With only a few weeks to go until the opening ceremony of the Winter Olympics in Milan-Cortina on 6 February, the slopes around the 'pearl of the Dolomites' are covered in snow. But tourists and skiers aren't always lucky enough to experience this.
With the climate warming up, snow is often limited to the slopes. Even there, it is only guaranteed by artificial snowmaking, with associated economic and environmental costs that often trickle down into ski pass prices. For many Europeans, this is pushing snow sports increasingly out of reach.
