Serre Chevalier or Wengen: two quiet villages, and how high the mountain goes
The Ski Snug teamUpdated 12 October 20266 min read
Our matching engine puts Wengen closer to Serre Chevalier than any other resort we cover, and you can see why from the village. Serre Chevalier sits at 1,350 metres and Wengen at 1,274, only 76 apart. Both are quiet on our tags, both run from December to April, and almost the same share of each mountain is gentle: 38 percent of the piste at Serre Chevalier is gentler than 15 percent, and 39 at Wengen.
They part company above the village. Serre Chevalier is sun, trees and a string of old villages, with skiing that climbs a long way higher. Wengen is a car free balcony village under the Jungfrau, with a gentler mountain and less of it up high. So the real question is which you would rather keep: the car free village, or more mountain with more of it high. The numbers first.
The numbers, side by side
| Figure | Serre Chevalier | Wengen |
|---|---|---|
| Village altitude | 1,350 m | 1,274 m |
| Top of the skiing | 2,751 m, measured | 2,320 m, the top lift |
| Linked ski area | Size not confirmed in our data | 101 km in its own sector, shared with Grindelwald, on the 211 km Jungfrau pass |
| Piste we measure around the village | 152.7 km | 125 km |
| Green and blue | 91.4 km, 60% of the piste, 40.8 km of it green | 51 km of blue and easier, 40% of the piste |
| Black | 16.7 km | 20 km |
| Marked off piste itinerary | 1.7 km | 2.5 km |
| Piste steeper than one in four | 27% | 20% |
| Piste gentler than 15% | 38% | 39% |
| Piste at or above 1,800 m | 72% | 66% |
| Season | December to April | December to April |
| Nearest airport | Turin or Grenoble | Zurich or Geneva |
One caution on Wengen's column: the area we map around it runs on up to the Jungfraujoch, which is not Wengen's own skiing. So the table gives its top lift, and its measured figures are a guide rather than an exact one.
Altitude: level at the door, Serre Chevalier far higher above it
At the door there is nothing in it. Above it, Serre Chevalier's skiing reaches 2,751 metres on our measure, and Wengen's top lift is at 2,320. One is our measurement and the other a lift height, so they are not quite the same thing, but a gap of 431 metres is far too wide for that to matter.
The shares say the same, and the gap widens with height. Above 2,000 metres sit 52 percent of Serre Chevalier's piste and 35 percent of what we map around Wengen; above 2,200, it is 31 against 14. Half of Serre Chevalier's piste is above 2,020 metres, and half of Wengen's above 1,890.
That makes Serre Chevalier snow sure on our measure: 72 percent of the piste we measure is at or above 1,800 metres, up to 2,751. Wengen's figure on that line is 66 percent, but we make no call either way until its own skiing is separated from the Jungfraujoch's. Nobody can promise snow, but Serre Chevalier has more of its skiing up high.
Size: Serre Chevalier has more piste, and far more easy piste
We measure 152.7 kilometres of piste around Serre Chevalier and 125 around Wengen, 27 more. Wengen's is the generous figure, since our map takes in ground beyond its lifts. Its own sector is 101 kilometres, shared with Grindelwald. The Jungfrau pass covers 211 across three areas, but Mürren and the Schilthorn, 54 of those, are not joined to Wengen by lift. Our data does not confirm a size for Serre Chevalier's area, so we stay with our measure.
The gap is widest at the easy end. Serre Chevalier has 91.4 kilometres of green and blue, 60 percent of its piste and the tenth most of the 55 resorts we cover, and 40.8 kilometres of it is reliably marked green. Wengen's green is not reliably tagged, so we count its easy piste as blue and easier: 51 kilometres, 40 percent of what we map.
The skiing: Serre Chevalier has the bite, Wengen the gentler slope
Serre Chevalier is the steeper mountain. Twenty seven percent of its piste is steeper than one in four, against 20 at Wengen and 26 at a typical resort we cover. The gradients agree. They 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.
91 km blue and easier 60%45 km red 29%17 km black 11%
51 km blue and easier 40%54 km red 43%20 km black 16%
Marked off piste itinerary, kept out of the piste totals: Serre Chevalier 1.7 km, Wengen 2.5 km.
Serre Chevalier's reds average 24.9 percent, the tenth steepest reds of the 55 resorts we cover and a touch over the French average of 24.3. Its blues, at 16.8, sit a little over a typical French blue too. The blacks go the other way: 27.8 percent, under the French 29.6. Wengen is gentler throughout. Its blues average 13.9 percent, its reds 20.1 and its blacks 24.3, the fourth gentlest blacks of the 55 resorts we cover, against Swiss averages of 15.0, 19.9 and 26.7.
Wengen has more black, though: 20 kilometres against 16.7, the second most of the 15 Swiss resorts we cover. Its split between easy, red and black is the most even of the 15 Swiss resorts we cover, and the longest run we measure there is a 3.9 kilometre red with 781 metres of vertical. Serre Chevalier's longest is a black, Tabuc, 3.3 kilometres with 632 metres. Neither has much marked off piste itinerary: 1.7 kilometres at Serre Chevalier and 2.5 at Wengen.
Who each one actually suits
Serre Chevalier suits a group that wants a big, quiet, sunny week with plenty of easy ground: 40.8 kilometres of green for the first timers, and reds with enough bite to keep improving intermediates working. Tree skiing and sunshine head its list of what it does best, with value, and our read is relaxed and sunny. Strong skiers get the steeper mountain, if little marked off piste. You fly to Turin or Grenoble.
Wengen suits families, and anyone who wants a week of real peace. It is car free and quiet on our tags, and scenery is on its list along with families. Its gentle gradients suit less confident skiers, and the even split means every level in a mixed group has a fair share of the mountain. Strong skiers get 20 kilometres of black, gentle for the colour. You fly to Zurich or Geneva, and leave the car behind.
The bit nobody tells you
Read the piste maps and Serre Chevalier looks the easier mountain by a distance: 60 percent green and blue, against 40 percent blue and easier at Wengen. Measure the slope and it turns round. Wengen's blues average 13.9 percent against 16.8, and its reds 20.1 against 24.9. On the share of piste gentler than 15 percent, the two are almost level, 39 against 38.
The colours follow each country's own grading, and the gradient does not care which side of the border it is on. So an improver just happy on blues will find the step onto red a smaller one at Wengen. Serre Chevalier's answer is quantity: 91.4 kilometres of easy ground and a lot of real green. For a group of beginners, that counts for more than the gradient.
So, which one
you want more piste, more of it high and snow sure on our measure, plenty of green for the beginners, reds with some bite for everyone else, and sun and trees. Also if Turin or Grenoble suits your flight.
the car free village is the point, your group has less confident skiers who will thank you for gentle gradients, or scenery and peace come first. Also if Zurich or Geneva is the easier flight.
It has 27 kilometres more piste by our measure, far more easy ground and much more of its skiing high, with the same quiet. Wengen is the right answer when the car free village is the thing you will not give up.