Used to Italy? The Swiss ski resorts that keep the sunshine and the kind reds
The Ski Snug teamUpdated 12 October 20269 min read
We always go to Italy: Cortina for the town, Alta Badia for the food, Cervinia for the height. We love sun on the terrace, reds that are kind to us and a lunch that takes the afternoon. This year we fancy Switzerland. We will give up the pasta if we must, but not the sun, and we would rather the runs did not turn on us.
If that is you, the short answer is Crans-Montana. Ask our matching for the Swiss resort closest to Cortina, to Alta Badia or to Madonna di Campiglio and it names Crans-Montana every time. It is a sunny plateau over the Rhône, its reds measure gentler than Cortina's, and all of its skiing is on one lift system. What it asks you to give up is the blue: there is not much of it.
How we got there
We started with three Italian resorts a UK regular is likely to know, which between them carry most of what people go to Italy for: Cortina d'Ampezzo for the style and the long lunches, Alta Badia for the food and the gentle cruising, Cervinia for the height. Then we went through all 15 Swiss resorts we cover on our own measurements (how steep, how high, how linked) and on what our tags say about sun, style and families.
Four came through, each keeping a different part of the Italian week. Only three of the 15 Swiss resorts we cover list sunshine among the things they do best, and three of our four picks are those three.
The numbers, with the resorts you know alongside
Your Italian resorts are the yardstick. The Swiss picks are in bold.
| Resort | Village | Top of the skiing, measured | Ski area | Piste we measure around the village | Steeper than one in four | At or above 1,800 m |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cortina d'Ampezzo | 1,224 m | 3,028 m, top of the lifts (highest piste 2,724 m) | On the Dolomiti Superski pass, size unconfirmed | 86 km | 25% | 67% |
| Alta Badia | 1,568 m | 2,509 m | 130 km sector, about 500 km by lift on the Sellaronda | 124.5 km | 15% | 65% |
| Cervinia | 2,050 m | 3,869 m, the station shared with Zermatt | 322 km with Zermatt | 115.8 km | 15% | 99% |
| Crans-Montana | 1,500 m | 2,868 m | 140 km, all linked | 85 km | 22% | 79% |
| St Moritz | 1,822 m | 3,266 m | Separate mountains on one pass | 106 km | 24% | 97% |
| Arosa | 1,800 m | 2,848 m | 225 km, linked with Lenzerheide | 183 km | 24% | 65% |
| Zermatt | 1,620 m | 3,869 m, the station shared with Cervinia | 322 km with Cervinia, measured | 150.5 km | 12% | 99% |
Steepness is measured from the gradient of the runs. All seven are snow sure on our measure: more than half the piste at or above 1,800 metres, and skiing that reaches 2,500 metres or higher.
Crans-Montana: the closest match to the Italy you know
- VillageVillage
- 1,500 m
- Highest liftTop lift
- 3,000 m
- Linked areaLinked
- 140 km
Crans-Montana: 85 km of piste we measure. 22 km blue and easier 26%50 km red 59%13 km black 15%
Our read is sunny and smart: a plateau with wide views across the Rhône, golf and spa among its strengths, good for families. The village sits at 1,500 metres, 68 below Alta Badia's and 276 above Cortina's.
Underfoot it will feel like home, or a little kinder. Its reds average 19.2 percent on our measure, against 21.9 at Cortina and 21.7 at Alta Badia. Thirty-six percent of the piste is gentler than 15 percent, exactly Cortina's share. Around the village we measure 85 kilometres, against 86 around Cortina.
What it adds is a number you can trust: 140 kilometres, all linked, with three independent sources agreeing to the kilometre. And the snow moves up a step. Seventy-nine percent of the piste we measure is at or above 1,800 metres, the fourth biggest share of the 15 Swiss resorts we cover, up to 2,868 metres.
The trade is the blue. Fifty-nine percent of the piste is graded red, and there are only 22 kilometres of blue and easier, the second least of the Swiss resorts we cover, against Alta Badia's 76. The reds measure soft, but a group with a nervous beginner should know before booking. And we tag it for families rather than as upmarket, so a Cortina regular gets the sun without quite the polish.
St Moritz: Cortina's style and sun, with the height added
- VillageVillage
- 1,822 m
- Highest liftTop lift
- 3,303 m
St. Moritz: 106 km of piste we measure. 30 km blue and easier 28%60 km red 57%16 km black 15%
If you go to Cortina for the occasion, the smart crowd and a lunch that is an event, St Moritz keeps it. Our read is glamorous and sunny, upmarket like Cortina, with more to do off the snow than almost anywhere: polo and horse racing on the frozen lake, spas, shops, the Cresta Run. Our guide is clear that eating is half the point, with long lunches on the sun terraces of Corviglia above the town, and Engadine cooking that runs to pizzoccheri.
Then it adds the height. The village sits at 1,822 metres, the highest of the 15 Swiss resorts we cover and 598 above Cortina's. The skiing reaches 3,266 metres, measured, 238 above Cortina's top lift, and 97 percent of the piste we measure is at or above 1,800 metres, against Cortina's 67.
The mountain has Cortina's temperament: 24 percent of the piste is steeper than one in four, against 25, and the reds average 21.0 percent, against 21.9. It is a little steeper at the easy end. Twenty-eight percent of the piste is gentler than 15 percent, against Cortina's 36, and its blues average 16.4 percent, the second steepest of the Swiss resorts we cover.
The skiing is on separate mountains you travel between. The 350 kilometres you will see quoted is a pass across Corviglia, Corvatsch and Diavolezza; around the town we measure about 106, still 20 more than around Cortina. If you want the polish without the glamour, our matching puts Klosters closer to Cortina still: discreet, pretty and upmarket, with the gentlest reds of the 55 resorts we cover.
