It's every skier's worst nightmare! After weeks of dreaming of virgin snow you finally hit the slopes and find the snow turning to slush beneath your feet. Rising temperatures mean warmer winters and snow is no longer a certainty at 2,000 metres.

However, the increasing number of WebCams now in use in most of the major resorts means that you can check out your favourite ski runs from the comfort of your home and, hopefully, avoid disappointment. Tour operators are using WebCams and on-line weather reports to give detailed information on slope conditions, avalanches and over-crowding. You need never spend your holiday queuing for ski-lifts again!

For our look at the Dolomites we have chosen the WebCams supplied by Feratel Media Technologies AG, an Austrian company which specialises in telecommunications and information for tourist-oriented web sites. The WebCams perform well even in difficult weather conditions, they are very precise: not one of them was off-line during the ten-day period when we monitored them.

Check out the positions of Feratel's WebCams with this handy map. They are all in the Dolomites, for the most part in and around Trento, except for one 'sea view' at Lignano Sabbiadoro.

The WebCams are all installed over the 2000 metre mark and point towards the peaks or pistes. The images are updated regularly throughout the day along with ground temperature readings, humidity levels and wind speeds and directions.

There is also an extensive archive where you can view all the most recent clips.

The films come complete with a weather report, telephone number for information and a related web site; all you need to prepare yourselves for a great trip to the area.

If you're not going to make it to the mountains this winter then feast your eyes on a virtual winter wonderland. If you're lucky you may even catch Sella as the evening sun drenches it in pink. Seeing is believing.