If you don't want to water-ski on local slopes, where can you go?

Whistler/Blackcomb in British Columbia, a favorite of Washingtonians, probably isn't the answer. It faces a five-day wet-and-warm forecast — and a scantier snow base than usual. Another favorite, Mount Bachelor near Bend, Ore., was a balmy 41 degrees yesterday afternoon.

To find better conditions, skiers and boarders may need to head farther afield, although it's unusually warm in much of the West, so call ahead for current conditions.

B.C. interior

The Big White ski area in British Columbia's Okanagan, an eight-hour drive from Seattle, may have some of the best conditions through the weekend among relatively nearby resorts, said Bryan Boice, president of Ski-Pak, a Seattle ski-tour company. Daily snow is forecast this week. Look for Alaska/Horizon vacation packages and cheap flights to Kelowna; the resort is about 35 miles from the city's airport and served by shuttle vans. (Big White info: 250-765-3101 or www.bigwhite.com)

Most other Okanagan resorts, including Silver Star, and Sun Peaks near Kamloops, have decent snow bases. In southeast B.C., Red Mountain, near Rossland, has had abundant snow.

Information Ski conditions, packages: • For true powder hounds, the Web site www.skimag.com lets you sign up for snow alerts around North America, by e-mail or text messages delivered to cellphones. It also has a vacation-package finder. • The Web site www.snowpak.com, a ski-package vendor's site, has useful links to North American resorts, Web cams and more.

Montana

Big Mountain Resort has a healthy 67-inch snow base. Get there on Amtrak from Seattle to nearby Whitefish. Skiers can put together their own trip (800-USA-RAIL or www.amtrak.com; for the ski area, phone 800-858-3930 or see www.bigmtn.com). Ski-Pak has three-night packages including round-trip train from Seattle, hotel and two days of lift tickets (800-446-4688 or www.skipak.com).

Utah

Check out the big resorts by phoning 800-SKI-UTAH, or see www.skiutah.com, where there are Web cams, weather forecasts and links to individual resorts, plus "hot deals" on ski/hotel packages. One of the big ski resorts, Park City, is a 45-minute drive from the Salt Lake City airport (rent a car or take a shuttle) and has an enviable mid-mountain snow base of about 117 inches.

Idaho

In normally chilly Sun Valley, it was in the 40s yesterday, but there's a decent base. Phone 800-786-8259 or see www.sunvalley.com.

Nevada/California

The dozen-plus ski resorts that ring Lake Tahoe on the Nevada/California border have been almost buried in snow; Heavenly resort has a base of 168 inches.

Flights to Reno are low-priced; check Southwest Airlines or get an air/hotel package through travel agents or airlines. For resort information, contact the Lake Tahoe Visitors Authority: 530-544-5050 or www.bluelaketahoe.com.

Kristin Jackson: 206-464-2271 or kjackson@seattletimes.com