Like Sölden, but in Italy: how close can you get?

Our matching puts Livigno nearest to Sölden of all the Italian resorts we cover, and third nearest anywhere. Two things carry over straight away. It is high and lively by our read, the one pick here with an evening to match Sölden's. And its season is the same: late November to May.

The third thing is the surprise. Livigno's runs measure almost exactly like Sölden's. Its blues average 17.8 percent against 17.3, its reds 23.1 against 23.7, and its blacks 33.2 against 33.3. A quarter of the piste is gentler than 15 percent, against 26 percent at Sölden. Whatever you think of an Italian red, these ones will feel like home.

Where it differs is height, and the difference cuts both ways. The village sits at 1,816 metres, 448 above Sölden's, and every kilometre of piste we measure is above 1,800 metres; no resort we cover has a bigger share. But the skiing tops out at 2,767 metres, 539 below Sölden's. The certainty is spread across the whole mountain rather than kept at the top.

The rest of the trade is size. Livigno's area is 115 kilometres in two sectors facing each other across the valley, with no lift between them, and we measure 81 kilometres of piste, about three fifths of Sölden's. The easy skiing is the biggest loss: 25 kilometres of blue and easier, about a third of what you have at Sölden, and 40 percent of the piste is steeper than one in four, the fifth highest share of the 55 we cover. Add duty free shopping, which is on Livigno's list of what it does best, and it is a week for a confident group that likes a night out.

If what you love is standing above 3,000 metres, Cortina is the Italian pick that gets you there. Its skiing reaches 3,028 metres by our measure, the top of a lift above the highest piste we measure, at 2,724. That is the second highest of the 10 Italian resorts we cover and 278 below Sölden's top. The village, at 1,224 metres, is 144 lower than Sölden's. It is snow sure on our measure, with 67 percent of the piste we measure above 1,800 metres.

It is gentler than Sölden in most of the ways you can measure. Thirty-six percent of the piste is gentler than 15 percent, against 26, and 25 percent is steeper than one in four, against 30. The blacks average 32.5 percent, close to Sölden's, but there are only 9 kilometres of them against 19. It does have something Sölden lacks in our data: 9.2 kilometres of marked off piste itinerary, the second most of the 10 Italian resorts we cover.

The trade is the shape of the week. Cortina's areas, Tofana, Faloria and Cristallo, are not all joined by lift, so a bus or a car comes into most days, and we measure 86 kilometres around the town. It is stylish and scenic by our read rather than lively. Evenings are a stroll and a drink in a handsome town, not a bar in ski boots.

Madonna di Campiglio is the pick if the Sölden week you love is the one where the whole group skis together. Its area is 155 kilometres, all three sectors joined by lift, and we measure 115 kilometres around the village, 20.3 fewer than around Sölden. It has 54 kilometres of blue and easier and 17.3 of black, both the second most of the 10 Italian resorts we cover, and the black is close to Sölden's 19.

It is much kinder in between. The reds average 19.7 percent against 23.7, and only 18 percent of the piste is steeper than one in four. The grooming is what it is known for, and our read on the place is smart, sociable and good for families, with an aperitivo rather than an après.

The catch is height. The village is 182 metres higher than Sölden's, at 1,550, but the skiing tops out at 2,496 metres by our measure, 810 below Sölden's. Sixty-one percent of the piste we measure is above 1,800 metres, and that top sits within a few metres of our snow sure line, so we make no call either way. For a Sölden skier, that is the biggest change on this page.