Image courtesy wintersportcompany.com
A recent article in a Salzburg newspaper talked about the bleak future for winter sports in Austria. As snow becomes ever scarcer on the lower slopes of alpine regions, those communities that rely on income from winter tourism are looking around for alternatives to keep their economies going. Ski trails are increasingly carpeted with artificial snow that serves the purpose but cannot compete with the magic delight of snowflakes from heaven. A custom that has gained traction in recent years is snow farming. In effect, the practice is very simple. Snow is piled up during winter months in convenient natural depressions called snow depots and covered with a mix of wood chips and sawdust. The depot is then blanketed with a white covering that further insulates the reserve and preserves up to 80% of the snow through the summer months. The heat of evaporation from the moistened wood chips actually helps cool the bulk of the snow reserve. Austrian snow harvesting programs are for the benefit of the tourism business, but in the high altitudes of Himalayan Ladakh, engineers and environmentalists are creating artificial ice stupas and glaciers as a survival mechanism to provide water for village communities in the spring and summer months.
When religious leaders step outside their core business of spiritual leadership and meddle in secular affairs, then perhaps they should take their cue from the Tibetan monk in the video above. True religion should promote harmony, protect nature and improve livelihoods instead of preaching. As can be seen from the video above, reverence naturally follows.
aviott 
This is just brilliant, thank you so much for sharing
Thank you for your comment Cornelia.The Ladakh model could be followed in Europe. In Switzerland, they are experimenting with artificial snow, although that sounds expensive. See
https://www.newscientist.com/article/2129413-plan-to-regrow-receding-swiss-glacier-by-blowing-artificial-snow/
Hi John, I have recently seen a video how people in Northern India, or even Tibet I can’t remember, were a Buddhist scientist developed a system to build ice stupas, gaining from the water in spring from the Hindu river I believe, preserving it for the times when there is a water shortage in their season
Maybe it’s this one. See video at link below.