Like Val d'Isère, but in Austria: the steep and the nights, lower down

Ischgl is the only one of the three whose season matches yours, running from late November into May, where the Arlberg runs December to April. It is snow sure on our measure: 90 percent of the piste we measure is above 1,800 metres, the second biggest share of the 13 Austrian resorts we cover, up to 2,868 metres. And on our matching it is the second closest resort to Val d'Isère of all 55 we cover, with 152 kilometres of piste measured around the village against your 158.

It is not a softer mountain, either. There are 27 kilometres of black, more than Val d'Isère's 22 and the fifth most of the 55 resorts we cover, and 34 percent of the piste is steeper than one in four, against 29. The blacks average 29.9 percent, the same as yours to the decimal. The reds are kinder, at 20.7 against 23.9, but more than half the mountain is red.

For many, the nights are the reason to go. Ischgl is high energy and famous for it, with the après starting at the lift bases and open air concerts that bookend the season. A Val d'Isère skier who loves the afternoon party on the mountain will feel at home.

The trades are three. There are only 43 kilometres of blue and easier, against Val d'Isère's 90 of green and blue, so a mixed group has less room. The marked off piste is about a third of yours, at 10.6 kilometres. And the village is 473 metres lower, with the top 337 metres short of yours. The snow is up the mountain, not at the door. You also lose the upmarket side: our read on Ischgl is lively, not smart.

If you go to Val d'Isère for the hardest skiing on the hill, St Anton gives you more of it. Forty-three percent of its piste is steeper than one in four, the most of the 13 Austrian resorts we cover and the joint second most of the 55 we cover. Its reds average 25.8 percent, steeper than Val d'Isère's 23.9, and its blacks 34.1 against 29.9. And it has 70 kilometres of marked off piste itinerary, the most of the 55 resorts we cover and more than twice your 29.

The nights keep pace. Our read on St Anton is energetic and social, with nightlife on its list, and the famous après bars sit on the piste above the village, so the last run home is part of the evening. We measure 155 kilometres of piste around the village, close to Val d'Isère's 158.

The cost is height, and it is the biggest of the three. The village is at 1,304 metres, 546 below yours. It is snow sure on our measure, but with a smaller margin: 71 percent of the piste we measure is above 1,800 metres, up to 2,799, which is 406 below your top, and the season is December to April. The easy end is thin, too. Just 24 percent of St Anton's piste is gentler than 15 percent; only four of the 55 resorts we cover have less, so this is a week for a group that skis well.

Our matching puts Lech closer to Val d'Isère than any other resort we cover, anywhere, and the mountain shows why. We measure 175 kilometres around the village, 33 percent of it steeper than one in four against your 29, and 31 percent gentler than 15 percent against your 28. There are 26 kilometres of black, and 56 kilometres of marked itinerary, the second most of the 55 we cover, and nearly twice yours. It also keeps the upmarket side of Val d'Isère that Ischgl and St Anton lose: our read on it is refined, with understated luxury and families on its list.

What it does not keep is the evening, or the height. Lech is calm after dark, though St Anton's nights are on the same lift pass, and a strong skier can base in Lech and ski St Anton's steeper ground by day. The bigger trade is up the mountain. The skiing reaches 2,440 metres by our measure, 765 below Val d'Isère's top, and 61 percent of the piste we measure is above 1,800 metres, against your 100. That leaves Lech just under the line we use on height for snow sure. The village is 400 metres lower than yours.