Schladming or SkiWelt: the bigger week or the gentler one?
The Ski Snug teamUpdated 12 October 20265 min read
Schladming and the SkiWelt are the same kind of holiday in two corners of Austria. Both are friendly by our read, both are on our family list and our list for value, and both run from December to April. Our matching puts Schladming closer to the SkiWelt than any other resort we cover.
Both are low, too. The SkiWelt has the lowest village and the lowest top of the skiing of the 55 resorts we cover, and Schladming is the fourth lowest of the 55 we cover on both. Neither is snow sure on our measure, and the gap between them on height is small. So this is not really a question about snow. It is a question of how much skiing your group wants, and how gentle it needs to be. The numbers first.
The numbers, side by side
| Figure | Schladming | SkiWelt |
|---|---|---|
| Village altitude | 745 m | 620 m |
| Top of the skiing, measured | 2,001 m | 1,958 m, a lift top; the highest piste reaches 1,828 m |
| Ski area | 123 km on four mountains linked end to end, on the Ski amadé pass | Quoted at 270 km, not classified by us |
| Piste we measure | 134 km | 258 km |
| Blue and easier | 59 km, 44% of the piste | 133 km, 51% of the piste |
| Black | 12.9 km | 20 km |
| Marked off piste itinerary | 2 km | 10.8 km |
| Piste steeper than one in four | 27% | 24% |
| Piste gentler than 15% | 39% | 34% |
| Piste at or above 1,800 m | 7% | Under 1% |
| Season | December to April | December to April |
| Nearest airport | Salzburg | Innsbruck or Salzburg |
The SkiWelt takes every row that counts kilometres, by a long way. Schladming takes the height rows, narrowly, and the gentle share.
Size: the SkiWelt has far more to ski
We measure 258 kilometres of graded piste around the SkiWelt, the third most of the 55 resorts we cover and the most of the 13 Austrian resorts we cover. Around Schladming we measure 134, which is 124 fewer. Our own line calls the SkiWelt one of the largest linked areas, and it is quoted at 270 kilometres. We have not classified that figure, so we go by our measure.
Schladming's figures are ones we trust. Its four mountains are linked end to end with no bus, 123 kilometres in all, and they sit on the Ski amadé pass: 760 kilometres across five regions that are not all joined. A Schladming week skis the 123, and the rest of the pass is not joined to it.
Size is most of the SkiWelt's case. If your group likes to finish a week still finding runs it has not skied, it is the one.
Altitude: Schladming is a little higher, and both are low
Schladming's village is 125 metres above the SkiWelt's, and the top of its skiing is 43 metres higher, measured. The SkiWelt's 1,958 metres is a lift station, though; the highest piste we measure there reaches 1,828, so on piste Schladming goes 173 metres higher. Through the middle of the mountain the gap holds: 37 percent of Schladming's piste is at or above 1,500 metres, against 21 percent of the SkiWelt's, and half of Schladming's lies above 1,384 metres, against 1,283.
Neither comes near our snow sure test, which asks for more than half the piste at or above 1,800 metres. Schladming has 7 percent there, the third smallest share of the 55 resorts we cover, and the SkiWelt almost none, the smallest of the 55 we cover. Nobody can promise snow at either. Book the heart of the winter for both, and treat Schladming's edge as real but modest.
The skiing: two gentle mountains, one much bigger
On the share of piste steeper than one in four, these are the two least steep mountains of the 13 Austrian resorts we cover: the SkiWelt has the smallest share, 24 percent, and Schladming the second smallest of the 13 we cover, 27, against 26 at a typical resort we cover. At the gentle end Schladming leads: 39 percent of its piste is gentler than 15 percent, the largest share of the 13 Austrian resorts we cover, against 34 at the SkiWelt, the third largest of the 13 we cover.
59 km blue and easier 44%62 km red 46%13 km black 10%
133 km blue and easier 51%106 km red 41%20 km black 8%
Marked off piste itinerary, kept out of the piste totals: Schladming 2 km, SkiWelt 11 km.
Then the kilometres. The SkiWelt has 133 kilometres of blue and easier, the most of the 13 Austrian resorts we cover and 73 more than Schladming's 59. The longest piste we measure there is a 4.3 kilometre blue with 639 metres of vertical; Schladming's longest is a 2.3 kilometre red. Green is not reliably mapped at either, so the easy figures are blue and easier.
The gradients split the honours. These are averages per run segment, and a run's grade is set by its steepest pitch, so take them as a feel for the week. Schladming's blues average 13.0 percent against 15.6 at the SkiWelt, both under the Austrian average of 16.4. The SkiWelt's reds are the gentler, at 22.0 against 24.4. So for a nervous skier on blue, Schladming's are the kinder; once they move up to red, the SkiWelt's are.
Who each one actually suits
The SkiWelt suits families who want room. A big area, value and families are the three things on our list for it, and it is traditional and friendly by our read. It suits a mixed group where the confident skiers want new ground every day and the cautious ones want a lot of blue. Innsbruck and Salzburg both serve it.
Schladming suits families with beginners and nervous skiers, who get the largest share of gentle piste of the 13 Austrian resorts we cover and the gentler blues. Night skiing, families and value are on its list, so the floodlit runs add an evening on the snow, and it is down to earth and friendly by our read. It suits a group that would rather know four linked mountains well than roam a much bigger area, and a family flying to Salzburg.
The bit nobody tells you
The SkiWelt is the better of the two for a strong skier. That is not what our own gentle label for it suggests, but the figures are clear. It has 20 kilometres of black, 2.3 of them double black, against 12.9 at Schladming, and its blacks average 28.5 percent against Schladming's 25.0, the gentlest of the 13 Austrian resorts we cover. Its marked off piste itinerary comes to 10.8 kilometres against 2, and the longest route we measure runs 3.3 kilometres and drops 915 metres. Schladming's longest is 0.6 kilometres.
So a family with one keen skier among the cautious ones can keep everybody busy at the SkiWelt: the gentle runs and the testing ones are both there in quantity.
So, which one
your group is mostly beginners and nervous skiers who will live on the blues, you want floodlit night skiing, or the extra bit of height matters for your dates. Also if four linked mountains and 123 kilometres are plenty.
you want the most piste we measure of any Austrian resort we cover, a lot of blue for the cautious, more black and itinerary for the confident, and a traditional, friendly week.
On height the two are close, both low and neither snow sure on our measure, and on every count of kilometres it gives more: 258 kilometres of piste against 134, 133 of blue and easier against 59, and 20 of black against 12.9. Schladming is the right answer when the gentler blues, not the most of them, are what your group needs.