Big Sky in Montana has twice its usual snowpack for Thanksgiving’s opening day and is launching a twin zipline as well so you can zoom 1500 feet alongside your sweetheart or best buddy.

And if you’ve made your way to Yosemite National Park, the Curry Village Ice Rink opens on Thanksgiving as well.

There are so many choices but one thing’s for sure: winter is here.

Lake Tahoe reported a foot of snow the other day. Two weeks ago I got word that almost four feet had dropped on Jackson Hole. A few days ago a little farther north, Big Sky Montana got a foot, with more falling and a lot more on the way.

It must be ski season.

A few years ago I went to Yellowstone in winter to see wildlife, cross-country ski to Old Faithful, ride the snow coach, and tool around on a snowmobile in the national forests outside the national park. On the way down from Bozeman we drove right past Big Sky and I made a mental note to come back and check it out.

At that time I’d never heard of the place and my goal was Yellowstone, so I didn’t get up on the mountain, but I’ve since learned that Big Sky is one of the biggest ski areas in the USA, gets 400 inches of snow a year (that’s more than 30 feet), and, because there’s no major population center within easy driving distance, has virtually no lift lines.

If that’s not reason enough to start packing the ski clothes I don’t know what is.

Big Sky’s season opens over Thanksgiving weekend and this year there’s nonstop air service from San Francisco, where I live, so I’m checking the calendar and making plans. As much as I love Lake Tahoe, it can’t hurt to try something new. And with an extra day I can make the short run to Yellowstone again, a place in winter that is uncrowded and almost otherworldly with geysers rimmed by snow and wildlife everywhere.

Looks like it’s going to be a long winter. For skiers, that’s a good thing!