Like Sölden, but in Switzerland: the height travels, the party does not

Our matching puts St Moritz nearest to Sölden of the 15 Swiss resorts we cover, and on the thing Sölden sells hardest it earns it. The skiing reaches 3,266 metres by our measure, 40 short of Sölden's top and the seventh highest of the 55 resorts we cover. The town sits at 1,822 metres, 454 above Sölden and the highest village of the 15 Swiss resorts we cover. And 97 percent of the piste we measure is above 1,800 metres, the joint fifth biggest share of the 55 we cover. Snow sure on our measure, with more of it high than Sölden.

There is ice up there too, of a different kind. Corvatsch is the high mountain and holds its snow late, and from Diavolezza there is a classic descent past the Morteratsch glacier, skied with a guide rather than on a marked piste. Our read on the town is glamorous and sunny, with a frozen lake full of events and more for non skiers than almost anywhere.

What you give up is the shape and the volume. St Moritz skis as separate mountains, and the 350 kilometres you will see quoted is a pass figure across them; we measure 106 kilometres around the town. Only 30 kilometres is blue and easier, under half Sölden's 77, and the blacks average 25.5 percent against Sölden's 33.3, so the hard end is gentler. The evenings exist, but they are champagne bars and late night clubs in season, not ski boots on the bar. A smart week rather than a sporty one.

Crans-Montana's village is at 1,500 metres, 132 above Sölden's and the nearest of the three picks to it. It is also the only one of the three where the skiing is one linked area: 140 kilometres, with three independent sources in agreement on the figure. Sölden lovers used to skiing from one peak to the next without a bus will like that.

It is snow sure on our measure, if less so than Sölden: 79 percent of the piste we measure is above 1,800 metres, and the skiing tops out at 2,868, 438 below Sölden's top. Our read on it is sunny and smart, a plateau with wide views over the Rhône, with families, golf and spa on its list rather than nightlife.

The mountain is a different shape. We measure 85 kilometres of piste around the village, and most of it is red: 50 kilometres, against 22 of blue and easier. Those reds are kind, averaging 19.2 percent against Sölden's 23.7, among the six gentlest of the 55 resorts we cover, and 22 percent of the piste is steeper than one in four against 30. A confident intermediate will cruise it. A nervous one has less blue than at Sölden.

On paper Gstaad is the nearest of the three to Sölden's skiing. We measure 128 kilometres of piste around the village, 7.5 fewer than around Sölden, with 73 kilometres of blue and easier against 77 and 18 of black against 19. Its blues even feel similar, averaging 17.8 percent against 17.3, the steepest blues of the 15 Swiss resorts we cover.

Then the differences, which are large. The village is at 1,050 metres, 318 below Sölden's, and only 15 percent of the piste we measure is above 1,800 metres, the smallest share of the 15 Swiss resorts we cover. Gstaad has a glacier, Glacier 3000, reaching 3,000 metres, but it is a separate area and a proper day trip. The rest of the skiing is spread across around nine sectors on one 200 kilometre pass, most of them reached by bus or train rather than by lift.

And the tone is the opposite of Sölden's. Gstaad is quietly wealthy by our read, a village of chalets and long lunches where the evening is a fire and a glass of wine. It is a lovely week for a family that wants calm. It is not a Sölden week.