Méribel or Saint-Martin-de-Belleville: same pass, same height, a different village

Altitude and snow: level at the door

The two villages are at the same 1,450 metres, and the lowest piste we measure around each finishes at the same 1,140. Above that, Méribel's skiing reaches 2,891 metres on our measurement, 200 metres higher than the 2,691 we measure above Saint-Martin.

Both are snow sure on our measure. At Méribel, 78 percent of the piste we measure is above 1,800 metres, up to 2,891 metres. At Saint-Martin it is 75 percent, up to 2,691 metres. Half the piste near Méribel sits above 2,076 metres, and near Saint-Martin above 2,040. Nobody can promise snow, but on these figures it is no reason to pick one over the other.

The one real height difference is inside Méribel itself. Our guide puts Mottaret, the highest of its three bases, at 1,750 metres, 300 above either village centre, and it is the base where you are likeliest to step straight onto the snow. If altitude at the door matters to you, that is the booking to make, and it is a Méribel booking.

Size: the same pass, a very different amount on the doorstep

Around Méribel we measure 261 kilometres of piste, the second most of the 55 resorts we cover. Around Saint-Martin we measure 75. That is the biggest gap on the page, and it needs reading with care, because the lift pass is the same. The Three Valleys is quoted at 600 kilometres and is genuinely linked, though we have not measured the whole of it ourselves. From either village, all of it is on your pass.

What the gap measures is how much skiing is near you before you start travelling. Méribel sits in the middle: Courchevel over the Saulire on one side, Val Thorens beyond the Tougnete on the other. Saint-Martin's 75 kilometres are what sits close by, and the rest of the area is further off. For a strong group that wants to cover ground every day, Méribel saves time on every one of them. For a group happy to ski close to home and make one or two big days of it, the difference is smaller than the numbers suggest.

The skiing: Méribel has the steep, Saint-Martin the gentler mix

Méribel's piste is the more demanding of the two. Thirty one percent of what we measure around it is steeper than one in four, against 20 percent near Saint-Martin and 26 at a typical resort we cover. Méribel has 30 kilometres of black, the third most of the 55 resorts we cover. Saint-Martin has 6. Méribel adds 5 kilometres of marked off piste itinerary, and we measure none near Saint-Martin.

Who each one actually suits

Méribel suits families, first timers and mixed groups, and it is good at all three. The youngest start on gentle greens at the Altiport, in the trees and out of the worst of a stormy day, and there is no shortage of ski school. Catered chalets are the Méribel tradition, which takes the evening logistics off your hands, and the big leisure centre, pool and ice rink included, rescues a flat light afternoon. Après begins at the bars where the main runs finish, cheerful rather than messy, and the village quietens as the night goes on. The base matters: Méribel Centre puts you among the shops and bars, Méribel Village is calmer and has its own gondola, and Mottaret is the pick for height.

Saint-Martin suits people for whom the village is half the holiday. It is an old Savoyard village inside the Three Valleys, traditional and quiet, and the three things it does best are being authentic, feeding you well and giving you the Three Valleys on the same pass. Food lovers and anyone after a quiet evening do well there. It suits a group less well if the beginners need plenty of green near the door, or the strong skiers want steep and black without travelling for it.

The bit nobody tells you

Méribel has the gentle family reputation, so people expect its reds to be the kind ones. Measured, they are not. The gradients are averages per run segment, and a run's grade is set by its steepest pitch, so read them as how the week feels rather than a verdict on any one run. Méribel's reds average 25.4 percent, steeper than all but six of the 55 resorts we cover and above the French average of 24.3. Saint-Martin's average 21.9, the second gentlest of the 17 French resorts we cover. The blacks follow, 32.8 against 30.9, and the blues are close, 17.0 and 16.6, both a touch above the French 16.2.

That matters most for the improver moving up from blue. Near Saint-Martin, a red is a gentle next step. Near Méribel, it is a proper French red with a bit extra, which is the appeal for a confident group and worth knowing for a nervous one.