How we score ski resorts
The exact inputs and weights behind every score we publish: beginner, family, snow reliability, access, value and overall.
Every score Just Piste publishes — beginner, intermediate, advanced, family, nightlife, snow reliability, access, ski-in/ski-out and the overall score built from them — is computed the same way for every resort, from the same inputs, with the same weights. There is no manual scoring and no resort can pay to improve a score.
How a score is built
Each score is a weighted sum of a fixed set of inputs. Every input is normalised onto a common 0–10 scale before its weight is applied, using the ranges in the tables below. A score is only published once enough of its inputs are known for a given resort — below that coverage threshold the page omits the score entirely rather than showing a number built mostly from guesses.
Editor adjustments
Occasionally a score is manually adjusted by an editor when the automatic inputs miss something the data cannot capture (a badge marked "Editor-adjusted" always says why); the automatic pipeline never overwrites that adjustment.
A score is only published once at least 60% of its weight is covered by known inputs for that resort.
Beginner
| Input | Weight | Normalisation |
|---|---|---|
| Green and blue pistes (share of total km) | 40 | 10–60 (higher is better) |
| Magic carpets and rope tows | 15 | 0–6 (higher is better) |
| Ski schools in resort | 15 | 0–8 (higher is better) |
| Easy piste km starting near the base | 15 | 0–15 (higher is better) |
| Nursery slope at village level | 15 | Yes / no |
Intermediate
| Input | Weight | Normalisation |
|---|---|---|
| Blue and red pistes (share of total km) | 40 | 30–85 (higher is better) |
| Total piste km | 30 | 20–300 (higher is better) |
| Modern lifts as a share of all lifts | 15 | 0.3–0.8 (higher is better) — Gondolas, chairs, cable cars and funiculars ÷ all lifts |
| Linked ski area piste km | 15 | 50–600 (higher is better) — Falls back to the resort's own piste km when it has no linked area |
Advanced
| Input | Weight | Normalisation |
|---|---|---|
| Black pistes (share of total km) | 40 | 5–30 (higher is better) — +1 point (capped at 10) when the resort has 3 or more marked freeride runs |
| Vertical drop | 20 | 500–2000 (higher is better) |
| Top elevation | 15 | 2000–3800 (higher is better) |
| Off-piste reputation (editor flag) | 25 | Set by an editor |
Family
| Input | Weight | Normalisation |
|---|---|---|
| Beginner score | 30 | Derived from another score |
| Childcare and kindergartens | 25 | 0–5 (higher is better) |
| Car-free or pedestrianised village | 15 | Yes / no |
| Village elevation | 10 | 10 at or below 1,600 m, falling to 0 at 2,100 m |
| Pool, ice rink or cinema | 10 | 0–3 (higher is better) — One point each for a pool, an ice rink and a cinema |
| Drive time from the main airport | 10 | 10 at or below 90 minutes, falling to 0 at 180 minutes |
Après-ski and nightlife
| Input | Weight | Normalisation |
|---|---|---|
| Bars, pubs and nightclubs | 50 | 3–40 (higher is better) |
| Après-ski venues (editor flag) | 20 | Set by an editor |
| Venues open past 01:00 | 15 | 0–8 (higher is better) — Bars, pubs and clubs whose OSM opening hours run to 01:00 or later |
| Total piste km | 15 | 20–300 (higher is better) |
Snow reliability
| Input | Weight | Normalisation |
|---|---|---|
| Mean winter snowfall (December–March) | 35 | 150–600 (higher is better) |
| Base elevation | 25 | 900–2000 (higher is better) |
| Top elevation | 15 | 2000–3500 (higher is better) |
| North-facing pistes | 10 | 20–60 (higher is better) |
| Glacier or snowmaking | 15 | Glacier scores 10, snowmaking 6, neither 0 |
Access
| Input | Weight | Normalisation |
|---|---|---|
| Drive time from the main airport | 60 | 60–240 (lower is better) |
| Airports within two hours | 25 | 0–4 (higher is better) |
| Train station in resort | 15 | Yes / no |
Value
| Input | Weight | Normalisation |
|---|---|---|
| 6-day lift pass against the European median | 50 | 0.7–1.4 (lower is better) — Verified 6-day adult pass ÷ the European median of the same |
| Median accommodation stars (inverted) | 20 | 2–5 (lower is better) |
| Supermarkets | 15 | 0–4 (higher is better) |
| Country cost index (editor flag) | 15 | Set by an editor — 10 = cheapest |
Luxury
| Input | Weight | Normalisation |
|---|---|---|
| 5-star hotels | 40 | 0–6 (higher is better) |
| Michelin or notable restaurants (editor flag) | 20 | Set by an editor |
| Private transfer or helicopter access (editor flag) | 10 | Set by an editor |
| Luxury reputation (editor flag) | 30 | Set by an editor |
Ski-in ski-out
| Input | Weight | Normalisation |
|---|---|---|
| Places to stay within 200 m of a lift | 100 | 0–60 (higher is better) — Needs at least 5 places to stay with a measured distance to a lift |
Overall score
The overall score is a weighted mean of the sub-scores below (value and luxury are not included); once a resort has 10 or more visitor reviews, the review average is blended in too.
| Score | Weight in overall |
|---|---|
| Beginner | 1 |
| Intermediate | 1.5 |
| Advanced | 1 |
| Family | 1 |
| Après-ski and nightlife | 0.5 |
| Snow reliability | 1.5 |
| Access | 1 |
| Ski-in ski-out | 0.5 |
Monthly snow score
The month-by-month snow score behind our "best time to go" pages blends mean snowfall (weight 4, capped at 100 cm), mean snow depth (weight 3.5, capped at 150 cm) and the mean number of days per month with at least 5 cm of fresh snow (weight 2.5, capped at 8 days), scaled to a 10-point ceiling from mid-mountain climate records.
Applied identically to all 51 resorts we cover.