing tops out at 2,412 metres by our measurement, 40 higher. The village is 90 metres lower, but 55 percent of the piste is at or above 1,800 metres, against your 18. The top stays short of 2,500, so it is not snow sure on our measure either.

The mood and the mountain are different. It is a lively Zillertal town with a steep signature run, lively and welcoming by our read, with nightlife, families and a snow park on its list. Thirty two percent of the piste is steeper than one in four, against your 19, and there are only 28.5 kilometres of blue and easier, the least of the 13 Austrian resorts we cover, against 48 kilometres of red. Those blues are the gentlest of the 13 Austrian resorts we cover, averaging 12.7 percent. The longest run we measure is a 4.3 kilometre red with 1,161 metres of drop.

Mayrhofen's own domain is 142 kilometres across Penken, Ahorn, Rastkogel and Eggalm. You fly to Innsbruck or Salzburg.

If the history is what you love, Kitzbühel keeps it. Historic town is on its list as historic village is on yours, and it keeps the traditional label: a medieval town famous for the toughest race in skiing, and in our guide a walled, painted centre of cobbled streets centuries older than the skiing. Its reds are the nearest to yours of the three, averaging 20.3 percent, the gentlest of the 13 Austrian resorts we cover.

Everything else pulls away from Samoëns. It is medieval and lively, nightlife is on its list, and we tag it neither quiet nor family, though our guide says families do well. There are 34 kilometres of black, the most of the 55 resorts we cover, and only 29 percent of the piste is gentler than 15 percent, against your 40. We measure 135 kilometres around the town, with 63 of blue and easier. The town sits 80 metres above your village, but the skiing tops out at 1,968 metres, 404 below yours, and 11 percent of the piste is at or above 1,800. It has its own railway station, and you fly to Innsbruck or Salzburg.