Like Villars, but in Austria: the easy skiing travels, the quiet stays home
The Ski Snug teamUpdated 12 October 20265 min read
Villars is the kind of resort a family books for the peace. Our one line on it is a relaxed family resort with a view of Mont Blanc, our read is family friendly and calm, and we class it quiet and family. Families, views and a relaxed week are its list. The season runs from December to April.
Underfoot it is easy going. Of the 71 kilometres of piste we measure around the village, 48 are blue and easier, 68 percent, and 37 percent of the piste is gentler than 15 percent. There are 1.5 kilometres of black, the least of the 55 resorts we cover. It is also low: the village is at 1,300 metres and the skiing tops out at 2,074 by our measure, the lowest top of the 15 Swiss resorts we cover. Only 25 percent of the piste is at or above 1,800 metres, so on our measure Villars is not snow sure.
The honest headline: Austria does not do quiet the Villars way. Of the 13 Austrian resorts we cover, only Zürs carries our quiet tag, and we do not class it a family resort. What Austria can give you is the family week and the easy end of the mountain, or more height. Schladming keeps the first, Obertauern offers the second, and neither keeps the hush.
| Resort | Village | Top of the skiing, measured | Piste we measure around the village | Blue and easier | Steeper than one in four | Gentler than 15% | At or above 1,800 m |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Your benchmarkVillars | 1,300 m | 2,074 m | 71 km | 48 km, 68% | 24% | 37% | 25% |
| Schladming | 745 m | 2,001 m | 134 km | 59 km, 44% | 27% | 39% | 7% |
| Obertauern | 1,740 m | 2,304 m | 74 km | 41 km, 55% | 29% | 36% | 61% |
Schladming: the closest on the family week
- VillageVillage
- 745 m 555 m lower
- Highest liftTop lift
- 2,015 m 105 m lower
Schladming: 134 km of piste we measure. 59 km blue and easier 44%62 km red 46%13 km black 10%
Our matching puts Schladming closer to Villars than any other Austrian resort we cover. It keeps the family tag, our read is down to earth and friendly, and our one line is floodlit night skiing and a friendly valley town, with night skiing, families and value on its list.
It keeps the easy end, and then some. Thirty nine percent of the piste is gentler than 15 percent, the biggest share of the 13 Austrian resorts we cover, against your 37. The blues average 13.0 percent, the second gentlest of the 13 Austrian resorts we cover, against Villars's 15.8 and a typical Austrian blue at 16.4. There are 59 kilometres of blue and easier, against your 48. The step up to red is much as you know it: the reds average 24.4 percent against 23.6, and 27 percent of the piste is steeper than one in four, against 24.
It is a far bigger mountain. Schladming's four mountains are linked end to end with no bus, 123 kilometres, against the 87 of Villars-Gryon-Les Diablerets, and around the town we measure 134 kilometres against 71. There are 12.9 kilometres of black, against 1.5, for an older child who wants more. The wider Ski amadé pass runs to 760 kilometres, but across five regions that are not all joined, and Schladming's own domain is a separate one.
The trade is height and the quiet. The town is at 745 metres, 555 below Villars, and the skiing tops out at 2,001 metres by our measure, 73 below your top. Only 7 percent of the piste is at or above 1,800 metres, the third smallest share of the 55 resorts we cover, against your 25. Schladming is not snow sure on our measure, and it sits lower than Villars on every height we hold. And we class it family, not quiet. You fly to Salzburg.
Obertauern: the closest on size, and far higher
- VillageVillage
- 1,740 m 440 m higher
- Highest liftTop lift
- 2,313 m 193 m higher
Obertauern: 74 km of piste we measure. 41 km blue and easier 56%29 km red 39%4 km black 5%
If the one thing you would change about Villars is the height, Obertauern changes it. The village is at 1,740 metres, the highest of the 13 Austrian resorts we cover and 440 above yours. Sixty one percent of the piste we measure is at or above 1,800 metres, against your 25, and 100 percent is above 1,500. The season runs from late November to May.
It is close in scale and in mix. We measure 74 kilometres of piste around the village, against 71, and 41 of them are blue and easier, 55 percent. Thirty six percent is gentler than 15 percent, the second biggest share of the 13 Austrian resorts we cover, against your 37, and the blues average 14.5 percent, against 15.8. Our read is high and snowy, the skiing makes a neat loop, and it is ski in ski out.
Two things to know. First, the snow: our own description calls Obertauern snow sure, but on our measure it is not. The skiing stops at 2,304 metres, 230 above Villars's top but short of the 2,500 metres our test asks for. Second, the steep end is steeper. The reds average 25.3 percent, the third steepest of the 13 Austrian resorts we cover, against your 23.6, and 29 percent of the piste is steeper than one in four, against 24. Its 4.0 kilometres of black average 37.8 percent, the steepest of the 55 resorts we cover. There is no marked itinerary in our data, against your 3.9 kilometres.
And it gives up the character tags. We class Obertauern neither quiet nor family; it carries no tags of ours at all. It is a week for the height rather than the calm. You fly to Salzburg.
What Villars gives you is a family resort with easy skiing, and Schladming keeps both: the family tag, the biggest gentle share of the 13 Austrian resorts we cover, kinder blues than yours and a linked mountain of 123 kilometres. Go knowing it is lower than Villars on every height we hold, and not quiet. If the height is what you would change, and the family feel can go, Obertauern.