Which country is best for skiing?

Peter Hardy compares Europe’s Big Four – France, Switzerland, Italy and Austria – to find out which nation delivers the ultimate experience

Some 60-something years have slipped by since I first strapped a ridiculously long pair of skis on to lace-up leather boots. I was standing in deep snow (the piste machine had yet to be invented) on the nursery slope behind the church in the Austrian village of Lech am Arlberg.

At the beginning of the 1960s, Austria ruled supreme as the destination for British skiers. Switzerland lay in second place, while France and Italy were mere alsorans in the thought process of where to go for snow each winter.

Since those early days of modern ski tourism, the map has been almost entirely redrawn.

According to the industry website skiresort.info, there are now 6,146 ski resorts in the world. On the quest to find Europe’s best country for a ski holiday, we’ve confined ourselves here to those in the Big Four – Switzerland, Austria, France and Italy – where there are 1,333 resorts.

So which of the four is the best? In skiing, there is no one-size-fits-all, so the answer lies in solving a complicated equation; one that combines the quality and reliability of snow cover on your chosen dates, the type of skier you are, the number of weeks skied to date, your level of proficiency and your desire for improvement or fresh challenge (if there is one).

Then you must factor in resort charm, expected lift queues, levels of comfort and cuisine desired, and the kind of après-ski entertainment you enjoy (or desperately want to avoid). For serenity’s sake, also consider all of the above for your partner, children or other companions. After all, it is meant to be a holiday.

Perhaps most importantly, you need to address the cost. There’s no getting around it: ski holidays are expensive.

In all four countries, I’ve explored the full spectrum from hostels and family-run two-stars to exalted fives. I’ve spent nights in sumptuous chalets where the levels of comfort and service lavished on just a handful of gilded guests far exceed what even the world’s top hotels can hope to achieve. I’ve also stayed in self-catering palaces and tiny studio apartments – 17 square metres doesn’t sound small, but measured in ski poles: it’s three by four.

I’ve cruised tens of thousands of miles on every colour of piste and descended vertiginous couloirs where a momentary lack of concentration can be life-changing. The reward for a long uphill hike is often to drift down a seemingly endless powder bowl where all sense of gravity is replaced by a physical and mental freedom that, for me, is impossible to replicate outside skiing.

Evidently, each of the Big Four has its strengths and weaknesses, and as the old cliché correctly advises: there’s no such thing as a bad ski resort, it’s just that some are better than others.

So, which country is best overall? Here we try to answer that question once and for all.

Skiing 9/10

Value 3/10

Après-ski 6/10

Food and accommodation 8/10

Peace and quiet 6/10

Overall scores 32/50

The Swiss Alps is where modern downhill skiing developed – and it still thrives in charming ancient villages such as Grimentz in the Val d’Anniviers, with its time-blackened chalets and endless acres of powder. A holiday here, or in a mainstream destination like Zermatt or Verbier, ticks all the boxes – except price.

When I first skied in St Moritz in 1963 you got a mighty 12.2 Swiss francs to the pound; right now the rate is a measly 1.11; it clearly wasn’t the attraction of pastures new that caused British holidaymakers to migrate elsewhere.

Skiing only really caught on in Switzerland in the years immediately before the First World War, when British pioneers Henry Lunn and his son Sir Arnold brought tourists and then international ski races to the little village of Mürren, in the Bernese Oberland.

These days, the emphasis on ski tourism has switched to much more developed resorts such as Zermatt, St Moritz and Verbier. All offer huge high-altitude ski areas with reliable snow, along with high-speed lift systems, but there are plenty of worthwhile contenders that I favour. These include traditional Klosters and neighbouring Davos, cool Laax and even cooler Andermatt.

Hotels are as spotless and welcoming, as you’d expect. Your only worry is whether to choose Rösti mit Ei (hash browns with chopped bacon and a fried egg on top), Croûte de fromage (cheese on toast soaked in white wine) or the ubiquitous cheese fondue for lunch in one of those inviting mountain huts scattered across the mountainside. In all but the major resorts, après-ski is pleasantly muted in comparison to raucous Austria.

One of the great advantages of a Swiss holiday is that in most cases your destination can be reached directly by rail from Geneva, Zurich and Basel airports, with your train meandering through spectacular scenery.

Expensive it may be, but you can at least try to mitigate the need for a second mortgage by avoiding the big-name resorts. For example, La Tzoumaz, off the backside of Verbier, still gives access to the 92 lifts and 256 miles of the 4Vallées, but accommodation and food prices are much lower.

How to do it

‹In Zermatt, Argos is a self-contained apartment on the ground floor of Chalet Ulysse and is a five-minute walk from the Matterhorn Express gondola station. From CHF 3,900 (£3,522) per week, self-catering, for four people with Matterhorn Chalets (0041 79247 1588; matterhornchalets.com). Excludes travel

‹Leysin is as close to budget-priced as it gets in Switzerland. Geneva is about an hour’s drive away, and lower prices make it popular with a younger crowd. Résidence Castel Club Leysin Parc offers self-catered studios for two from CHF 420 (£379) per room (0041 24

494 26 22; apparthotel-leysin.ch). Excludes travel

i Since the early days of modern ski tourism, the map has been almost entirely redrawn

Verbier is one of the top resorts in Switzerland with reliable snow and lift systems