European ski resorts have no snow as temperatures hit record high

GlobalPost

The euro crisis is not the only thing messing with the holiday season in Europe: many of the region's ski resorts are still snowless.

Europe is experiencing its warmest temperatures in 50 years, The Weather Network reported, which means that many skiers are awaiting snow to begin the season. In Austria, impatient athletes have turned to skiing on rocks. 

"At the moment we're having problems because it's too cold to make artificial snow and real snow hasn't started falling yet," one Austrian skier, who'd just come down a rock quarry, told Reuters

As Europe faces down its debt crisis, the ski industry, which is worth billions of euros a year according to Reuters, is worried about losing revenue. 

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Ski resort officials are trying to make the best of the slow start by doing repairs around their resorts, but are watching the skies anxiously.  

“There are people who are starting to ask themselves questions, which is normal, when they see very little precipitation, also you have the media relaying the information that there was very little precipitation, and that it was very warm in the month of November, which is true,” director of Chamrousse ski resort Fabrice Hurth said in an interview with The Weather Network. 

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