Like Val Gardena, but in Austria: the gentle slope, the size or the high village?
The Ski Snug teamUpdated 12 October 20265 min read
You love Val Gardena for the Sella Ronda, for the scenery and for a classic Dolomite valley, traditional by our read, with woodcarving among the things it does best. Whether or not you have noticed, you also love the slope. Sixty percent of the piste we measure there is marked red, yet only 13 percent of it is steeper than one in four, and only one of the 55 resorts we cover has a smaller share. The reds average 17.3 percent, and only two of the 55 resorts we cover have gentler ones. We measure 145 kilometres of piste around the valley, and from a Sella Ronda base around 500 kilometres is in reach by lift, on our own approximate sum.
The honest headline: Austria does not ski like this. Each of the three Austrian resorts our matching puts closest has a steep share between 27 and 34 percent, and none of them carries the traditional tag or lists scenery. Our matching is frank about it: its nearest Austrian pick sits further from Val Gardena than its third choice in France or Switzerland. What Austria offers is one piece of the week at a time, and Schladming keeps the most of the slope.
| Resort | Village | Top of the skiing, measured | Piste we measure around the village | Steeper than one in four | Gentler than 15% | Piste at or above 1,800 m |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Your benchmarkVal Gardena | 1,563 m | 2,731 m, a lift top; highest piste 2,480 m | 145 km | 13% | 40% | 66% |
| Schladming | 745 m | 2,001 m | 134 km | 27% | 39% | 7% |
| Ischgl | 1,377 m | 2,868 m | 152 km | 34% | 30% | 90% |
| Obertauern | 1,740 m | 2,304 m | 74 km | 29% | 36% | 61% |
Schladming: the closest on the gentle ground
- VillageVillage
- 745 m 818 m lower
- Highest liftTop lift
- 2,015 m 503 m lower
Schladming: 134 km of piste we measure. 59 km blue and easier 44%62 km red 46%13 km black 10%
Thirty-nine percent of Schladming's piste is gentler than 15 percent, the biggest share of the 13 Austrian resorts we cover and a point short of your 40. At the other end, 27 percent is steeper than one in four, and only one of the 13 Austrian resorts we cover has a smaller share. Our matching carries over the gentle share and the size of the area.
Look closer and the gentleness lives in the blues. There are 59.3 kilometres of blue and easier, 44 percent of the piste, and they average 13.0 percent against your 12.8. The blacks, at 25.0, are the gentlest of the 13 Austrian resorts we cover, against your 26.1. The reds are the exception: they average 24.4 percent, the eleventh steepest of the 55 resorts we cover and 7.1 points steeper than yours. A Val Gardena week of easy red becomes a Schladming week of easy blue, with the reds to work up to.
The shape will feel familiar. Schladming's four mountains are linked end to end with no bus, a 123 kilometre domain, and we measure 134 kilometres around the town, 11.4 fewer than around Val Gardena. Its pass works like yours, too: Ski amadé covers 760 kilometres across five regions that are not all joined, and Schladming's domain is a separate piece of it. Our read is a friendly valley town, down to earth, with families, floodlit night skiing and value on its list.
The trade is height, and it is large. The town is at 745 metres, 818 below yours, and only three of the 55 resorts we cover have a lower village. The skiing tops out at 2,001 metres by our measure, 479 below the highest piste at Val Gardena, and just 7 percent of the piste is at or above 1,800 metres; only two of the 55 resorts we cover have a smaller share. It is not snow sure on our measure.
Ischgl: the closest on the size and the map
- VillageVillage
- 1,377 m 186 m lower
- Highest liftTop lift
- 2,872 m 354 m higher
Ischgl: 152 km of piste we measure. 43 km blue and easier 28%83 km red 54%27 km black 18%
Plus 11 km of marked off piste itinerary, kept out of the piste total.
On a piste map, Ischgl is close to a copy of Val Gardena. We measure 152 kilometres around the village, 7.1 more than around yours, with 42.6 kilometres of blue and easier against your 42.4 and 82.8 of red against your 86.5. Its reds are kind for Austria, averaging 20.7 percent, the second gentlest of the 13 Austrian resorts we cover, though still 3.4 points steeper than yours. The blues average 15.8.
It is also higher on the hill. Ninety percent of the piste is at or above 1,800 metres, against your 66, and the skiing reaches 2,868 metres, 388 above the highest piste at Val Gardena, so Ischgl is snow sure on our measure. The season starts in late November and runs into May. The village, at 1,377 metres, is 186 below yours.
The catch is the hard end and the mood. Thirty-four percent of the piste is steeper than one in four, the tenth biggest share of the 55 resorts we cover, and there are 26.8 kilometres of black, the fifth most of the 55 resorts we cover, against your 16.4. Only 30 percent is gentler than 15 percent. And Ischgl is high energy by our read, famous for its nights out, which is a long way from a scenic, traditional valley. Its wider area is not classified in our data, so we compare on the 152 kilometres we measure.
Obertauern: the closest on the high village
- VillageVillage
- 1,740 m 177 m higher
- Highest liftTop lift
- 2,313 m 205 m lower
Obertauern: 74 km of piste we measure. 41 km blue and easier 56%29 km red 39%4 km black 5%
Obertauern is our matching's nearest Austrian pick, and the one place in this list where you sleep higher than at home. The village is at 1,740 metres, the highest of the 13 Austrian resorts we cover and 177 above yours, and 61 percent of the piste is at or above 1,800 metres, against your 66. If part of the Sella Ronda's pull is going round, Obertauern's skiing is a neat loop too, with ski in ski out on its list, though on a far smaller scale.
The easy ground holds up. Thirty-six percent of the piste is gentler than 15 percent, the second biggest share of the 13 Austrian resorts we cover, and there are 40.9 kilometres of blue and easier, 55 percent of the piste, averaging 14.5 percent.
The rest is a long way from Val Gardena. We measure 74 kilometres of piste, the least of the 13 Austrian resorts we cover. The reds average 25.3 percent, the third steepest of the 13 Austrian resorts we cover, and the 4 kilometres of black average 37.8, the steepest of the 55 resorts we cover. The skiing stops at 2,304 metres, 176 below the highest piste at Val Gardena, so for all the height at the door it is not snow sure on our measure. And it carries no traditional tag.
What makes Val Gardena special underfoot is a big network that asks little of anyone, and Schladming keeps more of that than anywhere else on this list: the biggest gentle share and the gentlest blacks of the 13 Austrian resorts we cover, blues all but as soft as yours, and four mountains linked end to end, in a friendly town. Go knowing it is far lower, with little of its piste above 1,800 metres, and that its reds bite harder than yours. If the snow and the size matter more than the gentle slope, Ischgl.