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Snow
on Screen
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| Stones,
scree and slush. Every skier's worst nightmare melts
under the knowing eyes of Italy's highest WebCams.
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 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.
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| by
FRANCESCO
TUTINO |
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February
2001
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THE SURVIVOR'S 
