Sestriere or Tignes: two high resorts built to ski, told apart
The Ski Snug teamUpdated 12 October 20266 min read
Sestriere and Tignes are about as close a pair as our data turns up. Of all 55 resorts we cover, our matching puts Sestriere nearest to Tignes. Both are high, purpose built and practical, places to ski rather than villages to admire. Both are snow sure on our measure, and both are on our list partly for value.
So the question is not which is better. It is which of their few real differences matters to your group: the country and the airport, the height at the top, and a difference in the easy skiing that the piste map hides. The numbers first.
The numbers, side by side
| Figure | Sestriere | Tignes |
|---|---|---|
| Village altitude | 2,035 m | 2,100 m |
| Top of the skiing, measured | 2,788 m | 3,449 m |
| Linked ski area | Via Lattea, the Milky Way: quoted at 400 km with Montgenèvre, roughly 305 km on the standard Italian pass (our estimate) | 300 km, Espace Killy, shared with Val d'Isère |
| Piste we measure around the village | 160 km | 130 km |
| Easy piste, by local grading | 50 km blue and easier, 31% of the piste | 76 km green and blue, 58% of the piste |
| Black | 18 km | 21 km |
| Marked off piste itinerary | 11 km | 14 km |
| Piste steeper than one in four | 30% | 25% |
| Piste gentler than 15% | 35% | 30% |
| Piste at or above 1,800 m | 91% | 97% |
| Season | December to April | Late November to early May |
| Nearest airport | Turin | Geneva |
Read the ski area row with care. Espace Killy's 300 kilometres we have checked against our own measurement. The Via Lattea's 400 is a long standing marketing figure, and it includes Montgenèvre over the border in France, which needs the International pass. Buy the standard pass and you have the Italian lifts only. Take Montgenèvre's 95 kilometres off the 400 and you are left with roughly 305, our own subtraction, since no one publishes an Italian figure. On paper, then, the two areas are a similar size. On our own measurement of the piste around each village, Sestriere has 30 kilometres more.
Altitude: level at the door, Tignes far higher at the top
At 2,100 metres, Tignes's village is the second highest of the 55 resorts we cover. Sestriere's, at 2,035, is the fourth highest and just 65 metres lower. At the door, call it level.
Above the door they part company. Tignes's skiing reaches 3,449 metres on our measurement, the highest of the 17 French resorts we cover, with the Grande Motte glacier at the top of it. Sestriere's reaches 2,788, which is 661 metres lower.
Both are snow sure on our measure. At Sestriere, 91 percent of the piste we measure is above 1,800 metres, up to 2,788 metres, the ninth biggest share of the 55 resorts we cover. At Tignes it is 97 percent, up to 3,449 metres, the joint fifth biggest. The gap opens higher up: 94 percent of Tignes's piste is above 2,000 metres, against 75 at Sestriere, and half of it is above 2,441 metres, against 2,154.
Nobody can promise snow at either. But the seasons follow the height: Tignes runs from late November to early May, Sestriere from December to April. For a booking at either end of the winter, Tignes has the edge.
Size: Sestriere has more near the door
Around Sestriere we measure 160 kilometres of piste, the most of the 10 Italian resorts we cover. Around Tignes we measure 130. With the quoted areas so close, that is the plainer guide to how much skiing you have near the village before you set off further.
Tignes's case is the link. Espace Killy joins it to Val d'Isère, so a day on the other side is part of the week, on the same pass. The Via Lattea is linked too, and big area is one of the things Sestriere does best, but read its quoted size in the light of which pass you buy.
The skiing: Sestriere has more at both ends
Start with the measured rows, because grades do not travel between countries, and Italy grades most of Sestriere red. On our measure, Sestriere has more of its piste at both ends of the scale. Thirty percent of it is steeper than one in four, against 25 at Tignes and 26 at a typical resort we cover. Thirty five percent is gentler than 15 percent, against 30 at Tignes. Tignes has more of its piste in between.
50 km blue and easier 31%92 km red 58%18 km black 11%
76 km blue and easier 58%34 km red 26%21 km black 16%
Marked off piste itinerary, kept out of the piste totals: Sestriere 11 km, Tignes 14 km.
The measured gradients add detail. 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. The reds are close, 21.1 percent at Sestriere and 23.1 at Tignes. Sestriere's blacks average 30.1 against Tignes's 23.5, though Tignes's 6.6 kilometres of double black sit outside that average.
In quantity, Tignes has a little more of the serious skiing: 21 kilometres of black against 18, and 14 kilometres of marked off piste itinerary against 11. Sestriere's 18 and 11 are both the most of the 10 Italian resorts we cover, so neither resort will leave a strong skier short.
Who each one actually suits
Tignes is for people who come to ski, and it is better for families than its looks suggest. Its height takes much of the worry out of a half term booking, the ski schools are well drilled, and the nursery areas are by Le Lac and Val Claret, close to a lot of the beds. The top of the Grande Motte has easy runs, so an intermediate can come down from the glacier. Pick the village to suit the group: Val Claret for the glacier and the main lifts, Le Lac for the middle of things, Le Lavachet a touch quieter, and Les Boisses and Les Brévières lower down, older and calmer. The après is lively rather than wild, and a day off has the aquatic centre, or skating on the frozen lake.
Sestriere suits groups who want height, snow and a big area without making a fuss of the village. It is a purpose built high resort on the Milky Way, modern, high and practical, and the three things it does best are snow, size and value. It suits a group flying to Turin, and anyone who would rather spend the week in Italy. On the data, it suits improvers especially well, for a reason most people would not guess.
The bit nobody tells you
On the piste map, Tignes looks like the easier mountain: 58 percent of its piste is graded green or blue, against 31 percent at Sestriere. Measured, the blues tell the opposite story.
Sestriere's blues average a gradient of 12.0 percent, the second gentlest of the 55 resorts we cover and the gentlest of the 10 Italian ones, well under the Italian average of 14.4. Tignes's blues average 17.6 percent, the seventh steepest of the 55 and second steepest of the 17 French resorts we cover, above the French average of 16.2.
For a strong skier that hardly matters. For someone in their first week off the nursery slopes, it is the whole holiday. At Sestriere, a blue is a gentle thing. At Tignes, the greens and the glacier's easy runs are the gentle part, and a blue is a step up.
So, which one
snow and season come first, you are booking late November or early May, your strong skiers want the glacier, the higher top and a little more black and itinerary, or you want Val d'Isère on the same pass. Also if your beginners will be happy on greens for the week.
your group has improvers who will live on the blues, you want more piste close to the village, or you would rather fly to Turin and ski in Italy. It is still snow sure, still high, and its steep share is the bigger of the two.
People book both of these for the snow, and Tignes has more of its skiing higher, for longer, on an area size we have checked. Sestriere is the right answer when your improvers matter most, and for a lot of groups they should.