Little Snow Reported at European Ski Resorts

At many ski resorts across Europe, there’s more mud than snow. World Cup race courses are flanked by dead, brown grass. Tourists twirl umbrellas in the streets rather than clump around in ski boots. The telephone hot lines at Europe’s ski resorts have gone cold.

Those who bother to call are most often greeted with depressing news of high temperatures and lack of snow. Much of Europe has seen record-high temperatures in January.

Tourism in the Alps is crucial for the European economy, with up to 80 million tourists and 160 million ski days in Austria, France, Switzerland and Germany each year. Though a few lucky areas have snow, for the majority the situation is bleak.