Like Villars, but in France: the calm, or the same mountain?

Our matching ranks Samoëns third of the French resorts we cover, but it is the only one of the three that keeps both the tags we class Villars by, quiet and family. Our read is authentic and calm, our one line is a listed old village with a big area above it, and a historic village, families and value are on its list. It even keeps the marked off piste: 3.6 kilometres of itinerary, against your 3.9.

Underfoot it is gentler again. Forty percent of the piste we measure is gentler than 15 percent, the joint fourth biggest share of the 55 resorts we cover, against your 37. Only 19 percent is steeper than one in four, the smallest share of the 17 French resorts we cover, against 24. The reds are where a Villars family will notice it most. They average 19.9 percent, the gentlest of the 17 French resorts we cover, where Villars's average 23.6, the second steepest of the 15 Swiss resorts we cover. The blues are a touch steeper, 16.6 percent against 15.8.

There is more of it, too. We measure 90 kilometres of piste around the village against 71, with 48 kilometres of green and blue, 54 percent, and 9.2 kilometres of black against 1.5, which gives an older child somewhere to go. The longest piste we measure there, the Cascades, is a red of 6.3 kilometres with 867 metres of descent. The Grand Massif as a whole is not yet classified in our data, so we quote no total for it.

The trade is the height of the village. Samoëns sits at 720 metres, the lowest of the 17 French resorts we cover and 580 below Villars. The skiing reaches higher than yours, 2,372 metres by our measure and 298 above Villars's top, but less of it is high: 18 percent of the piste is at or above 1,800 metres, against your 25. On our measure it is no more snow sure than Villars.

Our matching puts Châtel closer to Villars than any other French resort we cover, and second closest of all 55 resorts we cover, after Wengen. Measured, the two mountains are hard to tell apart. The village is at 1,200 metres, 100 below yours, and the skiing tops out at 2,084 by our measure, 10 above. Twenty three percent of the piste is at or above 1,800 metres, against 25. Twenty six percent is steeper than one in four, against 24, and the reds average 24.3 percent, against 23.6.

What Châtel adds is room. It sits on the Portes du Soleil, twelve villages across two countries on one linked circuit. The official figure is 600 kilometres, it is measured at 580, and an independent measurement cited by Wikipedia puts it nearer 426. Châtel's own sector, the Espace Liberté, shared with Torgon and Morgins, is 120 kilometres, against the 87 of Villars-Gryon-Les Diablerets. Around the village we measure 82 kilometres, 45 of them green and blue, 55 percent.

What it gives up is the quiet. Our read is rustic and friendly, with farm village character on the Swiss border, and value, tradition and families are its list. We class it traditional and family, not quiet. Our data shows no marked itinerary, against Villars's 3.9 kilometres, and the black is thin here as well: 5.4 kilometres, the least of the 17 French resorts we cover, against your 1.5.

Les Gets shares the Portes du Soleil with Châtel, and our matching puts it second of the French resorts we cover. Our read is warm and traditional, a pretty village at the gateway to the circuit, with families, tree skiing and a charming village on its list. We class it traditional and family, not quiet.

The gain is the piste on the doorstep. We measure 99 kilometres around the village against 71, with 55 kilometres of green and blue, 56 percent. Its own sector, shared with Morzine, is 117 kilometres. And the mix is close to yours: 23 percent of the piste is steeper than one in four, the nearest of the three to your 24, and the blues average 15.0 percent against 15.8, the reds 23.2 against 23.6. There are 9.6 kilometres of black, and they bite: they average 33.2 percent, the third steepest of the 17 French resorts we cover.

The trade is height: on the hill, Les Gets is the lowest of the three. The village is at 1,172 metres, 128 below yours, and the skiing tops out at 1,965 metres by our measure, the lowest of the 17 French resorts we cover and 109 below Villars's top. Only 1 percent of the piste we measure is at or above 1,800 metres, against your 25. If Villars's height already gives you pause, this is the wrong direction.