Routes taken a day at a time: each leg with its distance and climb, where you sleep, the water, the permit and the official page for current conditions.
A ski trip is planned from one base, so these are day-by-day guides: which part of the mountain to ski when, and the day off the slopes.
A box-canyon mining town with a steep mountain behind it. Four ski days, one day off, honest notes on expert terrain, passes and flights.
Bases: Telluride, Mountain Village
Vermont's biggest peak, a small ski area with a big reputation, and honest notes on ice, wind holds and weekend crowds.
Bases: Stowe village, Mountain Road, Spruce Peak village
A Colorado ski town with real cowboys and real Olympians. Four ski days in the trees, one day off in the hot springs.
Bases: Mountain Base Area, Old Town
California's high Sierra ski mountain, where the season runs into June. Four ski days, one day off, and honest notes on the drive.
Bases: The Village at Mammoth, Main Lodge, Town of Mammoth Lakes
North America's biggest vertical, a railway town at the bottom. Four ski days, one day off, and an honest word on how steep it is.
Bases: Downtown Revelstoke, Revelstoke Mountain Resort
North America's biggest ski area, one mountain at a time. Four ski days, one day off, and honest notes on passes and the highway.
Bases: Whistler Village, Upper Village, Creekside, Squamish
Parks and wild coasts seen from one base, a different trail or viewpoint each day.
Cliffs seen from a boat, a red canyon, a bay calm in July and rough in January. Five days on Kauai.
Bases: Poʻipū, Princeville and Hanalei, Kapaʻa
Two coasts, five volcanoes and an eruption that comes and goes. Five days on the Big Island, with the traps and closures that matter.
Bases: Kailua-Kona, Kohala Coast, Hilo, Volcano
Red cliffs and a river you wade up in Zion, then hoodoos and star-filled nights in Bryce. Five days, with the permits and the honest drives.
Waterfalls, granite walls, giant sequoias and the high country. Five days in Yosemite, built around when roads and falls are actually open.
Geysers, wolves, a 308-foot waterfall and a loop that never doubles back. Five days in Yellowstone for late May to early October.
America's most visited national park, planned around its parking lots, seasons and closed trails. Five days, both sides of the mountain.
One base in the mountains or by the sea, with walks from the door.
Breckenridge puts the lifts, the bars and the free bus close together, so the question is which of the three you want closest.
Bases: Main Street, Peak 8, Peak 9 and Beaver Run, Frisco
In Vail you pay for walking to the lift, so decide how much that is worth before you look at beds.
Bases: Vail Village, Lionshead, Avon, Beaver Creek Village
Pick the base by the pass in your pocket, because Epic skis Park City Mountain and Ikon skis Deer Valley and the Cottonwoods.
Bases: Park City, Canyons Village, Deer Valley, Kimball Junction, Salt Lake City
