Samoëns or Schladming: a gentle family week, in France or Austria?
The Ski Snug teamUpdated 12 October 20266 min read
Of all the resorts we cover, our matching puts Samoëns closest to Schladming, and Schladming second closest to Samoëns. It is easy to see why. Both villages are low and only 25 metres apart: Samoëns at 720 metres, the lowest of the 17 French resorts we cover, and Schladming at 745. Both are on our family list and our list for value, and both run from December to April.
So if you are weighing these two, you have already settled on a gentle family week from a low village. The question is which one does that week better, and whether you would rather fly to Geneva or to Salzburg. Samoëns has the old village and skiing that climbs higher. Schladming has more piste around the town, and the floodlights. The numbers first.
The numbers, side by side
| Figure | Samoëns | Schladming |
|---|---|---|
| Village altitude | 720 m | 745 m |
| Top of the skiing, measured | 2,372 m | 2,001 m |
| Ski area | Grand Massif, quoted at 265 km, not classified by us | 123 km on four mountains linked end to end, on the Ski amadé pass |
| Piste we measure around the village | 89.5 km | 134 km |
| Easy piste | 48 km green and blue, 54% of the piste | 59 km blue and easier, 44% of the piste |
| Black | 9.2 km | 12.9 km |
| Marked off piste itinerary | 3.6 km | 2 km |
| Piste steeper than one in four | 19% | 27% |
| Piste gentler than 15% | 40% | 39% |
| Piste at or above 1,800 m | 18% | 7% |
| Season | December to April | December to April |
| Nearest airport | Geneva | Salzburg |
Samoëns takes the height rows above the village and the steep row, where less is the point for a family. Schladming takes our measured piste, the easy kilometres and the black. The gentle share is level: 40 percent against 39.
Altitude: level at the door, Samoëns higher on the hill
The villages are as near level as makes no difference. Above them, Samoëns goes higher. The top of the skiing we measure there is 2,372 metres, 371 above Schladming's 2,001, and more of the piste sits up the hill: 18 percent at or above 1,800 metres against 7, and 61 percent at or above 1,500 against 37. Half of Samoëns's piste lies above 1,576 metres; half of Schladming's lies above 1,384.
Neither is snow sure on our measure, and neither is close, since our test asks for more than half the piste at or above 1,800 metres. Schladming's share is the third smallest of the 55 resorts we cover. Nobody can promise snow, and at either village the heart of the winter is the time to book. But Samoëns has more of its skiing higher up, and for an early or late week that is worth having.
Size: more piste we can vouch for around Schladming
We measure 134 kilometres of graded piste around Schladming and 89.5 around Samoëns, 44 fewer. Schladming's four mountains are linked end to end with no bus, 123 kilometres in all, a figure we trust. Its pass, Ski amadé, covers 760 kilometres, but in five regions that are not all joined, and Schladming's four mountains are a domain of their own.
Samoëns is harder to pin down. Our own line on it is a listed old village with a big area above it, and the Grand Massif is quoted at 265 kilometres. We have not classified that figure, so we cannot tell you how much of it you ski from the village. The 89.5 is what we measure around Samoëns itself. If kilometres are how your group judges a week, Schladming is the one we can vouch for.
The skiing: Samoëns is gentler, Schladming has more of it
Samoëns is the gentler mountain on the measure we trust most across countries. Only 19 percent of its piste is steeper than one in four, the smallest share of the 17 French resorts we cover, against 27 at Schladming and 26 at a typical resort we cover. At the easy end the two are level. Forty percent of Samoëns's piste is gentler than 15 percent, the joint fourth largest share of the 55 resorts we cover, and Schladming's 39 percent is the largest share of the 13 Austrian resorts we cover.
48 km blue and easier 54%32 km red 36%9 km black 10%
59 km blue and easier 44%62 km red 46%13 km black 10%
Marked off piste itinerary, kept out of the piste totals: Samoëns 3.6 km, Schladming 2 km.
Green is reliably mapped at Samoëns, so its easy figure is green and blue: 48 kilometres, 10.3 of them green. At Schladming green is not reliably mapped, so its figure is blue and easier: 59 kilometres, 11 more.
Schladming has more of the rest. It has 62 kilometres of red against 32, and 12.9 kilometres of black against 9.2, so the stronger skiers in the group have more to go at. Samoëns has a little more marked itinerary, 3.6 kilometres against 2, and the longest single piste: a 6.3 kilometre red with 867 metres of vertical, where the longest we measure at Schladming is 2.3 kilometres.
Who each one actually suits
Samoëns suits families who want a village as much as a mountain. It is a listed old village, authentic and calm by our read, and the historic village tops our list of what it does best, ahead of families and value. We class it as traditional, quiet and family. It suits first timers, who have 10.3 kilometres of green to start on, a group whose skiing runs from green to gentle red, and anyone who would rather have a quiet evening than a loud one. Geneva is the airport.
Schladming suits families who want to ski together all day and cover a lot of ground. It is down to earth and friendly by our read, a friendly valley town in our own line, and night skiing, families and value make up its list. Night skiing is not on Samoëns's list, so if an evening on the snow under floodlights appeals, that settles it. It also suits a family with a strong skier along, who gets more black, and anyone flying to Salzburg.
The bit nobody tells you
At Samoëns the step from blue to red is small. Its blues average 16.6 percent and its reds 19.9, just 3.3 points apart, and those reds are the gentlest of the 17 French resorts we cover. At Schladming the step is big: blues of 13.0 percent and reds of 24.4, 11.4 points apart.
These are average gradients per run segment, and a run's grade is set by its steepest pitch, so they describe how a week feels rather than any one run. French and Austrian colours are not the same scale, which is why the measured gradient, not the colour, is the fair comparison.
That changes who each one is for. A beginner moving onto blue this week will find Schladming's blues the gentler, well under the Austrian average of 16.4, while Samoëns's sit a touch above the French average of 16.2. An improver ready to try red will find Samoëns the kinder place to do it, and may find Schladming's reds a real step up.
So, which one
the old village and the quiet matter, your group is moving from blue to red and wants the reds gentle, you would like the skiing a little higher, or Geneva is the easier flight.
your beginners are moving onto blue, you want more piste we measure around the town and more black for the strong skier, the floodlit night skiing appeals, or Salzburg suits you better.
With two villages this low, take the one whose skiing climbs higher: 18 percent of its piste is at or above 1,800 metres against 7, and 61 percent at or above 1,500 against 37. It is also the gentler mountain, with the smallest steep share of the 17 French resorts we cover. Schladming is the right answer when your group wants the most kilometres we can vouch for, or the floodlights, and can book the heart of the winter.