Daily Mail On Sunday- My new love affair - with the divine Dolomites (and its amazing snow-making)

The Alps or the Dolomites? As someone who has skied almost every year of his adult life in the former, it feels almost disloyal to come down on the side of the latter.

No, there's not a lot of ski-in, ski-out hotel options or hosted chalets, and natural snow cover can be an issue – but what the Dolomiti lack is made up for in its charm, friendliness and spectacular mountain scenery.

And, let's be frank, you're in  Italy  not  France  – a special part of Italy, where Italian, German and Ladin is spoken by most people. And you can now fly direct into the Val Gardena region with a twice-weekly service from Stansted to Bolzano, rather than into Innsbruck nearly two hours away.

What's more, snow-making is more extensive here than anywhere else in the world. On a previous visit, when there had been hardly any snow, the slopes were still open for business.

We are staying in the village of Ortisei. It's just off the famous Sella Ronda, arguably the greatest ski circuit in Europe.

Read the full article here.