Like Val Gardena, but in France: the village, the size or the circuit?
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 that stays traditional, with woodcarving on its list of what it does best. You may also love it for something the piste map hides. 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.
So a Val Gardena week is long, soft red skiing on a very big network. We measure 145 kilometres of piste around the valley, the second most of the 10 Italian resorts we cover, and from a base on the Sella Ronda around 500 kilometres is in reach by lift. That is our own approximate sum, not a figure Dolomiti Superski publishes; the 1,200 on the pass covers twelve areas, only four of them joined by lift.
The honest headline: France does not ski this gently. Each of the three French resorts our matching puts closest has a bigger share of steep piste and steeper reds. What France can match is the rest of the week: the old village, the giant linked area, the size at home or the circuit. Saint-Martin-de-Belleville keeps the most of it. Scenery is on Val Gardena's list of strengths and on none of the three, so we make no promise about the view.
| Resort | Village | Top of the skiing, measured | Piste we measure around the village | Steeper than one in four | Gentler than 15% | Average red |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Your benchmarkVal Gardena | 1,563 m | 2,731 m, a lift top; highest piste 2,480 m | 145 km | 13% | 40% | 17.3% |
| Saint-Martin-de-Belleville | 1,450 m | 2,691 m | 75 km | 20% | 36% | 21.9% |
| Serre Chevalier | 1,350 m | 2,751 m | 153 km | 27% | 38% | 24.9% |
| Les Gets | 1,172 m | 1,965 m | 99 km | 23% | 34% | 23.2% |
Saint-Martin-de-Belleville: the closest on the village and the slope
- VillageVillage
- 1,450 m 113 m lower
Saint-Martin-de-Belleville: 75 km of piste we measure. 50 km green and blue 67%19 km red 25%6 km black 8%
Saint-Martin is the one pick that keeps both halves of the Val Gardena pairing, tradition and an enormous lift network. The village is Savoyard and traditional, quiet by our read, with food and an authentic feel among the things it does best, and it sits at 1,450 metres, 113 below yours. Our matching ranks it second of the French resorts for Val Gardena, on village height and the traditional tag.
The network is the Three Valleys, quoted at 600 kilometres and joined by lift, though we have not measured the whole of it ourselves. On paper that sits beside the 500 or so you reach from a Sella Ronda base, and it is one linked area rather than a pass across separate ones.
On steep share and reds it is the gentlest of the three French picks. Twenty percent of the piste we measure is steeper than one in four, against your 13, and only one of the 17 French resorts we cover has gentler reds than its 21.9 percent. That is still 4.6 points steeper than yours, so a Val Gardena cruiser will feel it, and the blues average 16.6 against your 12.8.
The height is better placed. Seventy-five percent of the piste we measure is at or above 1,800 metres, against your 66, and the skiing reaches 2,691 metres on a piste, 211 above the highest piste we measure at Val Gardena. Snow sure on our measure, and the call stands on the runs rather than a lift top.
The trade is the home mountain. We measure 75 kilometres around the village, against your 145, so a full day of roaming means heading out into the wider Three Valleys. There are 50.2 kilometres of green and blue, more than your 42.4 of blue and easier, but only 6 kilometres of black against 16.4.
Serre Chevalier: the closest on the size at home
- VillageVillage
- 1,350 m 213 m lower
- Highest liftTop lift
- 2,830 m 312 m higher
Serre Chevalier: 153 km of piste we measure. 91 km green and blue 60%45 km red 29%17 km black 11%
Of the 17 French resorts we cover, Serre Chevalier is the one our matching puts nearest to Val Gardena, and on the home mountain the data agrees. We measure 153 kilometres of piste around the village, 7.5 more than around Val Gardena, with 16.7 kilometres of black against your 16.4. The gentle share is close too: 38 percent of the piste is gentler than 15 percent, against your 40.
The easy end is bigger. There are 91.4 kilometres of green and blue, the tenth most of the 55 resorts we cover, against your 42.4 of blue and easier. Our read is relaxed and sunny, with sun, trees and a string of old villages, and value on its list. It is snow sure on our measure: 72 percent of the piste is at or above 1,800 metres, up to 2,751. The village is 213 metres lower than yours.
The trade is the reds. They average 24.9 percent, the tenth steepest of the 55 resorts we cover and 7.6 points steeper than yours, and 27 percent of the piste is steeper than one in four, the most of the three picks. Serre Chevalier also loses the traditional tag: we class it as quiet.
Les Gets: the closest on the circuit
- VillageVillage
- 1,172 m 391 m lower
- Highest liftTop lift
- 2,466 m 52 m lower
Les Gets: 99 km of piste we measure. 55 km green and blue 56%35 km red 35%10 km black 10%
The Sella Ronda is a circuit as much as a ski area, and Les Gets sits at the gateway to a circuit of its own, the Portes du Soleil: twelve villages across two countries on one linked circuit. Its size depends on who counts: 600 kilometres officially, 580 measured, and nearer 426 on an independent count. The Les Gets and Morzine sector is 117 kilometres, and we measure 99 around the village. Our read is warm and traditional, a pretty village with families on its list, and it keeps the traditional tag.
The slope is a steady family mix: 23 percent of the piste is steeper than one in four, 34 percent is gentler than 15 percent, and the blues average 15.0 against your 12.8. There are 55.3 kilometres of green and blue.
What it cannot give you is height. The village is 391 metres lower than yours, and the skiing tops out at 1,965 metres by our measure, the lowest of the 17 French resorts we cover and 515 below the highest piste we measure at Val Gardena. Only 1 percent of the piste is at or above 1,800 metres, so it is not snow sure on our measure.
What brings people back to Val Gardena is an easy week in a traditional valley with a vast network of lifts beyond it, and Saint-Martin keeps the most of that: the old village, the Three Valleys on the doorstep, the smallest steep share of the three and reds that only one French resort we cover beats for gentleness. More of its piste is high, too. The price of all that is a smaller mountain from the door, and a slope that is steeper than Val Gardena's on every measure in the table. If the size of the home mountain matters more than the village, Serre Chevalier.