Like Verbier, but in France: the piste travels, the scene stays home

On the runs you ski between the famous bits, Les Arcs is as close as France gets. Forty eight percent of its piste is gentler than 15 percent, exactly Verbier's share, so the two sit joint top of the 55 resorts we cover. Its blues average 12.6 percent, the gentlest of the 17 French resorts we cover and the third gentlest of the 55 we cover. The skiing reaches 3,208 metres by our measure, only 75 below Verbier's top, and the village sits at 1,600 metres, 100 above. It is snow sure on our measure: 73 percent of the piste we measure is above 1,800 metres.

Then it gives you far more of it. We measure 200 kilometres of piste around Les Arcs, about twice Verbier's 97. Paradiski, which it shares with La Plagne by the Vanoise Express cable car, is 425 kilometres and genuinely linked. There are 24 kilometres of black, more than twice Verbier's 10.9, and the Aiguille Rouge gives a strong skier a big, high day out.

What you give up is everything Verbier is famous for after the piste. There are 1.7 kilometres of marked itinerary against 25.9. Our read on Les Arcs is modern and easy, a doorstep skiing resort built for families, and the evenings are sociable rather than loud, busiest in Arc 1800. The reds are steeper too, averaging 24.3 percent against Verbier's 20.2, and 26 percent of the piste is steeper than one in four, against 19. Think of it as Verbier's cruising, twice over, in a quieter key.

La Plagne is the other door into Paradiski, so this is the same lift pass from a higher village. Our figure for it is 1,800 metres, 300 above Verbier's, and 80 percent of the piste we measure is above 1,800 metres, the nearest of the three picks to Verbier's 84. It is snow sure on our measure, though the skiing tops out at 3,022 metres, 261 below Verbier's.

It is also the pick with the most black: 28 kilometres, the fourth most of the 55 resorts we cover, against Verbier's 10.9. Read the gradient before you get excited. Those blacks average 25.5 percent, gentler than Verbier's 29.0 and the French average of 29.6, so there is plenty of black here but few of the runs are brutal. The rest of the mix is close to Les Arcs: 39 percent gentler than 15 percent, 27 percent steeper than one in four.

The trade is the same as at Les Arcs, and a little more so. La Plagne is practical and friendly by our read, at its best for families, beginners and value, with 3.0 kilometres of itinerary. The liveliest bars are in Plagne Centre and Belle Plagne, and a late night there is an early one by Verbier's standards.

Les Arcs and La Plagne are modern, purpose built resorts by our read. If the part of Verbier you love is a village with a centre and a life beyond the lifts, Serre Chevalier is the French pick: a string of old villages, relaxed and sunny by our read, with tree skiing and value on its list.

The skiing is bigger than Verbier's on our ruler, 152.7 kilometres around the village, more than half as much again, with 91.4 kilometres of green and blue. It is snow sure on our measure: 72 percent of the piste we measure is above 1,800 metres, up to 2,751. Its reds average 24.9 percent, a little above the French average, and 27 percent of the piste is steeper than one in four.

What you give up is height and noise. The village is at 1,350 metres, 150 below Verbier's, and the top is 532 metres lower. There are 1.7 kilometres of marked itinerary, and our read on Serre Chevalier is quiet. It is a Verbier week with the volume turned right down, which suits some Verbier regulars more than they would admit.