Arosa: Alta Badia's easy kilometres, in the sun
- VillageVillage
- 1,800 m
- Highest liftTop lift
- 2,653 m
- Linked areaLinked
- 225 km
Arosa: 183 km of piste we measure. 97 km blue and easier 53%72 km red 39%15 km black 8%
Plus 9 km of marked off piste itinerary, kept out of the piste total.
Under the food, an Alta Badia week is mile after mile of easy cruising: 76 kilometres of blue and easier around the village, the most of the 10 Italian resorts we cover. Arosa has more. We measure 96.6 kilometres of blue and easier, the most of the 15 Swiss resorts we cover and ninth of the 55 we cover, about 20 more than Alta Badia. Our read is gentle and sunny: a bowl for families, joined by one cable car to Lenzerheide to make a single area of 225 kilometres, a figure three sources agree on exactly.
The snow is the quiet gain. The village sits at 1,800 metres, 232 above Alta Badia's, and the skiing reaches 2,848, measured. The share of piste at or above 1,800 metres is the same 65 percent, but where Alta Badia's skiing clears our 2,500 metre line by 9 metres, Arosa's clears it by 348.
The reds measure the same, near enough: 21.8 percent, against Alta Badia's 21.7. What changes is how much steep ground there is. Twenty-four percent of Arosa's piste is steeper than one in four, against 15, and it has the steepest blacks of the 15 Swiss resorts we cover, averaging 32.4 percent. The strong skier in the group will enjoy them; everyone else can leave them alone. Food is not on its list of strengths. You go for the sun and the space.
Zermatt: for Cervinia regulars, a new village on the same mountain
- VillageVillage
- 1,620 m
- Highest liftTop lift
- 3,899 m
- Linked areaLinked
- 322 km
Zermatt: 151 km of piste we measure. 33 km blue and easier 22%107 km red 71%11 km black 8%
Plus 23 km of marked off piste itinerary, kept out of the piste total.
If Cervinia is your Italy, you have probably skied into Switzerland already. The two share one lift system across the border, 322 kilometres measured, with the 3,869 metre station at the top common to both. So the question is a new village, not a new mountain. Zermatt is car free, elegant and upmarket, with the Matterhorn over the village, and at 1,620 metres it sits 430 below Cervinia.
From this side there is more of it, and less of it is steep. Around the village we measure 150.5 kilometres, 34.7 more than around Cervinia, and 23.1 kilometres of marked off piste itinerary, 15 more. Only 12 percent of the piste is steeper than one in four, the smallest share of all 55 resorts we cover, and its reds average 17.2 percent, the second gentlest of the 55 we cover, against Cervinia's 18.1. On snow it loses nothing: 99 percent of the piste we measure is at or above 1,800 metres, the same as Cervinia's, and the glacier gives it a year round season.
And the lunch comes with you. Our guide puts Zermatt's mountain restaurants among the best in the Alps, with the hamlet of Findeln a lunch stop in its own right, and it recommends the day over the border to Cervinia for an Italian lunch. You know the way. The Italian side needs the International pass.
Switzerland measures the way Italy does
Grades are set resort by resort, and conventions differ between countries, so a Swiss red and an Italian red are not a promise of the same run. We compare them on the gradient instead, measured from every piste we hold:
| Average gradient | Blue | Red | Black |
|---|---|---|---|
| Italy | 14.4% | 20.4% | 30.2% |
| Switzerland | 15.0% | 19.9% | 26.7% |
This is the good news of the page. In France the average red is nearly four points steeper than Italy's; in Switzerland the blues and reds measure within a point of yours, and the average black is three and a half points gentler. These are averages per run segment, and a run's grade is set by its steepest pitch, so one short wall can still make a red. But a group that skis Italian reds with confidence will find Swiss reds familiar.
Two things do change. The first is the lunch. Not one of the 15 Swiss resorts we cover lists food among the things it does best, where Alta Badia, Cortina and Courmayeur all do. It is there to be had: our guides describe long mountain lunches at Zermatt, St Moritz, Gstaad, Verbier and Grindelwald. It is just not what Swiss resorts lead with.
The second is the numbers, and you are already good at reading them. You know Dolomiti Superski's 1,200 kilometres is a pass across twelve areas, only four joined by lift. Swiss passes work the same way: Verbier's 410 is a pass, and its own area measures about 97.
Who should ignore all of this
Alta Badia regulars who come for the Sellaronda.
From a base on it, about 500 kilometres are within reach by lift, on our own approximate sum. Nothing here comes near: Arosa Lenzerheide is 225 kilometres, and Zermatt reaches 322 only by crossing back into Italy.
Courmayeur regulars who go for the steep.
Courmayeur's reds average 24.3 percent, the steepest of the 10 Italian resorts we cover, and 32 percent of its piste is steeper than one in four. None of our four picks passes 24. Our matching's closest resort to Courmayeur, anywhere, is Engelberg in Switzerland, with 31 percent of its piste steeper than one in four. Start there.
So, which one
you want the Swiss week closest to your Italian one: sun, kind reds, one linked area and more of it up high, and you can live with a mountain that is mostly red on the map.
Cortina's style is the point and you want the occasion, the long lunch and a lot more height, on separate mountains.
you ski Alta Badia for the easy kilometres and want more of them, in the sun, with a snow sure call that does not rest on 9 metres.
you know Cervinia and want the same mountain from a car free Swiss village, with the Italian lunch still in reach.
Our matching puts it closest to Cortina, Alta Badia and Madonna di Campiglio, and it keeps the sun, the kind reds and one linked area. What it asks in return is the blue: if the easy kilometres are why you go to Italy, go to Arosa instead.