Competing in the Winter Games, Without a Snowball’s Chance

Skiers warming up before an Olympic qualifying race in Kolasin, Montenegro, in December.Credit...Zoran Marinovic for The New York TimesYANQING, China — One by one they zigzagged down the mountain, near the end of a line of nearly 90 racers in a snowy giant slalom, looking more like ski hobbyists on a weekend jaunt than world-class competitors.

Many of the skiers were first-time Olympians, brought together by one very pertinent thing they have in common: a shortage of snow in the countries they are representing in Beijing, including Jamaica, Ghana, India, East Timor and Morocco.

“I always say, ‘There is a first league, and there is a second league. We are, for sure, the second league,” said…