Sestriere or Val Thorens: the highest village we cover, or the steeper week in Italy
The Ski Snug teamUpdated 12 October 20266 min read
Our matching pairs Val Thorens with Sestriere before any other resort we cover, in any country. It is easy to see why. Both are purpose built for skiing, both are high, with villages that rank first and fourth of the 55 we cover for altitude, and both are snow sure on our measure.
But a close match is not a copy. One is in France and buzzy, the other in Italy and practical, and their skiing is shaped differently in ways the piste map does not show. So the real question is what your group values most: height and size, or steep skiing and Italy. The numbers first.
The numbers, side by side
| Figure | Sestriere | Val Thorens |
|---|---|---|
| Village altitude | 2,035 m | 2,300 m |
| Top of the skiing, measured | 2,788 m | 3,154 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) | The Three Valleys, quoted at 600 km, not yet measured by us |
| Piste we measure around the village | 160 km | 211 km |
| Easy piste, by local grading | 50 km blue and easier, 31% of the piste | 134 km green and blue, 64% of the piste |
| Black | 18 km | 16 km |
| Marked off piste itinerary | 11 km | 8 km |
| Piste steeper than one in four | 30% | 25% |
| Piste gentler than 15% | 35% | 37% |
| Piste at or above 1,800 m | 91% | 96% |
| Season | December to April | Late November to early May |
| Nearest airport | Turin | Geneva or Chambéry |
Neither ski area figure is one we have measured. The Three Valleys' 600 kilometres is the widely quoted figure for an area that is genuinely linked. The Via Lattea's 400 is an old marketing number that counts Montgenèvre, over the border in France, which needs the International pass. The everyday Vialattea pass stops at the border, which by our own arithmetic leaves about 305 kilometres. Nobody publishes that figure, so treat it as an estimate. The easy row is by each country's grading, which differs, so for steepness lean on the measured rows below it.
Altitude: Val Thorens is higher at both ends
No village we cover sits higher than Val Thorens, at 2,300 metres. Sestriere comes fourth of the 55 we cover, at 2,035, which leaves it 265 metres below. On our measurement the skiing climbs to 3,154 metres above Val Thorens and 2,788 above Sestriere, so the gap at the top is wider, 366 metres.
Both pass our snow sure test. Near Sestriere, 91 percent of the piste we measure sits above 1,800 metres, up to 2,788 metres, ninth of the 55 resorts we cover on that share. Near Val Thorens the figure is 96 percent, up to 3,154 metres, joint seventh. Where they differ is how far above that line the skiing sits. Three quarters of Val Thorens's piste is above 2,200 metres. At Sestriere it is 42 percent. Half of Val Thorens's piste is above 2,409 metres, and half of Sestriere's above 2,154.
The calendar follows. Val Thorens runs from late November to early May, Sestriere from December to April. Nobody can promise snow anywhere, but if your dates sit at either edge of the winter, the higher resort is the safer bet.
Size: Val Thorens is bigger on every count
Take the quoted areas and it is 600 kilometres against 400, or against about 305 on the standard pass. Take our own measurement of the piste around each village and it is 211 kilometres against 160, the fourth most of the 55 resorts we cover against the most of the 10 Italian ones. Either way, Val Thorens has more, though Sestriere's 160 are plenty for a week.
The real gap is at the easy end. Val Thorens has 134 kilometres of green and blue piste around the village, the third most of the 55 resorts we cover. Sestriere has 50 kilometres of blue and easier. If your group includes people who will spend the week on blue, that is the row that matters.
The skiing: more easy at Val Thorens, kinder blues at Sestriere
Measured, the two are closer at the gentle end than those kilometres suggest. Thirty seven percent of Val Thorens's piste is gentler than 15 percent, and 35 percent of Sestriere's. The difference is in the blues themselves. The gradients are averages per run segment, and a run's grade is set by its steepest pitch, so read them as how a week feels rather than a verdict on any one run.
50 km blue and easier 31%92 km red 58%18 km black 11%
134 km blue and easier 64%61 km red 29%16 km black 8%
Marked off piste itinerary, kept out of the piste totals: Sestriere 11 km, Val Thorens 8 km.
Sestriere's blues average 12.0 percent, the second gentlest of the 55 resorts we cover and well under the Italian average of 14.4. Val Thorens's average 16.5, around the French average of 16.2. So Val Thorens has far more easy skiing, and Sestriere's easy skiing is easier. For a nervous improver moving off the nursery slopes, a Sestriere blue is about as gentle as blues get. For a group that wants to cruise for six days without repeating itself, Val Thorens's 134 kilometres win.
The reds are closer: 21.1 percent at Sestriere, a touch above the Italian average of 20.4, and 23.5 at Val Thorens, a touch under the French 24.3.
Who each one actually suits
Val Thorens is the pick for a group that wants the skiing and the evening in equal measure, and for anyone whose first worry is snow. The village is modern and purpose built above the trees, and so compact that a lift is rarely more than a short walk away. The après is famous: La Folie Douce on the mountain, then the village bars until late. For families, the draw is the wide, gentle beginner runs beside the village, and a base away from the centre keeps the nights quieter.
Sestriere is for groups who want height, snow and plenty of ground to cover, and who are there for the skiing rather than the scene. Our one line on it is a purpose built high resort on the Milky Way; we call it high and practical, tag it modern, and list snow, a big area and value as its strengths. Val Thorens carries our lively tag and Sestriere does not. It suits a group flying to Turin, anyone who would rather be in Italy, and, on the data, strong skiers who want more steep than Val Thorens offers.
The bit nobody tells you
Val Thorens is the bigger, higher, more famous resort, so most people assume it also has more of the serious skiing. Measured, it does not. Sestriere, with 51 fewer kilometres of piste around the village, has more black, 18 kilometres against 16, and more marked off piste itinerary, 11 against 8. Both are the most of the 10 Italian resorts we cover. Thirty percent of Sestriere's piste is steeper than one in four, against 25 at Val Thorens and 26 at a typical resort we cover.
Val Thorens keeps one edge: its blacks average 32.2 percent, the fifth steepest of the 17 French resorts we cover, against 30.1 at Sestriere. But a strong group choosing Val Thorens for the steep has picked the wrong reason. Choose it for the height, the size and the evenings, which are all real.
So, which one
you want the highest village we cover, the longer season, the bigger area by any count, and plenty of easy cruising for the less confident. Also if the evenings are half the point.
your group leans strong and wants more of its piste steep, more black and more itinerary near the door, or you have improvers who will be glad of very gentle blues. Also if you would rather fly to Turin and spend the week in Italy.
It is higher, bigger and longer in season, and its easy kilometres give more of a mixed group more to ski. Sestriere is the right answer when your group is mostly good skiers who want the steeper week, and would like it in Italy.