Like Zermatt, but in France: high, snowy and smart, but steeper
The Ski Snug teamUpdated 12 October 20265 min read
Ask a Zermatt regular what they love and the Matterhorn comes first, closely followed by the car free streets. But behind the postcard is a set of numbers that is hard to match. The skiing reaches 3,869 metres by our measure, as high as any of the 55 resorts we cover, at a top station it shares with Cervinia, and there is glacier skiing all year. It is snow sure on our measure, with 99 percent of the piste we measure above 1,800 metres. The Matterhorn area with Cervinia measures 322 kilometres across the border (360 is the figure you will see quoted), and there are 23.1 kilometres of marked off piste itinerary, the eighth most of the 55 resorts we cover.
And the cruising is kinder than any brochure says. Only 12 percent of Zermatt's piste is steeper than one in four, the smallest share of the 55 resorts we cover, and its reds average 17.2 percent. Only one resort we cover has gentler reds.
The honest headline: no French resort we cover gets near Zermatt's top. The highest of the 17 French resorts we cover, on our measure, is Tignes's 3,449 metres, 420 below. None of our French picks is car free, none has the view, and none has piste as gentle. What France can match is the snow, the size of the linked area and the off piste, and at Val d'Isère, the polish.
| Resort | Village | Top of the skiing, measured | Linked ski area | Piste we measure around the village | Marked off piste itinerary | Steeper than one in four | Piste at or above 1,800 m | Season |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Your benchmarkZermatt | 1,620 m | 3,869 m, the top station it shares with Cervinia | Matterhorn, with Cervinia: 322 km measured, 360 km quoted | 150.5 km | 23.1 km | 12% | 99% | Year round on the glacier |
| Val d'Isère | 1,850 m | 3,205 m | Espace Killy, 300 km | 158 km | 28.7 km | 29% | 100% | Late November to early May |
| Tignes | 2,100 m | 3,449 m | Espace Killy, 300 km | 130 km | 14.2 km | 25% | 97% | Late November to early May |
La Plagne, our matching's third French pick, is left out. It keeps none of the things the matching weighs most for Zermatt, and at 27 percent steeper than one in four, it sits between the other two.
Val d'Isère: the closest on nearly everything but the view
- VillageVillage
- 1,850 m 230 m higher
- Highest liftTop lift
- 3,456 m 443 m lower
Val d'Isère: 158 km of piste we measure. 90 km green and blue 57%46 km red 29%22 km black 14%
Plus 29 km of marked off piste itinerary, kept out of the piste total.
Our matching puts Val d'Isère closer to Zermatt than any of the 55 resorts we cover, and the reasons are easy to see. It is upmarket by our read, and like Zermatt it grew from a real mountain village rather than being built for the lifts. It is the higher village, at 1,850 metres, 230 above Zermatt's and the joint fifth highest of the 55 resorts we cover. And on snow it gives nothing away: all of the piste we measure is above 1,800 metres, a share no resort we cover beats, so it is snow sure on our measure.
Size is close, too. Val d'Isère shares the Espace Killy with Tignes, 300 kilometres and genuinely linked, against Zermatt's 322 measured across two countries, and around the village we measure 158 kilometres against Zermatt's 150.5. For the off piste it gives you more: 28.7 kilometres of marked itinerary, the fifth most of the 55 resorts we cover, the longest of them the Col Pers at 4.9 kilometres with 917 metres of vertical.
What you give up starts with the top and the season. The skiing reaches 3,205 metres by our measure, 664 below Zermatt's, and the season runs from late November to early May, with the Pissaillas glacier for the late weeks rather than skiing all year. Then the gradient. Twenty nine percent of the piste is steeper than one in four, against 12, and the blues average 16.9 percent, almost exactly Zermatt's red average. There is almost twice the black, 21.8 kilometres against 11.2. And the evenings are louder: lively is on Val d'Isère's list, with dancing in ski boots up the mountain at La Folie Douce, where Zermatt keeps a more composed kind of busy. There are cars in the street, and no Matterhorn at the end of it.
Tignes: the closest on height and snow
- VillageVillage
- 2,100 m 480 m higher
- Highest liftTop lift
- 3,456 m 443 m lower
Tignes: 130 km of piste we measure. 76 km green and blue 58%34 km red 26%21 km black 16%
Plus 14 km of marked off piste itinerary, kept out of the piste total.
If what you love about Zermatt is the altitude, Tignes is the French answer, on the same Espace Killy pass as Val d'Isère. Its village is at 2,100 metres, 480 above Zermatt's and the second highest of the 55 resorts we cover. Its skiing reaches 3,449 metres by our measure, the highest of the 17 French resorts we cover, on the Grande Motte glacier, where the runs off the very top are easy ones. It is snow sure on our measure, with 97 percent of the piste we measure above 1,800 metres, and the season runs from late November to early May.
Of the two picks, Tignes is also the nearer on gradient, though that is a relative thing. Twenty five percent of its piste is steeper than one in four, more than twice Zermatt's share. The blues average 17.6 percent, a shade steeper than Zermatt's reds. Oddly, its blacks are among the kindest we measure, averaging 23.5 percent, the third gentlest of the 55 resorts we cover and barely steeper than its own reds.
The trade is the place. Tignes is practical and high by our read, modern and purpose built, with ski in ski out the norm around Le Lac and Val Claret and value against its neighbour on its list. It is the opposite of Zermatt's car free lanes and timber barns. We measure 130 kilometres around the village and 14.2 kilometres of itinerary, both less than Zermatt. It is a week for the snow and the height rather than the stroll home.
Zermatt is a high, snowy, well heeled village with a big linked area and serious off piste, and Val d'Isère keeps more of that than anywhere else in France we match: a higher village, 100 percent of measured piste at or above 1,800, an area of near enough the same size and more marked itinerary. Go knowing the top is lower, the reds are steeper, the nights are louder and the view at the end of the street is a different one. If height is what you would miss most, stay on the same pass and base yourself in Tignes.