In the Austrian ski resort of Semmering near Vienna, about a third of the slopes are closed and visitor numbers have dropped due the lack of snow caused by warm temperatures. "You have to look for the snow with a magnifying glass," says Victor, a visitor from Germany. With temperatures too high even to make artificial snow, brown hillsides and slivers of snow are a common sight across the Alps - a far cry from the winter wonderland tourists had banked on. IMAGES AND SOUNDBITES