Splügen - Tambo

Snow and grooming earn the praise: altitude and snowmaking make the place dependable, and the pistes are described as consistently well prepared. For such a small area the terrain is varied, from steep pitches below Tanatzhöhe to easy carving on Tambo Alp, plus a large unpatrolled freeride zone. Queues are essentially absent, the pass is cheap, the A13 runs right past, and the resort has stayed out of mass tourism.

The hardware is the weak spot: lifts are called old and slow, the kit likened to the 1980s, capacity limited. Safety draws comment too - narrow, poorly marked runs with wooden poles instead of netting, and one descent crossing a lift line, so parents are warned. Staff speak neither English nor Italian, the website is uninformative and the webcams do not work. Prices have risen, afternoon discounts trimmed, and the car park is badly placed, leaving a climb to the lifts.