Les Paccots/Châtel-St-Denis - Corbetta

The praise is for the family format and the convenience. The slopes are gentle, the atmosphere quiet, and locals rate it among the best places in Fribourg to put a child on skis: three of the eleven lifts are children's carpets. Lausanne and Fribourg are half an hour away by car, which makes it far closer and cheaper for the region than the Valais or Vaud resorts. It belongs to the Magic Pass, and families with at least two children get a discount on the day ticket.

Modest equipment is the sore point. Everything is drag lifts and carpets, with no chairlifts. Almost every run is green or blue, with a single red and a single black, so a competent skier covers it in half a day. The biggest reservation is the altitude: the base sits just above a thousand metres, and snow here can never be taken for granted. Independent ratings mark the station down for size and equipment.