My girlfriend and I stayed at a very lovely chalet in Gérardmer. What I can tell you was that we had beautiful warm weather (around twenty degrees Celsius). Yet there was snow on the mountain for skiing. The pistes where not in a perfect condition but overall they where okay. The area wasn't very huge. Nevertheless it was big enough for a "one weekend" ski-trip. You can find a picture of my girlfriend sitting both in the snow and enjoying the sun here. And on this movie you can actually see her skiing.

For her it was the first time she went skiing. I recommend La Bresse to everybody who's going to ski for the first time. Since it's perfect for weekends. Not very expensive. And when driving from Belgium it's not even far from home.